Oregon scored seven unanswered runs to hand Baylor a 7-4 loss in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown Saturday morning.
Teams are going to learn very quickly that if they enter a battle of the bullpens with Oregon, it’ll be a losing proposition.
The Ducks scored seven unanswered runs and held Baylor off the scoreboard for the final five innings to take a 7-4 win over the Bears in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas.
Oregon is 2-0 with the bullpen dominating so far. The pen has thrown 9 2/3 scoreless innings in the games against Oklahoma and Baylor. Bradley Mullan earned the victory and veteran Logan Mercado earned the six-out save.
Baylor jumped on the Ducks in the second inning when Mason Greer hit a two-run homer to right field. Fans in Texas are used to watching a player named Greer hit home runs. Mason’s father, Rusty, played for the Rangers for nine seasons.
The Bears added to their lead with single runs in the third and fourth off of Oregon starter Kevin Seitter. On the other side of the field, Baylor starting pitcher Colin McKinney was having his way with the Duck lineup through the first three frames.
Oregon finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth on Bennett Thompson’s RBI single to left to make it 4-1.
McKinney was losing his stuff in the fifth and once Baylor went to its bullpen and brought in left-hander Grant Golumb, the Ducks made them pay with three runs to tie the game at 4.
Jacob Walsh lined a double to left-center to score two runs to make it 4-3 Bears. Oregon tied the game on Jeffrey Heard’s single to center.
It was a brand new game in the sixth and took control with three more runs. Mason Neville led off the frame with a double down the right field line. He scored on Ryan Cooney’s single to give the Ducks their first lead of the game 5-4.
Carter Garate followed with a perfect drag bunt down the first base line that Baylor mishandled and threw down the line. Cooney scored on the bad throw to make it 6-4, and Garate advanced to third.
Oregon was tacked on one more insurance run on Drew Smith’s single to left and it was 7-4.
That was more than enough for relievers Mullan, Jaxon Jordan and Mercado. Jordan found himself in some trouble when the Bears loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but he whiffed Cortlan Castle to end the threat.
Oregon attempts to leave Globe Life Field unscathed Sunday when the Ducks face No. 18 Texas Tech. The scheduled first pitch is 12:30 pm PT.
