It was a roller coaster ride for your average Oregon fan on Friday night in attendance at Game 1 of the Super Regionals between the Ducks and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Friday night.
While the electricity was present and pumping before the first pitch was thrown, with the second-largest crowd in PK Park history, the energy was quickly sapped from the ballpark as Oral Roberts hung an eight-run third inning on the Ducks and blew the game open.
Coming into the contest, everyone knew that the Golden Eagles were no joke — you don’t go 49-11 with a 21-game winning streak by accident. Duck fans were learning the hard way.
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A once raucous environment turned quiet. However, while the fans may have been frustrated and solemn in the stands, the Ducks stayed calm and looked to right the ship.
“This team won’t quit. This team’s got a toughness to them that I’ve never seen before,” said head coach Mark Wasikowski. “They won’t quit. To come back from an 8-0 deficit, as disappointed as they were in the third inning… They’ve been working to build this thing to where a day like this would happen, this number of people and this energy. And to get really punched in the face in the beginning of this game, I don’t think I’d ever be able to imagine another team rebounding from that.”
Back-to-back home runs from Jacob Walsh and Bennett Thompson in the third gave Oregon life, and then a three-run bomb again from Thompson in the fourth inning gave the Ducks a spark. From that point, the comeback was on.
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“You can’t hit a seven-run home run; I’ve never seen it,” Thompson said. “So I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball. That guy had been throwing a lot of strikes, and so I was just able to get a fastball in the zone and not trying to do too much. Ultimately the ball left the yard but I wasn’t trying to do that; it just ended up happening. So that was awesome to get the momentum back on our side there.”
The Ducks tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, and then a walk-off RBI single from Drew Cowley in the bottom of the ninth put Oregon over the top, completing the largest comeback in Super Regionals history.
“Our fans wouldn’t let us lose,” Wasikowski said. “Our fans were amazing, and I don’t think PK Park has ever been that electric. I think it can even get better, but they would not let us lose.”
It was an incredible win, and something that will give plenty of momentum going into Game 2 on Saturday night. Despite the craziness, the Ducks know that if they aren’t able to win one more game against Oral Roberts, then all of this will be for not.
“We’re obviously excited, grounded in the moment, but we understand that we’re still one win away,” Wasikowski said. “So it’s not like anything’s been accomplished other than the fact that it was a fantastic environment, a great game.”
First pitch for Game 2 is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPNU Saturday night. ‘[lawrence-auto-related count=3]