Written Story by John Evans
Eugene, OR - The Oregon Ducks faced off against the University of San Diego Toreros in the third game of a four-game series. After winning the first two games on Thursday and Friday, the Ducks looked to follow up with another win in order to clinch the series victory. Oregon was led by freshman Jackson Pace, making his second start and third appearance on the mound of the year. Starting for the Toreros was righty Garrett Rennie, who had posted a 0.75 ERA in his first two starts this season.
Pace had the best start of his young career so far, not allowing any runs across six strong innings, and striking out two batters in the process. While the strikeout numbers from his other appearances were not there today, Pace was able to limit the Toreros to weak contact, and with a strong defensive performance behind him, keep them scoreless as well.
Pace was followed by fellow freshmen Grayson Grinsell, Dylan McShane, and Logan Olson out of the bullpen. They each would throw a scoreless inning of their own, helping to keep the all-freshman shutout going, something that Head Coach Mark Wasikowski said he was very impressed by.
The Ducks' bats would match the strong performance of the pitching staff by scoring a whopping 13 runs to ensure that the hard work of the pitchers wouldn't go to waste. The highlight of the day was a diving catch by Tanner Smith in left field to end the top of the sixth inning, which he quickly followed by leading off the bottom of the inning with his first home run of the season to increase the Ducks' lead to seven. The offensive outburst was led by home runs from Smith, Sabin Ceballos, and Colby Shade, who combined drove in nine of the Ducks' 13 runs on the day, including six RBIs from Shade alone.
The Ducks will look to close out a potential sweep tomorrow at 12:05 PM, as they hand the ball to freshman Matthew Grabmann for his third start of the season. They will then get ready for the start of conference play as they host the UCLA Bruins at PK Park for a three-game set from March 10-12.
Audio Story by Austin Ota
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
Left Fielder Tanner Smith
Center Fielder Colby Shade
Starting Pitcher Jackson Pace