The Oregon Ducks won their first game against Grand Canyon University 9-4 on Tuesday night, moving to 8-3 on the season. The Ducks built on the offensive momentum they created in the last game of their series against Santa Barbara, picking up 14 hits in the game.
Although he only pitched four innings, Oregon got good production out of their starting pitcher Turner Spoljaric. After giving up a two-run homer in the second inning, Spoljaric pitched two scoreless innings, to finish his outing with only three hits conceded.
After Spoljaric’s day was done, Oregon used a committee of pitchers to keep the Antelopes off the board. Brock Moore gave the Ducks two scoreless and hitless innings. Sammy Cova then pitched one and two-thirds innings, giving up the home run in the eighth. Bradley then came in to close the game for the Ducks, picking up the save.
Once again, the star of the show was Ducks right fielder Jeffery Heard. In the second inning, Heard picked up a leadoff single and came around to score. The next inning, Heard came to the plate with two outs and launched a moonshot over the right field wall, flipped the bat, and trotted the bases on a 2-run home run. Heard finished the game 2 for 4 with a walk and two RBIs.
The ‘Lopes made things interesting with a two-run home run in the eighth inning to make the score 7-4. But in the top of the ninth, Jacob Walsh responded for the Ducks with a two-run jack of his own, to put Grand Canyon away.
Oregon will play the second half of their two-game series against Grand Canyon on Wednesday at 1:00 PT. The Ducks will then stay in the desert this weekend for a three-game series against the Arizona State Sun Devils to kick off conference play.