SEATTLE, WA.- After a weekend of comebacks against Washington (20-26, 9-14), No. 13 Oregon was looking to complete the sweep ahead of their final away series of the season against UCLA. After Ohio State beat Nebraska, Oregon (35-11, 17-6) moved into the number two spot in the Big Ten rankings.
The Huskies came out of the inning putting two on the board after a two-run home run by Sam DeCarlo that also brought in Jackson Hotchkiss. The Ducks ended the inning 2-0 with no runners left on base.
The Ducks started the second with bases loaded after a single by Drew Smith and back-to-back walks from Angel Laya and Maddox Molony. Smith came home after a sacrifice fly by Gabe Miranda, which also moved Laya into scoring position. The Ducks were unable to bring any more runners home, but neither did the Huskies, as the inning ended 2-1.
Both Oregon and Washington went scoreless in the third through fifth innings. Oregon had a pitching change in the bottom of the fifth, replacing Miles Gosztola with Luke Morgan.
The Ducks were unable to stop the Huskies' momentum at the beginning of the sixth. After two home runs by Washington, Oregon went into the seventh inning trailing 9-1.
After a defensive shutout for Oregon and Washington in the seventh inning, the Ducks quickly made headway, putting Miranda, Dominic Hellman, and Jack Brooks on base. After a single to left field by Brayden Jaksa, Miranda made his way home to score. Smith came up to bat, which, after a throwing error by the Huskies, brought home Hellman and Brooks.
“I really felt like Blake Crawford came in and he did his job out of the bullpen” Coach Wasikowski said about Crawford. “I was really impressed with Dom Hellman coming off the bench today and giving us two really good at-bats off the bench.”
The Huskies failed to increase the lead in the bottom of the eighth, and the Ducks were able to put up one more in the top of the ninth, but it was not enough. Washington ended with the win with a final score of 9-5.
“All the way down to the end, we were putting up a fight, and we did that each and every game. We were down in each one of the games” Coach Wasikowski said about the game overall. “ We showed resiliency and I liked that in the club. It looks like they had a lot of fight all the way into today to the last inning. We weren't quitting.”
The Ducks are back in action Friday, May 8th, against the UCLA Bruins. They will look to get out of a tie at the second spot in the Big Ten standings ahead of the tournament.