The Oregon Ducks (22-9, 10-5 Big Ten) were in trouble in their series closer against the Michigan Wolverines (17-14, 8-7 Big Ten). The Ducks were down 12-11 and staring down the barrel of another upset defeat to an unranked squad. The offense was able to keep up to this point by scoring 10 runs, but the defense was not there as it conceded 12. Oregon was where it wanted to be in the order, though, with leadoff junior center fielder Mason Neville at the dish.
Neville was ready to hit. On the first pitch, he crushed the fastball left over the middle and all the Wolverines could do was watch it soar. After one pitch in the inning, the deficit was cut in half. Unfortunately, this is all Oregon would get, losing 12-11.
The Ducks were coming into this game flying high after back-to-back run-rule victories against this same Michigan squad. The headlines for these games included a monstrous grand slam from junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman, which fueled the Friday 15-2 win. Saturday featured a record-setting performance from senior first baseman Jacob Walsh, who blasted a two-run homer over the center field wall that made him the all-time RBI king for Oregon. This contributed to the 13-3 win and series clincher.
Freshman starting pitcher Will Sanford was on the mound for the Ducks with a 12:05 p.m. first pitch at PK Park.
Oregon wasted no time getting going in this game. Neville launched a full count pitch to right field and watched it fly into the batter’s box as it sailed over the wall. This was Neville’s fourth leadoff homer of the season, and the Ducks were up 1-0.
Rain forced a smaller crowd at PK Park for the Sunday action, but that did not stop an eruption from fans when, in the top of the third, junior left fielder Anson Aroz scaled the wall and robbed what would’ve been a two-run homer from Wolverine's first baseman Jeter Ybarra. The Sportscenter Top-10 grab would limit the Michigan damage to two in the inning. The two came from second baseman Mitch Voit when he was plunked, then came all the way around from first due to a triple from right fielder Colby Turner. Turner would trot in after a single that was poked into left field from third baseman Cole Caruso.
Oregon tied the game right back up in the bottom of the third after a bases-loaded wild pitch allowed sophomore second baseman Ryan Cooney to skip home. The Ducks were looking for more this inning after juicing the bases with nobody out, but one is all they could muster.
“There were some pretty big at-bats that we had that really got away from us,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “I thought there were times in the game where we probably could’ve put them away pretty easily, so that was disappointing. In the other two games of the weekend, we got those at-bats to work out for us. Today, obviously, we didn’t.”
Michigan stayed hungry at the top of the fourth. The speed of the squad showed again after another triple from catcher Matt Spear drove in another runner from first that was hit by a pitch. Spear came home after a bunt single was initially called out at first to end the inning, but the call was overturned and the run counted.
Sanford was replaced in the fifth by junior left-handed reliever Ian Umlandt (2H, 2ER, 1BB, 0K). Sanford finished his day with four innings pitched, six hits, four earned runs, one walk and five strikeouts.
The pitching change didn’t extinguish the flames of the Michigan offense. A two-run opposite field nuke pushed the Wolverine lead to four, but the Ducks got those two right back after Hellman singled and Walsh brought him in thanks to a two-run bomb of his own. It was Walsh’s eighth homer of the season.
The Oregon offense wasn’t done. Junior catcher Chase Meggers singled and Aroz walked to get runners on first and second. Everyone advanced off a wild pitch, then sophomore shortstop Maddox Molony cleared the bases with a single that just snuck over the shortstop's head and scored both the runners. PK Park was rocking and it was a new game at six a piece.
Some trickery from Oregon came in the same inning when Cooney singled to put Molony on third. Cooney broke for second, catching the pitcher sleeping on the mound. When the pitcher realized, he turned around and fired to second. Cooney was safe, and while all the attention was focused on second base, Molony snuck home through the backdoor and gave Oregon the 7-6 lead.
Michigan, likely wanting revenge for Hellman’s slam on Friday, mashed one of their own in the sixth. Freshman right-handed reliever Kellan Knox (2H, 3ER, 1BB, 0K) stepped in for Umlandt in the frame and gave up two singles and a walk. He was then replaced by sophomore left-handed reliever Santiago Garcia (2H, 1ER, 1BB, 3K), who let everyone across with the grand slam. This was a major blow to the Ducks in the back-and-forth affair as they trailed 10-7.
Controversy arose in the bottom of the seventh when junior third baseman Carter Garate popped up in foul ground to the first baseman. Garate tossed his bat aside, but the bat interfered with the fielder, resulting in a drop. Umpires called Garate out for interference, and Wasikowski came out of the dugout hot, arguing that Garate set his bat down naturally. The umpires had had enough and tossed the fuming Oregon head coach and the call stood.
Sophomore right-handed reliever Cole Stokes took the ball from Garcia in the eighth, looking to bounce back from his collapse in the Apr. 2 loss to Portland.
Stokes struggled, walking two batters and hitting another as he was perhaps still rattled from his last outing. He ended with zero outs and recorded two walks until he was replaced by sophomore right-handed reliever Ryan Featherston.
“It’s loose right now, so we’re going to have to look at that,” Wasikowski said. “We’re going to have to devise right now to be able to get him back on track because he’s not right now.”
Featherston came out dealing, striking out the first two he saw. He couldn’t seal the deal with a clean slate, as a bases-loaded walk taken by Spear allowed in a run to make it 11-7 Michigan. Another walk taken by center fielder Greg Pace Jr. notched it up to a dozen for the Wolverines. Those two runs made it two earned runs for Stokes.
Life was pumped into the Oregon crew when, in the bottom of the eighth, Meggers got plunked and advanced to third after an Aroz single. The Ducks capitalised on this thanks to a two-out three-run homer from junior right fielder Drew Smith. This further displayed the offensive depth of this Oregon team, as Smith came into the game an inning before for senior right fielder Jeffrey Heard.
It carried over to the ninth when Neville made things very interesting with a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the ninth. With nobody out, the Ducks were trailing by just one. After Hellman grounded out, Walsh walked to put the tying run on first. To the devastation of the Oregon faithful, Meggers grounded into a double play that ended the game.
Cooney led the way for the Oregon offense in the series finale, going 3-for-3 while reaching in all five plate appearances.
“Tremendous game,” Wasikowski said. “I was proud of Drew Smith and Ryan Cooney. Ryan had a very good game again. He blistered a ball up the middle at the end and hit a backside ball for a base hit. We don't name players of the game when you don’t win the game, but he had a tremendous game.”
Despite the loss, the Ducks took this series 2-1 and look to keep stacking wins as they go on the road against the Maryland Terrapins on Friday, Apr. 11, with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.