Written Story by Aiden Hess

Audio Story by Ryan Oppenheimer

EUGENE, Ore – Oregon Baseball completed a midweek two game series sweep of the Gonzaga Bulldogs with a 10-5 victory Wednesday night at PK Park. This was the fourth instance where the Ducks have squared off against the Spokane squad in the last two seasons. Success has been had for Oregon as they won both of the two prior season matchups in 2022 with the Bulldogs and have done the same in 2023. Following an 11 run performance in last night’s game, Oregon answered the call again with hot bats in timely moments scoring ten and sweeping their fifth different opponent at PK Park this season.

Turner Spoljaric was given the start on the mound for the Ducks in game two of the series. Spoljaric entered today with a record of 3-0 and a 4.76 ERA, things did not start off ideal for the righty pitcher from north of the border. Following a couple of first inning one out walks, Gonzaga right fielder Sam Stem hit a 3-run homer that put the Ducks behind the 8-Ball. However, it wouldn’t take long until Oregon found an answer. Ducks’ second baseman Gavin Grant came up big in the RISP department with a two-out two RBI single to cut the Zags lead to 3-2 in the second inning.

Spoljaric settled in after the first inning blemish and finished his day without allowing another run. There was a  point where he retired nine batters in a row en route to a solid five inning outing while striking out three Bulldogs. The offense for the Ducks was able to eclipse the early 3-0 margin when in the fifth inning when leadoff hitter Rikuu Nishida laid down a safety squeeze bunt to tie the score at three. The go ahead run came across when freshman Drew Smith, who was making his first start at third base, lined a ball back up the middle on an 0-2 count making it 4-3 Oregon after five frames.

The Ducks’ bullpen kept it clean just about the rest of the way as Logan Mercado posted a zero in the sixth and Matt Dallas was good for two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. Oregon was able to expand on its one run lead when Grant picked up another RBI single in the sixth making it 5-3. Drew Smith continued to make the most of limited at bats crushing his first collegiate career home run, a solo shot to deep left-center field putting his team squarely in the driver’s seat up 7-4.

Oregon continued to pour it on offensively with a big four run four hit inning highlighted by a solo home run for Ducks’ catcher Josiah Cromwick, his fifth of the season and the third RBI single of the night for Gavin Grant who ended his day 3-3 at the dish with four RBIs.

Things got a little bit interesting in the ninth as Ducks pitcher Logan Olson had trouble finding the strike zone, walking in a pair of runs. Austin Anderson entered for Oregon and cleaned up the mess recording two outs and locking down the win for the Ducks. Today’s starter Turner Spoljaric was awarded the win, improving his record to 4-0. Oregon improves to a 28-12 overall record following the non-conference sweep and now set their sights on a massive three game home weekend series with the Arizona State Sun Devils who currently sit in first place of the PAC-12 standings. First pitch of game one between the Ducks and the Devs is set for this Friday April 28th at 5:05 PM at PK Park.