No. 23 Oregon evens series with Washington behind 13-6 victory

The Washington Huskies tried to hang with the No. 23 Ducks, but Oregon’s offense was too much to handle.

The No. 23 Oregon Ducks overwhelmed coach Jason Kelly and the Washington Huskies on Saturday, earning a 13-6 victory and tying the season series at 1-1.

Left fielder Mason Neville opened the scoring in the top of the first inning with a two-run before second baseman Aiva Arquette responded with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the frame. Arquette’s homer was his twelfth of the season, moving him into second place on the team behind left fielder AJ Guerrero.

After second baseman Drew Smith extended Oregon’s lead to 4-1 in the second, center fielder Cooper Whitton cut the deficit to 4-3 with a two-run home run, before Guerrero took a bases-loaded walk to tie the game.

That would be the closest Washington got for the rest of the night, as the Ducks regained the lead in the third inning thanks to a two-run home run from Maddox Moloney, and added to it in the fourth with a solo shot from Carter Garate.

Guerrero cut the lead down to 7-6 with a two-run double in the fourth but that was all for Washington’s offense, which recorded just two hits over the game’s final five innings. Catcher Chase Meggers added to Oregon’s lead with a two-run home run in the sixth and a bases-clearing double in the seventh as part of a 2 for 4 day with 2 runs scored and 5 runs batted in.

Starter Calvin Kirchoff took the loss for the Huskies, dropping to 4-4 on the year after surrendering 8 hits, 3 walks, and 9 earned runs over 5 1/3 innings while striking out 7 Ducks. Brock Moore earned his third win of the year, working 5 scoreless innings with 3 hits, 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts.

The loss pushes the Huskies to 19-24-1 on the year and 10-16 in Pac-12 play while the Ducks improved to 33-16 overall and 15-11 against conference foes. The two teams will play for the series on Sunday afternoon at 12:05.