In the bottom of the seventh of the Sunday, Feb. 23 series finale against Rhode Island, the Oregon Ducks were coasting and looking to put the nail in the coffin, and junior left fielder Anson Aroz had the chance to do it.
With the bases loaded, Aroz and the Ducks would’ve been happy with any base hit, but Aroz wanted it all. He was patient at the plate, going down 1-for-2 before fouling two pitches and taking back-to-back balls. Rhode Island pitcher Parker Aikens left the next pitch over the plate and Aroz didn’t miss it. He crushed it to left-center field and left the yard with some help from the wind. This grand slam put the Ducks up 15-2 and enacted the run rule, winning the game and series for Oregon.
“It was a good way to cap off the day,” Aroz said. “Got us out of here a little quick, made up for some lost time. It always feels good.”
This was the Ducks second grand slam in the game. The first came from freshman catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus back in the fourth inning. That homer was the first of Mabeus’s career and made it 8-2 Oregon.
“I thought it was awesome. Having the bases loaded was a pretty cool time to do it,” Mabeus said. “I came back to the dugout and my teammates were pretty pumped for me, so it was just a good experience, super fun.”
The Ducks entered this game coming off a doubleheader sweep on Saturday. In the Game 1 win, Oregon only scored one unearned run, but followed that up with a 19-run explosion in Game 2. With those wins, it put itself in the position to win the series 3-1 on Sunday and avoid what would be an unpleasant series split against Rhode Island.
The game began with a tough start for Oregon. The rain was coming down in Eugene, and it had a clear effect on freshman starting pitcher Will Sanford. The first three Rams batters reached after a walk, double and another walk. Sanford then walked the next batter, allowing a free run to come in from third. This was a wake-up call for Sanford, as he shut down this early threat by striking out three straight to get the Ducks up to bat for the first time.
The Oregon bats had Sanford’s back. Junior center fielder Mason Neville continued his hot hitting by doubling to fire up the offense. Junior designated hitter Dominic Hellamn was hit by a pitch, then senior first baseman Jacob Walsh walked and just like that Oregon had the bases loaded themselves. After Aroz struck out, Mabeus stepped up to the plate and ripped an opposite-field single that scored two and the Ducks never looked back from this lead.
Freshman right fielder Jax Gimenez grounded out, but Walsh scored through the back door to give Oregon the 3-1 lead after the first.
Sanford worked around another bases-loaded situation in the second for a much-needed zero from the Oregon defense. When Oregon got back up to bat, their aggressive baserunning seemed to be an issue at the beginning of the inning when sophomore shortstop Ryan Cooney got thrown out at the plate. They stayed aggressive though as junior third baseman Carter Garate stole third after singling and stealing second. A Hellman single drove Garate in and the aggressive baserunning paid off to make the lead 4-1.
The third inning would have to wait. A two-hour and 55-minute rain delay halted things at PK Park. By 4:02 p.m., the rain had turned to a drizzle and the two teams emerged from their dugouts like bears out of hibernation. Freshman reliever Michael Meckna took the ball from Sanford, and it was back underway. A Rhode Island single scored the runner that reached second before the delay and the Oregon lead was down to two.
The Ducks left Mabeus stranded on third in their half of the inning and it was onto the fourth.
Meckna was locked down in the fourth, striking out two while working around a one-out walk. The bottom of the inning looked like another quiet one for the Ducks, but a walk with one out, another walk and a hit by pitch with two outs loaded the bases. Mabeus was next up and had a chance for his first stunning moment as a Duck, and he delivered. Behind in the count 1-2, Mabeus crushed a fastball and sent it over the fence to make it 8-2 Ducks.
Meckna stayed strong and continued his solid collegiate debut by putting up another zero and Oregon had another chance to extend the lead. Sophomore second baseman Jack Brooks walked, then made it to third after some Ducks small-ball bunting. The Rhode Island pitcher then balked to allow in another freebie for Oregon. The next two batters got on before Walsh plastered a ball in the right-center gap to score those two runners. With all the onslaught, they were one run away from a 10-run-rule enactment.
Both teams were quiet in the sixth as Meckna continued his impressive performance. This would be his last inning as he finished the day with 3 ⅔ innings pitched, two hits, zero earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts. Most importantly, he got the win.
“It felt great. It was good to get out there and it’s good knowing you have a good defense behind you,” Meckna said. “Slider was really good today. I was able to spot that early in the count. The change-up, I don’t usually throw that a lot and it was dotting up a little bit.”
Senior reliever Jaxon Jordan pitched the seventh for Oregon, picking up a strikeout in what was the last top inning of the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, Oregon got the first three batters on due to a single, double and a walk. Walsh popped up for the first out, but that would be the final out the Rams got before Aroz bombed the walk-off grand slam that put the Oregon Ducks at a 6-2 record after two weekends of baseball.
Mabeus led the way for the Ducks offense, going 3-4 with that grand slam and six RBIs.
Oregon stays home next weekend for a four-game series against the Columbia Lions. The series will start Friday, Feb. 28 at 3:05 p.m.