Story by: Elias Esquivel
In what was San Jose State’s first ever trip to Eugene, the Spartans will return to California after a deflating 13-1 loss to the Oregon Ducks Wednesday afternoon. Despite a competitive outing on Tuesday, Oregon dominated the Spartans in their second match-up of the week.
Things began slow, but soon enough the Ducks came swinging. The bases were loaded in the second inning when Gavin Grant hit a double out to right field, bringing home Gabe Matthews and Sam Novitske. Anthony Hall joined the party, hitting a line drive out to right center field, earning himself a pair of RBIs and giving the Ducks a 4-0 lead after two innings.
After a couple of lifeless innings, Oregon put its foot to the gas pedal, scoring five more runs in the fifth inning. Freshman Jack Scanlon ignited his ball-club, earning his 6th RBI of the season on a sacrifice fly to bring to bring Josh Kasevich home. The hits kept coming for Oregon, as they took a firm 9-0 lead heading into the sixth inning.
The lone highlight for San Jose State came in the sixth inning. Junior Ruben Ibarra slammed a home run to right center, scoring his teams only run of the game.
Aside from Ibarra’s homer, the Spartans struggled at bat all game. The Ducks had six different looks at the mound today, with Logan Mercado earning the win. They allowed only six hits all game, striking out eight batters along the way. Consistent performance from Oregon’s pitchers paved the way for their victory, and head coach Mark Wasikowski was pleased.
“It was a good overall team win,” said Coach Wasikowski. “Still have plenty of Pac-12 schedule in front of us that’s got some quality teams. We got a lot still on the table for us and stretching our pitching out, having a couple more serviceable arms is clearly gonna be needed down the stretch.”
They combined for 154 pitches – a bit less than their 181 pitches from yesterday.
Coach Wasikowski also had high praise for Scanlon, making a point to emphasize the impact the freshman brings to the table, noting that it might not all appear in the box score.
“Scanlon’s a guy who adds value not on the stat sheet. It’s a feel of the game,” Coach Wasikowski said. “As a catcher, he’s the only player back there who can see everything that goes on the in game. He settled things down today from a pitcher’s standpoint.”
The Ducks move to 29-9 on the season. While it may be sweet, Coach Wasikowski knows the work isn’t finished. Wednesday’s game was the performance he expects.
“We want to be there at the end,” said Coach Wasikowski. “The only way that’s gonna be met is if there is a really high standard. The standard wasn’t met on Sunday (against UCLA). The standard wasn’t met on Tuesday (against San Jose State). The standard was met on Wednesday.”
The Ducks will prepare for an eastern Washington road trip, where they’ll have string of games against Washington State (19-16, 7-11 Pac-12) and Gonzaga (27-13, 14-4 WCC). San Jose State (4-12, 2-5 MWC) look to regroup against UC Davis (10-28, 5-19 BWC).