The sun was out at PK Park on Tuesday as the No. 5-ranked Oregon Ducks (34-13, 16-8 Big Ten) took on the unranked Saint Mary’s Gaels (26-21, 10-8 WCC) for the first of a two-game midweek set.
At the bottom of the first, Oregon found itself in an early hole down 2-0 after the Gaels came out swinging in the frame before. Flashbacks to midweek struggles from earlier in the season ran through the minds of the Ducks faithful, but those thoughts would be put to bed quickly. Freshman catcher Coen Niclai ripped a double down the left field line, then advanced to third off a groundout from senior first baseman Jacob Walsh. Junior center fielder Drew Smith then walked to put runners on the corners, and they all would come around after junior left fielder Anson Aroz slapped one just deep enough to soar over the wall and immediately put Oregon ahead 3-2. It was a lead the Ducks would never relinquish as they grabbed the 6-3 win.
That makes it three straight games where Aroz has homered.
“It’s trending in the right direction,” Aroz said. “Starting to get better pitches to hit and not missing them, so I’m happy with that. It’s been a grind. I talked about it at the end of the weekend with some guys and mentioned that it was a grind with the coaches and teammates, picking their brain and constantly trying to improve. We’re getting to the upside of it.”
Leading the way for the Oregon offense in this one was Aroz, as he went 1-for-2 with a homer and three RBIs.
The Ducks were coming off a series-clinching 3-1 win against the Big Ten rival Michigan State Spartans. Oregon dropped Game 1 of the series in a shutout 2-0 loss before bouncing back with a 13-5 win and taking the series on Sunday.
Sophomore left-handed starter Toby Twist got the start for the Ducks today. This was Twist’s first appearance of the season.
Twist seemed to have no rust on his shoulder after sitting down the first batter he saw via the strikeout, but Saint Mary’s wasn’t going to let Twist settle into the season that easily. The next three batters reached due to a walk, a double and a single from junior third baseman Ryan Pierce that scored the first run of the game. Another would come in off a sac-fly from senior designated hitter Brian Duroff. Quickly, the Gaels jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
The new top-five Ducks weren’t going to trail the unranked foe for long as a double, groundout and walk put runners on the corners. Aroz then cleared the bags with a shot to left field to give Oregon a 3-2 advantage.
It was a short appearance for the newly installed Twist (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K and 20 TP) as he was pulled in the top of the second for junior left-handed reliever Ian Umlandt.
“He’s worked his tail off in rehab to get where he is right now, so we’re excited,” Umlandt said. “Whether that’s going to be multiple innings, one inning, a starter, reliever, we’re just excited to have him back. It’s a legit arm with experience from last year, too. To pick up a guy like that this late in the year is pretty cool.”
Junior designated hitter Mason Neville led off the bottom of the third with a no-doubt blast to right field. This was Neville’s 24th homer of the season, and it was 4-2 Ducks.
“I try not to do it,” Neville said. “That probably sounds pretty weird, but I’m just trying to put a good swing on the ball, and if you get it, you get it. Can’t try and go out there and hit home runs, and I’ve been fortunate enough to hit some. I can’t really change my approach or do anything different.”
The Gaels were able to manufacture a run to cut the Oregon lead in half in the top of the fourth. Junior shortstop Jared Mettam doubled and came around to score off two ground outs that got him to third, then home.
After a couple of innings of drought, the Ducks pushed the lead back out to two in the bottom of the sixth. The first three batters reached off a hit by pitch and two walks before a fielder’s choice put in play by junior third baseman Carter Garate scored sophomore shortstop Maddox Molony. Neville slapped one deep enough to score senior right fielder Parker Stinson off the sac-fly. Without picking up a hit, Oregon made it 6-3.
Some changes in the field for the Ducks came in the top of the seventh when junior catcher Chase Meggers stepped in for Niclai and senior right fielder Jeffrey Heard took right field for Stinson.
Umlandt’s (6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K and 89 TP) long relief appearance came to an end in the top of the eighth when sophomore right-handed reliever Cole Stokes took the bump.
Sophomore left-handed reliever Santiago Garcia got the nod to close with a three-run cushion in the ninth. He plunked the first batter he saw, but Walsh made an electric play in the next at-bat as junior first baseman Eddie Madrigal ripped one right to him. Walsh leapt, made the catch, then doubled up the runner who had already taken off to second. Garcia struck out the next batter, and the Ducks took home the win.
Also chipping in to the offensive side of things was Neville, who was 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs.
Oregon will turn right back around to PK Park to face this same Gaels team on Wednesday, with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch as the Ducks look for a sweep.
“People don’t get it, there’s really good baseball on the west coast,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “They grumble about RPI and this, that and the other. We’ve played four teams in non-conference. Oregon State is one of them, and another two teams are winning their league. Our non-conference strength of schedule is now hanging around ten in the country. I think that’s credit to a lot of West Coast schools. These guys are good.”