By Liam Baker

Eugene, Ore. — With a chance to pick up their first sweep of Pac-12 play, the Ducks fell to the Trojans 4-2 on Sunday at PK Park. The Ducks allowed just three hits on the day but issued three walks and hit five Trojans which USC capitalized on.

The Ducks got on the board first in the second inning via a Dominic Hellman home run and a bases-loaded walk to Bryce Boettcher but the threat was ended when Bennett Thompson grounded into an inning-ending double play. But, after picking up three hits in the first two innings, the Ducks recorded only two hits the rest of the way and failed to get a hit with a runner on base the entire game.

“I don’t think the offense showed up to play today at the level that they are capable of which was frustrating,” said Head Coach Mark Wasikowski.

Kevin Seitter drew the start for the Ducks and faced the minimum through three innings but gave up a solo home run to Austin Overn in the fourth which cut the Ducks lead in half. In the sixth, Seitter hit Overn to lead off the inning then allowed him to reach second base on a balk. Jacob Galloway brought him home after Hellman was not able to cleanly field a ground ball at first base. With still no outs, Seitter hit Ryan Jackson and a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third. A sacrifice fly brought what would turn out to be the winning run home, but the Ducks were to nab Jackson at third to end the inning. In all, the Trojans took the lead without a hit.

The Ducks had a chance to tie it in the ninth as Chase Meggers walked to lead off the inning but the rally was ultimately stymied by Josh Blum who secured the victory for the visitors.

With the loss, the Ducks have failed to sweep a Pac-12 opponent this season despite winning all five of those series.

“We are right there, we’ve got pieces that are there we are just not able to turn a good team into a great team. You got to have really sustained efforts on weekends to win three games,” said Wasikowski.

The Ducks will fall to 25-10 on the season and 10-5 in Pac-12 play. They will be back in action at PK Park on Tuesday when they host Gonzaga for one game.

By Mario Nordi

EUGENE, Ore. – The Ducks originally had the rivalry matchup against the University of Washington scheduled for an outdoor bout, but the weather had a change of mind and moved the match indoors. Oregon practiced throughout the week outdoors in preparation for their first outdoor match at home, yet the move inside had no effect on the Ducks” performance. Oregon started off hot with a sweep in Doubles play earning the team the respective point. The No. 54 ranked Oregon duo of Mathew Burton and Quinn Vandecasteele handed UW’s No. 59 ranked Cesar Bouchelaghem and Dzianis Zharyn a (6-4) loss in their set. Then to close out doubles UO’s Vlad Breazu and Avi Shugar took a swift (6-4) win over UW’s Heman Nama and Ivan Sodan.

When it came to singles play things got tense with UW on the verge of a comeback with the Huskies’ Dzianis Zharyn defeating UO’s David Cierny in only two sets (6-4),(6-1) and UW’s Nedim Suko taking down UO’s Mathew Burton in a three-set thriller (6-2),(1-6),(6-4). But wins from UO’s Ray Lo and Lenn Leumkemann set up Oregon’s Breazu for the win. Breazu closed out his singles match in the third set, winning (6-4) marking a sweep on the season against the Huskies for the Ducks.

Post match Oregon Head Coach, Nils Schyllander, said, “Knowing that Vlad is there (mentally) in the third set, he’s going to get the job done.”

The Ducks will have a “day off and a lot of us ice baths,” said Schyllander as Oregon prepares to take on the Arizona schools next weekend to close out their five-match homestead and an end regular season play. Starting with Arizona State on Friday, April 19 and The University of Arizona on Sunday, April 21

Audio Story by Jason Hardrict