Audio Story by Kent Williams

Written story by Kent Williams

After the first two games were split with both ending in walk-off fashion, Sunday's game may leave a sour taste in Duck fans mouths after an 11-6 loss. Oregon certainly had many opportunities to strike but just couldn't get enough going to make up for some big innings allowed by the pitching staff.

In the 5th inning, things got off to a great start when Gavin Grant laced a ball for a single but then some aggressive baserunning got him nabbed at second. When leadoff man Rikuu Nishida singled, Bryce Boettcher attempted a sacrifice bunt that went straight up in the air before the inning was capped off by a Drew Cowley groundout. Those first two outs squandered what could've been a big inning with the middle of the order up.

Then, in the 7th inning, Oregon had opportunity with the bases loaded and 1 out, when Sabin Ceballos hit a sac fly to score a run. However, that was all they could muster for the frame despite getting another bases loaded opportunity later with 2 outs, and they wouldn't get any more runs after that until it was too late.

On the mound, Oregon's lack of depth came back to bite them. After relying heavily on their top arms in the first two games, they again had to turn to some of those guys after being taxed the first two games. Logan Mercado threw 3 innings after doing the same in Friday's game on 62 pitches. Also, seniors Matt Dallas and Josh Mollerus both threw for the third straight day. Once the 9th came around, the only options left were freshman Logan Olson and sophomore Jacob Hughes, neither of whom has pitched since mid-May. Big innings were the killer for the staff, as they allowed three runs in three separate innings, including the 9th which really put the nail in the coffin.

While the Ducks weren't able to reach Omaha, many around Eugene would agree that hosting a Super Regional is a big step up from where the program was before Coach Wasikowski took over. Next year should be an exciting one for diamond sports on campus, as Oregon was the only school to reach the Super Regional stage for both baseball and softball.

Full Postgame Audio - Coach Wasikowski and graduating seniors