By: Jack McArthur

Jace Stoffal worked his usual Friday night magic tonight at PK Park. Stoffal allowed just two runs in six and two-thirds innings as Oregon’s starter. In addition to having another productive outing from Stoffal, the Ducks’ offense was scorching hot tonight. Oregon’s prolific offense crushed the Sun Devils today, with a final score of 11-5. Jace Stoffal was Oregon’s starter, while Jonah Giblin was the starting pitcher for the Arizona State Sun Devils. Entering Friday’s game, Stoffal had a 3.02 ERA while Giblin had a 5.09 ERA.

Stoffal started off the game striking out Kien Vu, followed by two quick outs for Oregon. In the first inning, it didn’t take the Ducks long to get on the board. Drew Cowley hit one out in the bottom of the first, putting Oregon on the board, as they led 1-0 early. During the bottom of the second inning, Giblin threw two balls in the dirt in a row. Arizona State’s pitching wasn’t productive tonight, as they gave up 13 runs and four homers, including a grand slam from Drew Cowley. ASU came back with a run of their own in the third inning, as Luke Hill crushed one towards the right field gap, which sent catcher Bronson Bolholm home to score. With two on base in the third, Stoffal escaped the third inning only giving up one run. In the third inning, Colby Shade homered. He hit a bomb that went into the grass past the left field wall. Shade’s home run was indefinitely the most well-hit ball that I have ever seen an Oregon player hit. Through three innings of work, Stoffal had five K’s.

A surge of offense from Oregon in the fourth inning blew the game open. The Ducks scored an unbelievable seven runs in the fourth inning. At the end of the fourth inning, Oregon led Arizona State by eight runs, with a score of 9-1. In the fourth, Rikuu Nishida had a ground-rule double, as he hit a ball deep into center field that bounced and skipped the center field wall. Cowley hit his second homer of the game in the fourth inning, which was a grand slam this time. During the top of the sixth inning, ASU’s sophomore outfielder, Nick McLain, homered as he hit a ball deep into right field. McLain had two homers on the night for the Sun Devils. During the top of the sixth, it was apparent that Stoffal was visibly tired. Stoffal was pulled after 97 pitches thrown on the night. Jace “The ace” Stoffal had quite the outing. He only allowed just two runs through six and two thirds innings in addition to posting seven K’s on the night. Oregon’s lefty pitcher Grayson Grinsell replaced Stoffal in the seventh. Grinsell gave up two solo home runs in 1.1 innings pitched. Right-handed pitcher Jacob Hughes was brought into the game for Oregon after Grinsell gave up two runs. Although the Sun Devils attempted to make a comeback, Oregon’s offense was too explosive and overwhelming for them. Oregon scored an impressive 11 runs on the night.

Head coach Mark Wasikowksi was impressed with his team’s effort tonight. “(Colby) Shade had another good day today. When you get speed on the bases, it can be a lot of fun. Especially Rikuu (Nishida), Colby (Shade) and (Bryce) Boettcher; those guys that can really run,” said coach Wasikowski. “You can score on balls that usually aren’t scoring potential type plays. Those guys can score.” Oregon tallied seven runs in the fourth inning alone, and 11 on the night in total. The final score was 11-5. Tomorrow, Oregon will be back at PK Park at 3:05 PM, for game two of the weekend series against Arizona State.

Audio Story: