At the bottom of the first of the middle match between the No. 16 Oregon Ducks (26-11, 13-7 Big Ten) and the No. 10 UCLA Bruins (29-9, 13-4 Big Ten), lead-off junior center fielder Mason Neville was up to bat and looking to fill in the early 1-0 hole the Ducks had put themselves in. He went down in the count 1-2 early in the at-bat, but worked two straight pitches to fill it up. On the next pitch, Neville activated the launch sequence and cracked the ball deep to right field. The ball soared over the Oregon bullpen and the Sargent Player Development Area during the monstrous homer. Neville knew it immediately as he flipped his bat and looked toward his fired-up dugout.
The bullpen would let down these efforts, though, as UCLA rallied and took Game 2 with a 14-4 score.
Senior first baseman Jacob Walsh led the way for the Oregon offense today, going 2-for-4 with two homers and two RBIs.
Oregon was coming off a thrilling 2-1 win over the same UCLA squad the day before. In that game, junior left-handed starter Grayson Grinsell threw a two-hit, one-run complete game while junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman drove in both of the Oregon runs.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Collin Clarke took the hill for the Ducks as he sought to simmer his 4.25 ERA.
UCLA quickly cleared scoring frustrations from the day before as lead-off sophomore left fielder Dean West slapped one deep to right field. Junior right fielder Drew Smith had eyes on the ball as he looked for more robbery heroics from the day before. Unlike yesterday, the ball just snuck over the glove of Smith, and the Bruins were out to a 1-0 lead after one batter in the top of the first.
Neville took inspiration from the UCLA lead-off shot by creating one of his own. The deficit lasted six pitches, and it was a fresh start for the Ducks.
That homer from Neville tied the single-season record for home runs.
It seemed like that’s all that Oregon would get in the first after the next two batters struck out, but Smith sparked a two-out rally that began with a walk. A wild pitch opened the door for him to steal second, then junior left fielder Anson Aroz poked one to right field that just went over the first baseman’s glove. Smith flew around to score, and Oregon had a 2-1 lead in the first.
Both pitchers focused in and locked it down until the top of the fourth when UCLA loaded the bases with two singles and a hit by pitch. After that, a fielder's choice got the runner headed for second, but sophomore first baseman Mulivai Levu scored through the back door to tie the game. Another run snuck in after Clarke spiked a pitch that got away from junior catcher Chase Meggers. Sophomore third baseman Roman Martin jumped on the opportunity and scooted home, giving the Bruins the 3-2 lead.
The three-inning scoring drought for the Ducks came to an end when senior first baseman Jacob Walsh blistered a pitch to right field, and all UCLA could do was watch it fly, as that made it a new game at the packed PK Park.
Clarke’s day (5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 Ks) came to a close in the top of the sixth when freshman right-handed reliever Will Sanford stepped in. This was an unusual relief appearance for Sanford, as he is typically the Sunday starter for the Ducks.
“He was okay,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “He kept us in the game. It was a heck of a baseball game until we got there into the latter three innings. Tie score, but it was a really disappointing finish.”
Sanford was greeted with some difficulties after Bruins senior center fielder AJ Salgado kept it just fair and doubled down the right field line. A fielder's choice advanced him to third, but Sanford threw the ball away, making the routine play at first, and UCLA took the 4-3 lead off the free run.
Sophomore left-handed reliever Santiago Garcia took the ball from Sanford in the seventh. He got the first guy he saw out, but proceeded to let up a solo shot from sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky. This extended the Bruin lead to two.
Life would be sucked out of the Oregon crowd in that same inning when a single and a walk put two more runners on for UCLA. They all would come around to score after junior right fielder Jarrod Hocking nuked a pitch to left-center field and over the wall. This made it 8-3 Bruins, and the Ducks were in another hole. After that, freshman right-handed reliever Kellan Knox took the bump for Garcia.
While the damage was done to the frame before, Walsh stayed locked in. With two outs, he worked a 2-2 count, then smoked a ball that appeared to be a double off the wall when it came off the bat, but it carried up and over the fence. The UCLA lead was cut to four.
UCLA would grab some insurance in the eighth that started with the first three batters reaching on a single and two hit by pitches. Sophomore right-handed reliever Cole Stokes came on to try and work around the threat, but Cholowsky pieced another ball, this time down the left-field line. Two runs came across to make it 10-4 Bruins. Levu then poked one through the right side to score another, then a hit by pitch loaded the bases right back up.
Wasikowski had seen enough as he pulled Stokes for junior left-handed pitcher Sam Boyle. A run was taken away after a nice play from sophomore second baseman Ryan Cooney forced the runner out at home, but Meggers threw it away, throwing down to first, allowing in another run off a Ducks error.
A sac-fly brought in Martin from third to make it 13-4, and the last run of the major Bruins inning was scored after Salgado was plated off a sophomore designated hitter, Blake Balsz’s single. When the dust settled, it was a 10-run lead for UCLA.
Struggles from Boyle and the rest of the bullpen continue to bite the Ducks and receive the blame for most of the Oregon missteps this season.
“The kids got a great arm,” Wasikowski said. “He’s going through a little bit of a funk with hit pitching, clearly. A couple of our bullpen pieces have been clearly inconsistent for us. It’s not like we got a bunch of other guys that you can just roll out there. We’ve seen other guys get opportunities and not be able to come through.”
Back-to-back singles gave Oregon some life in the bottom of the eighth, but the second double play of the game put the nail in the coffin as the game was called due to the run rule.
Also contributing to the Ducks’ offense was Neville, who was 1-for-3 with a home run and an RBI.
“For the first six innings, you feel like you’re prepared pretty well,” Wasikowski said. “For the last couple innings of that game, you feel like you haven’t prepared them at all. It’s quite a Jekyll and Hyde right now for us. Every day, we take the mentality that it’s the biggest game of the year for us. Tomorrow is clearly the biggest game of the year, just like today was.”
Despite the loss, this gives the Ducks an opportunity to play arguably their most important game of the season up to this point. The rubber match of this series will be Sunday, Apr. 20, with a 2:02 p.m. first pitch. Junior right-handed starter Jason Reitz will get the nod for the Ducks.