The atmosphere was booming at PK Park as the No. 5-ranked Oregon Ducks took on the Utah Valley Wolverines for Game 2 of the Eugene Regional.
Nerves sat heavy throughout the stadium in the bottom of the eighth as Oregon stared down the barrel of a major upset from the Wolverines. Down 6-4, the Ducks had junior left fielder Anson Aroz on third, sophomore shortstop Maddox Molony on first and junior catcher Chase Meggers at the plate. On a 0-2 count, Meggers flew out to left field, but deep enough for Aroz to test the arm. Aroz bolted. The throw came in, and the catcher dropped the ball, but Aroz laid a hit built more for Autzen Stadium on the catcher. The initial call was safe, but umpires took it to review to discuss if the contact was malicious. After a lengthy review, it was deemed that Aroz did not make an attempt to avoid contact and was called out. Chaos ensued as boos rained down from the stands and Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski jumped from the dugout into the umpire’s face. The wiped-away run would prove costly, as Oregon lost 6-5.
“They said it came from Pittsburgh,” Wasikowski said. “The call was out of their hands. I’m really proud of the way Anson Aroz went into home plate the way he did. I was taught to play hard. I was taught to get after it by my dad and by my coaches growing up. Unfortunately, playing hard was not rewarded today by whatever rule was supposedly violated by a player that was playing hard.”
Leading the charge for the Ducks offense was junior right fielder Drew Smith, who was 2-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs.
The Ducks were coming off a 7-3 defeat to the Nebraska Cornhuskers that ended their Big Ten Tournament run in the quarter-finals. The elements would not be in Oregon’s favor in the tournament, as a rain delay forced the Ducks to win two in one day to keep their tournament hopes alive, which the Cornhuskers would take advantage of.
Getting the high-pressure start for Oregon was junior right-handed starter Jason Reitz with a 6:06 p.m. first pitch. The sky-scraping six-foot-11 Ducks dealer looked to continue his stellar season into regional play as he stepped into his biggest spot of the year.
Utah Valley stunned Oregon early in the top of the second as a walk and a single put runners on first and second. One came around to score after a double from junior left fielder Jimmy De Anda scored the runner from second.
The Wolverines weren’t done.
Junior right fielder Luke Iverson poked a single to right field to plate another. The damage looked to be limited as Reitz struck out two straight, but junior catcher Mason Strong singled to tack two more runs on, and he advanced to third on a fielding error from Ducks Aroz. That’s all Reitz let across, but the damage was done, and it was 4-0 Wolverines.
It seemed like life was taken out of the Oregon squad after two quick groundouts started the bottom of the third, but a single from senior first baseman Jacob Walsh put some energy in the dugout. When Smith stepped up, he worked a full count and then launched a pitch the opposite way into the Oregon bullpen for a two-run jack that cut the Valley lead in half.
On the next pitch, Aroz made up for his poor fielding from before and blistered one deep to right field. This bomb exploded the PK Park crowd as Aroz turned to the fans, who rose to their feet. After three, it was 4-3 Wolverines.
Reitz came out for the top of the seventh, but walked a batter and hit the next. After that, sophomore left-handed reliever Santiago Garcia took over. Despite five earned runs, Reitz showed out as he hammered his career high in strikeouts and set the new number at 14.
Reitz final line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 14 Ks and 110 TP
“The 14 K’s, it is what it is,” Reitz said. “The bottom line is I don’t feel like I did my job to the standard that I needed to to help us win the game. We’ll come out tomorrow and fight for the next three days, and that’s all we can do.”
Garcia stepped in and immediately threw it into center field, trying to pick off the runner at second. This advanced runners to second and third, and Utah Valley made the Ducks pay as De Anda slapped one up the middle to score both runners. Oregon needed answers as it was down three with three innings to play.
Sophomore right-handed reliever Cole Stokes took the hill in the top of the eighth in place of Garcia (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K and 18 TP). Stokes did not have it (0.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 Ks and 11 TP). After walking two, he was pulled for freshman right-handed reliever Tanner Bradley.
As the Oregon diehards celebrated “Shout” in the bottom of the eighth, Smith turned the singing into cheering as he hammered the first pitch to left field and made it 6-4, Wolverines.
Aroz walked, then Molony knocked a single to opposite field to put runners on the corners. Then, in a controversial play, Meggers slapped a fly ball deep enough for Aroz to tag, but Aroz trucked the Utah Valley catcher at home. The catcher dropped the ball before the contact, but officials took it to review for malicious contact on Aroz. After review, Aroz was called out and ejected. Because of the ejection, Aroz will be suspended for the next game.
Fists were clenched in the bottom of the ninth when junior third baseman Carter Garate walked to lead off in the inning. Junior center fielder Mason Neville then struck out, but junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman smacked a single in between the third baseman and shortstop to put runners on the corners. Sophomore pinch runner Jack Brooks came in for Hellman with Walsh up to bat. On the first pitch, Walsh skied a deep fly ball that carried and carried, but died a foot short of the wall. Garate came to score to make it 6-5, and the tying run sat at first. Underwhelmingly, Smith grounded out, and to the shock of the Oregon fans, coaches and players, Utah Valley sent the Ducks to the losers’ bracket with a 6-5 win.
“Credit to the Utah Valley team for winning the game tonight,” Wasikowski said. “I thought they did a tremendous job being able to capitalize on the opportunities that they had. I’m very proud of the effort of the team that I coach. I guess the silver lining is we get a chance to be able to play for a regional championship four more times at PK Park.”
Also chipping into the Oregon bats was Neville, who was 2-for-5.
The Ducks need to be perfect to stay alive, and that quest starts tomorrow as they stay at PK Park and face the Cal Poly Mustangs at 12:00 p.m. The ace, junior starting pitcher Grayson Grinsell, will take the mound with the season on the line.