The Oregon Ducks baseball team keeps rolling as they just completed a doubleheader sweep over Lafayette.
After easily taking the first game 15-3, the Ducks had to work a little harder in the nightcap but came away with the 7-4 win. The Ducks improved to 5-1 overall this year and the Leopards are still without a victory at 0-6.
Michael Freund earned the win in relief and while it wasn’t a save situation, Logan Mercado pitched the ninth and he made it interesting. He walked four, including a run, but whiffed the final two batters to end the game.
Oregon jumped on Lafayette in the bottom of the second with two runs on a Ryan Cooney single and later on a fielding error.
The Ducks added a run in the third Jeffrey Heard on his solo homerun to make it 3-0.
Starting pitching Toby Twist threw four scoreless innings and a combination of three relievers out of the bullpen held off the Leopards. They cut the 4-0 deficit to 4-2, but Oregon added three insurance runs in the seventh thanks to a fielding error and another Heard double.
Game 1
Oregon pounded Lafayette 15-3 in the doubleheader opener thanks to three home runs, two coming off the bat of Justin Cassella. He nearly blasted four homers, but the Leopard centerfielder Easton Brenner made two outstanding catches at the wall.
The Ducks had 13 hits and six batters were plunked. Cassella drove in five runs and Jacob Walsh also drove in five, including a two-run shot that was his 25th career home run.
While the offense was doing its thing, starting pitcher Grayson Grinsell dominated. The left-hander whiffed 10 batters in his four innings of work. Reliever Ryan Featherson threw four innings and was credited with the win.
Oregon moved to 4-1 on the season and Lafayette is still searching for its first win of the season.