Gavin Grant – Syndication Server

Ducks blanked for the first time this season in 2-0 loss to OSU

Oregon State was able to shut out the Ducks 2-0 at PK Park in a non-conference affair.

Oregon picked a bad time to have the bats go silent.

For the first time all season, the Ducks were shut out as the Beavers won their second game over Oregon by the score of 2-0 at PK Park. With the loss, the Ducks dropped to 28-16 overall.

The loss also comes at a bad time for the Ducks as they were hoping to gain some momentum against their in-state rivals before a huge three-game weekend series with the Beavers in Corvallis.

As of now, Oregon State (35-9, 15-6) holds a two game lead over the Ducks in the conference standings. Oregon will need a sweep over the Beavers if they want any hope of possibly winning the Pac-12.

In this second game in a week, the Ducks and Beavers featured a rare pitchers duel. Oregon used seven pitchers to hold OSU to two runs and four hits. But of those four knocks, three were doubles and the other hit was a home run.

The game was scoreless until the seventh inning when Garret Forrester led the frame off with a walk and advanced to third on Travis Bazzana’s double. Forrester eventually scored on a sacrifice fly.

Oregon had a golden opportunity to either tie the game or take the lead in the bottom half of the seventh as the Ducks loaded the bases with just one out. Oregon State reliever Mitchell Verberg was able to hold the Ducks off the board by whiffing Gavin Grant and getting Tyler Ganus to line out to the shortstop.

The Beavers added an insurance run on Justin Boyd’s home run to make it 2-0. OSU closer Ryan Brown pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save.

These two teams will meet up at Goss Stadium this weekend beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. at Goss Stadium. Each of the three contests will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

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Ducks ninth inning rally falls just short in weird game at PK Park

Oregon wasn’t able too overcome Hance Smith’s 7 RBI performance as Cal salvaged one over the weekend with a 9-8 win.

It’s probably safe to say California second baseman Hance Smith is the first Pac-12 player to be robbed of a home run and then hit an inside-the-park grand slam in the same game.

The Golden Bears scored five in the eighth and then had to hang on to dear life in the ninth as they avoided a sweep at the hands of the Ducks with a 9-8 win Sunday afternoon at PK Park.

With the loss, Oregon falls to 28-15 overall and 13-8 in conference play.

The Ducks were up 5-3 going into the eighth inning and they brought in closer Kolby Somers for the six-out save. Unfortunately, things unraveled on Somers quickly. Cal scored one and still had the bases juiced when Smith hit a pop fly down the right field line. Anthony Hall was shaded into the gap and had to sprint to even have a chance at catching the fly ball.

Hall actually over ran the ball as it bounced behind him and he fell to the turf. Meanwhile, Smith was able to circle the bases. Those were RBIs 4-7 for him on the day as he had a sacrifice fly and a two-run single earlier in the contest.

That sacrifice fly was nearly a three-run homer, but Colby Shade was able to reach over the wall and bring it back.

Down 9-6 heading into the ninth inning, Oregon was able to mount a rally that eventually saw the potential winning run reach second base, but not before some fireworks.

It looked like Gavin Grant had swung at strike three, but the first base umpire ruled he checked his swing. That sent California into an uproar and coach Mike Neu was thrown out.

Grant made the most out of his second chance and line one through the legs of Hance Smith and two runs scored. But Tanner Smith grounded out to first to end the game.

Oregon now has prepare for a huge week of baseball as the Ducks and Beavers will meet up for four games, one non-conference contest on Tuesday in Eugene and three Pac-12 games in Corvallis over the weekend.

Oregon goes extra innings to sweep away the Huskies in Seattle

The Ducks needed 11 innings, but eventually got the brooms out to sweep the Huskies in Seattle with a 6-5 win.

Everyone knew, including the Ducks, that it wouldn’t be easy to sweep the Huskies on the road. Oregon needed to go 11 innings, but it was able to defeat Washington 6-5 to complete the three-game weekend set in a cold and windy Seattle.

The Ducks moved to 24-11 overall, 10-5 in conference action, and are now tied for first place with Oregon State. Washington fell to 16-18 overall and 6-12 in Pac-12 play.

This game went back and forth with Washington erasing a 4-1 deficit with two in the sixth and one in the eighth.

It looked like the Ducks were going to get out of there with a win in the 10th after Tanner Smith belted his ninth home run of the season to give Oregon a 5-4 lead. But Washington’s Johnny Tincher crushed the first pitch he saw out of Kolby Somers’ hand over the scoreboard in left and it was once again tied 5-5.

The Huskies had a golden opportunity to win the game later in the 10th as they managed to get runners on second and third off an obviously tired Somers. The Oregon closer had pitched in three consecutive games and he didn’t have his usual stuff.

Somers buckled down and struck out Cole Miller and coaxed Christian Dicochea to pop out to second to extend the game.

The Ducks used some two-out lightning to grab the lead as Gavin Grant walked and a Smith single. Colby Shade was able to drive in Grant with a liner to right-center for the 6-5 lead. Thankfully for the Ducks, there would be no fireworks in the bottom half of the 11th. Christian Ciuffetelli walked one batter, but that was it for his first save of the year.

Tincher put a mild scare into the Ducks with his fly ball to center that Bryce Boettcher caught on the warning track.

Oregon will now make a quick stop in Portland to play the Pilots on Tuesday before hosting Washington State for a weekend series at PK Park. The Ducks and Pilots are scheduled for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

Oregon walks it off in the raindrops to take series from Ball State

The Ducks played through the rain and managed to beat Ball State 7-6 thanks to Tyler Ganus’ walk-off single.

It wasn’t the best of conditions with the rain coming down, but it didn’t affect Tyler Ganus.

The pinch-hit specialist came up in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to win the game and Ganus didn’t waste any time. He lined the first pitch he saw off of Ball State reliever Sam Klein down the left field line for a hit and Oregon walked off with the 7-6 win over the Cardinals.

With the victory, not only did the Ducks take three-of-four from the visitors from the Mid-American Conference, but they improved to 21-11 overall.

This game went back-and-forth and today was a good reason why hitting last can be a huge advantage. Oregon scored three in the second, but Ball State scored four runs in the fifth inning to take the 4-3 lead.

The Ducks tied it at 4-4 in the bottom half of the inning and then Gavin Grant gave Oregon the 5-4 lead with an opposite-field home run through the raindrops.

Oregon eventually took a 6-4 lead, but just like the entire weekend, the Cardinals wouldn’t go down without a fight. Ball State’s Adam Christianson and Ryan Peltier belted back-to-back homers to tie the game once again at 6-6 in the eighth.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the ninth.

Brennan Milone led the frame off with a walk and he was replaced with pinch-runner Taylor Holder. He went to second on a wild pitch. Slugger Jacob Walsh, who is capable of hitting balls 400 feet, instead hit a little dribbler down the first base line that stopped directly on that line about 40 feet from home plate.

With runners on the corners, Ball State intentionally walked Josh Kasevich to load the bases and set up a force play at home. It worked for one hitter as Bryce Boettcher grounded to third. But Ganus ended the game with his hit down the left field line to send everyone home happy. They were drenched, but they were happy.

Now the Ducks go back into conference action when they go up to Seattle to take on Washington for a three-game weekend series. The Huskies are 15-15 overall and 6-9 in Pac-12 play.

Oregon scores five in the eighth to win 8-6 and series over Utah

The Ducks score five in the eighth inning to rally past Utah 8-6 to claim the weekend series over the Utes.

Pac-12 baseball teams are quickly learning that the Ducks are never out of a game.

Oregon rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the eighth inning with five runs to stun Utah 8-6 and take the weekend series over the Utes. The Ducks improve to 12-6 overall, 4-1 in conference play, and will now go for the sweep tomorrow morning at PK Park.

The late-inning rally got started after an out was recorded, but then two walks and a hit batter set the table for Gavin Grant’s single to left to make it 6-4 Utes. Tanner Smith, who earlier homered, laced a single to right that scored both Sam Novitske and Josiah Cromwick.

With the scored tied 6-6 and still just one out, Oregon saw the runners move to second and third thanks to a wild pitch. Colby Shade hit a sacrifice fly to right to give the Ducks the 7-6 lead and Brennan Milone, who also homered during this game, drove in Smith for some insurance.

Closer Kolby Somers came into the ninth and earned his second save of the season.

Oregon starting pitcher Isaac Ayon kept his team in the game with his six innings of work where he gave up four runs, one earned, seven hits, and three strikeouts. It could have been worse for Ayon as he buckled down in the sixth. After giving up the go-ahead run, he found himself in deeper trouble with runners on second and third with just one out. Ayon managed to whiff Dakota Duffalo and get Carter Booth to ground out.

In the series finale, Oregon will send out Caleb Sloan (0-1, 2.70 ERA) to go up against Cam Day (1-1, 4.42 ERA) for Utah. The game is scheduled to be televised on Pac-12 Oregon/Mountain at 11 a.m. PT.

Around the horn: Duck bats stay hot with easy win over Utah in series opener

The Oregon Ducks baseball team is still looking for a reliable Friday night starter. But what has been more than reliable has been the bats and those aluminum sticks didn’t let Oregon down tonight.

Powered by three home runs, the Ducks overcame an early 3-0 deficit and defeated Utah 11-4 at PK Park in the opener of a three-game weekend series.

Brennan Milone, Anthony Hall and Gavin Grant all crushed homers. Milone’s third-inning clout would have easily left the yard before the renovations of Oregon’s home stadium. It also erased Utah’s lead.

While the bats stayed hot, Oregon is still looking for a pitcher to put on the mound on a regular basis on Fridays. RJ Gordon got the start this time around and unfortunately, he didn’t make it out of the fourth inning.

The Ducks bullpen backed Gordon up, however. The combination of Dylan Sabia, Logan Mercado, Jacob Hughes and Scott Ellis went 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run and just one hit.

Around the horn: Stanford avoids the weekend sweep with win over Oregon

Despite Sunday’s loss, Oregon’s series win at Stanford is a huge resume builder come NCAA tourney selection time.

The bats couldn’t bail out Oregon for the second straight day.

No. 2 Stanford was able to salvage one game of the three-game weekend set by jumping on the Ducks early and eventually cruising to a 10-6 win.

It was Oregon’s first conference loss as the Ducks fall to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 action.

Starting pitcher Tommy Brandenberg couldn’t get out of the second inning as he walked four and gave up a grand slam to Brett Barrera. Oregon was able to rally from a 9-3 deficit on Saturday, but to come back yet again was too much of an ask.

Despite today’s loss, earning a series win on the road over the No. 2 team in the country is definitely a feather in the cap and quite the resume builder when the tournament teams are announced in June.

Around the horn: Gavin Grant’s walk-off homer gives Oregon a 3-2 win over UCSB

Oregon’s Gavin Grant sent Duck fans home happy with a walk-off homer to give Oregon a 3-2 win over UCSB.

Neither team deserved to lose this one.

Oregon and UC-Santa Barbara battled for eight and a half innings until Gavin Grant had enough. The Ducks second baseman belted the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth over the left-field wall and Oregon walked off with a 3-2 win over the Gauchos.

UCSB’s starting pitcher Cory Lewis shut the Ducks down for six innings and Oregon starter Adam Maier went five strong innings. But in the end, it took just one swing of the bat to give the Ducks their sixth straight victory.

It looked bleak in the top of the ninth as the Gauchos managed to have runners on first and third with no out. Fortunately, Oregon closer Kolby Somers proceeded to strike out the next three Gauchos.

Oregon will now try and make it seven or maybe eight straight as the Ducks and Gauchos will play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.

Around the horn: Ducks drop third straight in San Diego

Oregon baseball battled right up until the end, but an eighth-inning run gave San Diego a 5-4 win.

This wasn’t how Mark Wasikowski envisioned his baseball team starting the season. Oregon is on the verge of being swept out of San Diego as the Toreros took Game 3 by the score of 5-4.

It’s the Ducks’ third straight loss to open the season and if they want to come back home with one win in their pocket, they’ll have to rely on freshman Tommy Brandenberg to get the job done on the hill.

Unlike in the first two games, Oregon managed to score first in the initial inning, but San Diego answered with two in the third and two in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.

But to the Ducks’ credit, the visitors scratched out runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth to knot the game at 4-4. The Toreros took the lead for good in the bottom half of the eighth on a Kolby Somers bases-loaded walk. The Ducks got a runner on in the ninth but couldn’t score.

Oregon bats stay hot in 13-1 thumping of the Spartans

Oregon Ducks baseball stays hot with a 13-1 drubbing over San Jose State to complete the brief two-game mid-week series with the Spartans.

Unlucky 13 wasn’t so unlucky after all.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team managed to sweep the brief two-game series with San Jose State with a 13-1 beatdown over the Spartans. In the mid-week series, Oregon scored 24 runs.

Oregon’s bats didn’t wait to fall behind this afternoon as they did in the series opener as the Ducks jumped on San Jose State starter Wesley Clawson for four runs in the second inning.

After a single, double, and hit-by-pitch, Gavin Grant found himself up with the bases loaded and no one out. He proceeded then to drive in two with a double off the rightfield wall for the early 2-0 lead. Tanner Smith walked to reload the bags and Anthony Hall smacked a two-run single.

The Spartans managed to avoid a huge inning as Kenyon Yovan flew out and Zavala was coaxed into a double play to end the inning.

Oregon then put the game away in the fifth with five more runs to make it 9-0. The Ducks hit three extra-base hits in that inning, which also included three walks.

San Jose State finally got on the scoreboard when slugger Ruben Ibarra clubbed a home run to right-center. It was his sixth homer of the season and among the Spartans, the big 6-foot-5, 285-pound first baseman stood out.

But Ibarra couldn’t carry his team to a win as Oregon did a number against the San Jose State pitching staff. Not only did the Ducks score 13 runs, but they also were credited with 18 hits.

Smith went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI. Zavala also had three hits and three RBI and Grant was also a perfect 3-for-3 with a trio of RBI.

In his first appearance as a Duck, pitcher Logan Mercado got the win as he threw three innings and gave up just one hit.

At 26-9 overall, Oregon will go back to Pac-12 action Friday as it goes up to the Palouse to take on Washington State for a three-game weekend series. The Cougars are currently 19-16 overall and 7-11 in conference play.