By Aiden Hess

EUGENE, Ore – Oregon Baseball began a four game series with the University of San Diego Toreros on a much better note than they did a year ago. Last season, the Ducks traveled to La Jolla, CA where they were defeated in three out of the four games in their tangle with the Toreros. However, the Ducks were able to flip the script at home with a narrow 3-2 win on Thursday afternoon at PK Park.

Jace Stoffal got the start on the mound for Oregon and was effective in his five innings of work earning his first win on the young season. The game did not start out ideal for Stoffal and the Ducks as USD left fielder Jack Costello ripped a solo homerun down the left field line to put San Diego on top 1-0 in the first. That would be the only run Stoffal allowed in his outing as he settled down to strike out four batters and only gave up one hit following the homer.

The Ducks offense was finally able to dent the scoreboard in the fourth inning after they had run themselves into careless outs on the basepaths. In the third, Oregon had two runners in scoring position with only one out and failed to score when Bryce Boettcher was thrown out trying to score from third on a ground ball and Walsh was subsequently tagged out at third advancing from second. An overall strange play to put down in the scorebook left Oregon coming up empty handed. The next inning the Ducks would not make the same mistake twice, with two base runners on second and third, designated hitter Drew Cowley delivered. Cowley doubled in the tying and go ahead runs, and from that point the Ducks would not relinquish the lead again. 

Matt Dallas turned in a valuable 2.2 innings of middle relief work, fanning three and escaping base traffic jams in the seventh and eighth innings. Jacob Walsh hit his first homerun of the year for the Ducks as he connected on a ball that just seemed to keep carrying over the center field fence making it 3-1 at the time. Walsh’s round tripper proved to be the difference in the ball game as the Toreros were able to get a run back in their half of the eighth, but they came up short in the end. Ducks’ closer Josh Mollerus put the final nail in the coffin earning a four out save and his second of the year.

The Ducks continue their four game series with San Diego tomorrow for game two on Friday 2:05 PM at PK Park.