Using six pitchers and relying on your bullpen for seven innings isn’t the normal game plan in baseball.
But Game 1 in the Nashville Regional went exactly how Mark Wasikowski envisioned. Two runs in the bottom of the seventh also helped.
Oregon was able to win its first NCAA tournament game with a 5-4 victory over Xavier. The Ducks will now await the winner of the Vanderbilt-Eastern Illinois contest to see who they play Saturday at 3 pm PST.
Ironically, these two teams met in the first weekend series of the season with the Ducks sweeping the Musketeers. Those games went just about how this went, which was a nail-biter until the very end.
The Ducks went the “Johnny Whole Staff” method here in the opener with Logan Mercado starting and relievers Grayson Grinsell, Dylan McShane, Austin Anderson, Matt Dallas, and closer Josh Mollerus shutting down the Musketeers.
Although they walked six batters with four of them scoring, the Ducks locked it down for the last five innings with just one hit and no walks.
Xavier wasted an outstanding start from its pitcher, Brant Alazaus. The left-hander had the Duck batters off-balance all day long with his 82-mile-an-hour fastball and low-70s breaking ball.
After the Musketeers scored two in the first, the Ducks answered quickly with two of their own. Oregon took a brief 3-2 lead with Xavier taking the lead back in the next half-inning, but then it was zeros put up for four straight innings.
With nine outs left, the Ducks’ offense finally went to work in the seventh. Rikuu Nishida hit a one-out double to get the rally started. Alazaus was over the 100-pitch mark and Xavier felt that was enough. Fortunately for Oregon, it was a decision that went its way.
Jonathan Kelly came in and promptly gave up two more doubles to Colby Shade and Drew Cowley to give Oregon the 5-4 lead.
Dallas pitched a perfect eighth and Mollerus gave up a single before coaxing Matthew Deprey into a double play to end the game.