Written and Audio Stories by Austin Ota

The Oregon Baseball team was riding high after a five game win streak, but timely Trojan hitting and poor execution of the Oregon pitching staff allowed USC to come away with a victory, 6-5. Oregon had righty Isaac Ayon on the bump, and he began the day hot, striking out four in his first three innings without allowing a run. However, his offspeed pitches began to falter, and that coupled with a lack of fastball location to allow the Trojans to climb back into the game. In the end, Matt Dallas plunked a batter with the bases loaded and the game tied to give USC a lead they would not let slip.

Oregon's offense looked good from the beginning, as a second inning Anthony Hall home run gave the Ducks an early lead. After struggling early in the season, Hall has picked it up, going 9-21 with all three of his home runs coming in the past six games. He finished the day 1-4, but had good at bats in each of them. USC fought back, a fourth inning blast off the bat of the Trojans' Lozano putting them up 3-1. However, Jack Scanlon, an owner of only four hits on the season, planted a ball in the right field bullpen in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two others, allowing Oregon to retake the lead. It was back and forth from then on, but ultimately, Dallas loaded the bases in the eighth and could not recover. Jacob Walsh would reach on a two base error in the ninth, but Josh Kasevich's line drive up the middle could not elude the reach of the Trojans' middle infielder, and Oregon would wind up falling at the hands of USC.

Following the game, Oregon will see a tough matchup, as they go into the rubber match facing Charlie Hurley. The Ducks will start Caleb Sloan, who has been solid overall since his move to the rotation.

Postgame Audio

Oregon Coach Mark Wasikowski