By Kent Williams
On a cloudy February afternoon, the Oregon Ducks(3-0) took on the Xavier Musketeers(0-3) for games 2 and 3 of their series and came away victorious in both of them. While neither was in walk-off fashion like Friday's exciting game, it was a turn around for an offense that struggled to get going.
Game 1
The offense got off to a hot start in this game, scoring in each of the first four innings. Catcher Josiah Cromwick got things off to a great start with a 3-run homer for his first of the season and gave the Ducks a quick lead. However, DH Sabin Ceballos would respond with a long shot of his own in the second inning, this one a solo shot to widen the gap. Oregon would tack on a couple more crooked numbers in the 3rd and 4th inning, including Cromwick's second home run of the day.
While Cromwick had a great day at that plate, all eyes were on freshman starting pitcher Leo Uelmen making his collegiate debut for the Ducks. Oregon has relied on a lot of new faces on the mound so far early on in the season, and none has so as impressive as Uelmen was today, tossing 5 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts and no walks. The righty commanded the zone exceptionally well and avoided hard contact for most of his outing, paving the way for a smooth 9-2 victory for the Ducks.
Game 2
While the offense didn't get off to nearly the quick start it did in game 1, this game still saw some standout performances by a couple of bats at the top of the lineup. Newcomer second baseman Rikuu Nishida came up clutch for the Ducks in a 2-out situation with runners in scoring position, lacing a single to plate two and break what was a 1-1 tie. For the day, he would finish 1 for 3 with 3 RBI and a run scored. And right after him was veteran third baseman Drew Cowley, driving in Nishida with a 2-run bomb to left field with the runs that ended up being the difference in the 5-3 victory for Oregon.
On the mound was another rookie for the Ducks, this time Canadian freshman righty Matt Grabmann. He would finish with a line of 4 innings pitched and only allowing 1 earned run along with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. The Ducks would continue with the Canadian newbie trend after Grabmann, going with Turner Spoljaric next. He would go 3 innings with no earned runs allowed and 4 strikeouts with 1 walk before handing it over to Matt Dallas, who would complete the 2 inning save with 1 earned run allowed.
Next up for the Ducks is the final game of the Xavier series, with first pitch scheduled for noon on Sunday looking to complete the four game sweep.