Tag: Logan Mercado

Ducks make it a nice Mother’s Day with series win over Washington

Kevin Seitter pitches into the seventh inning and the Duck offense does just enough to down the Dawgs 5-3 in series finale.

Every Oregon Duck baseball player would have wanted to be home with their mothers on this Mother’s Day, but winning a weekend series at Washington wasn’t a bad consolation prize.

Oregon’s Kevin Seitter pitched into the seven inning and the Duck offense did just enough to defeat the Huskies 5-3 and take the weekend series two game to one on Sunday afternoon in Seattle.

Seitter went 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs in the second, on six hits and striking out nine to earn his sixth victory of the season.

After the Ducks took a 2-0 lead in the second, Washington grabbed the lead back with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. Fortunately for Seitter and the Ducks, that would be the only runs the Dawgs could muster. It gave the Oregon offense plenty of time to overtake the home team.

They tied the game quickly in the third on Bennett Thompson’s single to center that scored Mason Neville. The game remained knotted at three apiece until the fifth when Justin Cassella singled home Neville to take the 4-3 lead.

Oregon added a much-needed insurance run in the seventh on Jacob Walsh’s sacrifice fly to center that scored Ryan Cooney.

Seitter and the bullpen took it from there.

Bradley Mullan finished off the seventh and the eighth and then closer Logan Mercado pitched a scoreless ninth to earn save No. 8 on the season.

Oregon will now come back to PK Park for the last three regular season games, a weekend set with Washington State beginning on Friday night.

Ducks bullpen dominates once again in victory over Baylor

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.

Baseball recap: Ducks take series over No. 7 Cardinal

Logan Mercado becomes the second Duck pitcher to hold the Pac-12’s No. 1 offense down as Oregon defeats Stanford.

It would be a tough assignment to match what Jace Stoffal did to the No. 7 Stanford team. But Logan Mercado was up to the task.

The junior starting pitcher threw Oregon’s second straight complete game and the Duck offense backed him up with three home runs as the home team defeated the No. 7 Cardinal 8-1 at PK Park.

Mercado came into the game with a 6.75 earned run average, but he kept the Stanford hitters off balance all day long as he needed 111 pitches for the nine innings. He gave up just five hits and struck out seven.

The Ducks got on the board to support Mercado in the third when Drew Cowley hit a run-scoring double and Sabin Ceballos RBI fielder’s choice. Jacob Walsh hit his first of two homers in the fourth to make it 3-0. The Oregon first baseman was wearing No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day.

Ceballos put the game out of reach in the fifth with a bomb to left to make it 5-0. Walsh hit another solo shot in the seventh to complete his good day with three runs batted in.

Oregon’s offense did its damage against Matt Scott, who came into the game with an ERA of just 2.05. He was saddled with his first career loss.

The Ducks will go for the sweep Sunday afternoon as they send Leo Uelmen (2-3, 6.55 ERA) and the Cardinal will counter with Joey Dixon (3-0, 4.38 ERA).

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Oregon baseball makes history down in the desert

For the first time since coming back in 2009, Oregon baseball went down to Tempe and took a weekend series from ASU.

This is the 13th season since Oregon brought back its baseball program and there are still milestones to be made.

For the first time since the resurrection of the sport, the Ducks went down and took a weekend series at Arizona State. Oregon clinched the series with a 15-5 pounding of the Sun Devils in 100-plus degree heat.

But it’s a dry heat.

The temperature wasn’t the only thing that was hot as the Duck bats were scorching as Oregon scored 15 runs on 18 hits. With the win, the Ducks improved to 31-21 overall and 15-12 overall. They have one none-conference game with Gonzaga before hosting Arizona to end the regular season.

Drew Cowley led the way going 3-for-6 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Colby Shade drove in three runs and Anthony Hall smacked two doubles. Jacob Walsh broke out of his slump with a monster home run.

ASU actually led 1-0 after an inning, but the Ducks broke loose with four runs in the third and five more in the fourth. Oregon was helped out a bit by some shoddy fielding from the Sun Devils.

The highlight of the inning was when Brennan Milone hit a double down the right field line and the throw coming back into the infield got away and Milone advanced to third. But then that throw to third also escaped the third baseman and Milone scored on the “Little League home run.”

Starting pitcher Jace Stoffal pitched well, but he was unable to get through the fifth and didn’t qualify for the win. He went 4 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on seven hit. Logan Mercado was credited with the win, his sixth on the season. He went 2 1/3 innings in relief, giving up two runs on five hits.

Now the Ducks will come back home to face Gonzaga, a team they beat 9-5 in Spokane earlier this year. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at PK Park on Tuesday.

Flared up tempers spark Ducks to rally past the Huskies

Oregon rallied late with 5 runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Huskies 8-6.

We saw a lot of this blueprint early this season, but not so much of late.

Oregon’s ability to rally late came back just in time today in Seattle as the Ducks scored five runs in the eighth inning to defeat Washington.

With the win, not only do the Ducks win the series over the Huskies, they’ll now go for the series sweep up on Montlake. Oregon improved to 23-11 overall, winners of four straight and 9-5 in Pac-12 play. Washington falls to 16-17 overall and just 6-11 in conference action.

Washington was able to grab a 5-1 at the end of the fourth inning and that’s when the Ducks woke the bats up. Colby Shade got Oregon back in the game with a two-run homer to left in the fifth.

Washington came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth and this is when tempers got hot. Oregon starter Isaac Ayon, who wasn’t having the best of days, plunked leadoff batter, Johnny Tincher, in the back. He wasn’t thrilled and home plate umpire Brett Terry felt that was enough to eject Ayon out of the game.

The Huskies scored one in the sixth to make it 6-3 and it stayed that way until the eighth. Anthony Hall got the rally started with a triple down the right field line. Sam Novitske singled Hall home and it was 6-4.

Josiah Cromwick continued the rally with a single of his own and then the Huskies gifted Oregon a run when they threw away Gavin Grant sacrifice bunt attempt that saw Novitske score and Cromwick and Grant advance to second and third.

Colby Shade tied the game with a single and moved up to second when the Huskies’ defense wasn’t paying attention. Brennan Milone gave the Ducks the 8-6 lead with a liner to left field that scored two runs.

Logan Mercado, who came in the game when Ayon was ejected, earned the win with his four innings on the mound. He allowed just one unearned run on two hits.

Kolby Somers came on in the ninth and earned his sixth save of the season, his second in less than 24 hours.

Oregon will go for the sweep when the Ducks and Dawgs meet for Game 3 at 2 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network. Jace Stoffal (0-0, 27.00 ERA) will take the mound for the Ducks and he will battle Washington’s Case Matter (0-2, 5.73 ERA).

Ducks and Cardinals split mid-series doubleheader at PK Park

The Ducks avoid being swept today with a 10-4 win over Ball State in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team would have obviously preferred to sweep this afternoon’s doubleheader with Ball State, but given the alternative, the Ducks will happily take the split.

Ball State rallied late to take Game 1 and in the nightcap, the Oregon team we’ve all got used to seeing showed up and defeated the Cardinals 10-4.

With the win, Oregon earns its 20th win of the season with 11 losses. Ball State fell to 18-11 overall.

Brennan Milone and Anthony Hall each homered. It was Hall’s fourth home run in his last five games and he now has seven for the season. Milone also drove in four.

Ball State jumped on the Ducks with three runs in the first, but Oregon answered quickly with three runs of its own in the second. Smith’s two-run single tied the game.

The Cardinals briefly took the lead in the fifth with a run, but Milone’s home run to deep right-center field gave the Ducks the lead for good. Oregon added two in the sixth, one in the seventh, and two more in the eighth.

Logan Mercado earned his fourth victory of the year by throwing four innings and allowing just one run on four hits and striking out five.

The Ducks will now go for the series win when they face Ball State at 12 p.m. at PK Park.

Game 1
Oregon has been able to rally in the late innings many times this season, but in the opening game of today’s doubleheader with Ball State, the Ducks couldn’t muster up a rally and the Cardinals took Game 1 by the score of 3-2.

Tanner Smith opened the game up with a lead-off homer, his eighth of the season, to give Oregon the early 1-0 lead. That advantage held up until the seventh inning when Trenton Quartermaine’s run-scoring single off of Kolby Somers tied it at 1-1.

Oregon was able to take the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Smith scored and Oregon briefly led 2-1.

But Ball State tied it 2-2 on a wild pitch and Zach Cole hit a go-ahead home run to right-center for the 3-2 lead.

Oregon threatened when Jacob Walsh doubled to left. But he was stranded on second and that would be the Ducks’ last chance as the Cardinals’ Sam Klein went 2 1/3 innings, including throwing a perfect ninth to earn the win.

Starting pitcher Isaac Ayon deserved a better fate as he probably had his best game of the season going 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run and seven hits, striking out five, and walking none.

Oregon wins a rare pitcher’s duel in 11 innings over San Francisco

The Ducks had to go extras, but were able to sweep San Francisco in the two-game series with a 4-3 win in 11 innings.

Suffice it to say that there won’t be many pitching duels at PK Park this season.

Oregon came into today’s game with San Francisco averaging nine runs per contest. But on those rare occasions where the Duck bats just don’t have it, they still need to find ways to win.

The second game of the brief midweek series with the Dons featured one such occasion and the Ducks managed to find a way to win 4-3 in 11 innings. Oregon is now 18-7 overall as it prepares to go down to Los Angeles to face UCLA for a three-game set.

Josh Kasevich had three of Oregon’s six hits on the day. His single to begin the ninth sparked a rally to tie the game at 3-3 and his double led off the 11th where Kasevich eventually scored the winning run.

The Ducks had runners on second and third with two out and the Dons decided to pitch to Gavin Grant. It was a pick your poison option with Tanner Smith waiting on deck. Grant hit a bouncer to second where it was slow enough for Grant to beat the throw sending Oregon home happy.

USF took the early 2-0 lead in the second inning, but the Ducks were able to tie the game an inning later. Brennan Milone’s single got Oregon on the board and Kasevich’s single up the middle tied the game.

It remained 2-2 until the sixth inning when USF was able to scratch out a run off of reliever Logan Mercado. Oregon used five pitchers out of the bullpen after Scott Ellis made his first career start. Matt Dallas threw the final 3 2/3 innings and earned the win.

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.