Oregon (27-29, 10-19 Pac-12) fell just short in their comeback bid against top-ranked UCLA (47-8, 23-5 Pac-12) Friday night at PK Park by a score of 6-5. Ducks starter Brett Walker was touched up to the tune of six runs in 2.2 innings, which put Oregon behind the eight-ball for the rest of the night. From there, Cole Stringer took the reigns and pitched 6.1 scoreless frames to keep the Ducks in the ballgame.

The third inning proved to be the difference for UCLA, where they scored all six of their runs on a variety of hits and walks. Oregon bounced back with back-to-back two-run innings to cut the deficit to two, which snapped Bruins starting pitcher Jack Ralston’s 27-inning scoreless streak, and the game held steady for much of the middle innings from there. In the eighth, four walks by UCLA’s Kyle Mora and Holden Powell plated another run for the Ducks and brought them within one, 6-5. Two bases loaded strikeouts later, Oregon’s rally was over and they never recovered. Bruins pitching struck out 17 Ducks, and they’ll go for the sweep at 4PM Saturday evening at PK Park.

Game Story – Kent Williams

Post Game Audio

Coach George Horton

LHP Cole Stringer