The Oregon Ducks (15-3) were feeling rejuvenated up 10-0 against the Grand Canyon Antelopes (12-5) at the bottom of the fourth inning. Ten runs is typically more than enough to secure a victory, but the Ducks weren’t done.
A scary sight for pitchers across the country was up to bat for Oregon: junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman.
Hellman fell behind in the count 1-2. On the next pitch, his eyes lit up as an off-speed pitch appeared to be spinning right into the sweet spot. The pitch hung over the plate, and Hellman slaughtered the two-run bomb into the back of the Antelopes bullpen in left field.
Hellman had the highlight of the 16-6 victory, but the offense was led by senior right fielder Jeffrey Heard, who was 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs. The veterans on the team popped out in this game as Hellman, Jacob Walsh and Heard each had three hits.
“It instills confidence in everyone else,” Heard said. “We’re older guys, we’ve been through the ups and downs of college baseball. There’s more maturity in that, and we know that when it’s going bad, we’ll be alright.”
Oregon was coming off a 4-2 defeat the day prior against the same Antelopes. The offense went ice cold, leaving 11 runners on base.
This was the first true bullpen game for the Ducks, as senior right-handed starter Julien Hernandez took the mound. He put his previous struggles behind him and struck out one and put up a zero to start his day.
Oregon’s built up frustration from the day before was released in the first inning as it put up five in the frame. It started with junior center fielder Mason Neville picking up a walk to leadoff the game. Hellman then singled to put runners on the corners, and junior catcher Chase Meggers slapped one deep enough to score Neville on a sac-fly. The senior first baseman Walsh and sophomore shortstop Maddox Molony hit back-to-back singles to load the bases, and junior left fielder Anson Aroz moved everyone over with an RBI single.
Heard drove in two off a familiar double ripped down the right field line. The final run of the inning came off a sac-fly when sophomore second baseman Ryan Cooney flew out to center.
Hernandez picked up strikeout number two in the second and tallied another zero. In the Ducks’ half, they picked up where they left off quickly as Neville doubled and Hellman singled to score him. Meggers got his first hit of the season in his first start, and the bases got reloaded after Molony walked.
Aroz then snagged another RBI with a sac-fly to make it 6-0. Heard went the other way this time to beat the shift as Meggers scored. Cooney followed that by going the opposite way himself, scoring two and capping off by a clean slide from Heard. When the second came to an end, it was 10-0 Oregon.
“I didn’t know, I was super excited to have my name in the lineup,” Meggers said. “I’ve just been waiting patiently, grinding. All the weeks I’ve been hurt I’ve been grinding.”“Credit to Coach Marder and the hitting coaches for making the adjustment on what we didn’t do well yesterday,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “Jack deserves a lot of credit for that, Marcus Hinkle deserves a lot of credit for that and Brett Thomas deserves a lot of credit for that.”
The Antelopes got two back in the third. Zach Yorke smoked a ball to right field that brought in a runner from second and advanced another to third. The next batter was hit by a pitch to juice the bases, and Hernandez’s day was done. Freshman right-handed reliever Michael Meckna replaced him, walked in a run but shut down any further threat.
Grand Canyon nabbed two more runs in the fourth due to poor pitching and fielding from Oregon. One came off a wild pitch, and the other off an error from Aroz. After the wild pitch, freshman right-handed pitcher Gabe Howard replaced Meckna.
This was no sweat for Oregon, though, as Hellman’s blast got the two runs right back.
Deuces were wild for the Antelopes on Wednesday as they tacked on two more in the fifth. They got the first three on and brought home the runner from third off a sac-fly. A single knocked in the runner that advanced to third, and it was 12-6 Ducks.
Sophomore left-handed reliever Santiago Garcia stepped in for Howard in the sixth and put up a zero in his frame.
Oregon got some help from Grand Canyon at the bottom of the inning which gave them a free insurance run. An error got Cooney to second, who tagged up and headed to third in the next at-bat. Neville then popped up to right field, but the fielder bobbled and dropped the ball, allowing Cooney to scoot home.
In the seventh, Walsh doubled and Aroz reached by another dropped ball, this time by the left fielder. Heard doubled again to right field to plate Walsh and move Aroz to third. Cooney proceeded to slap one deep enough to bring home Aroz off a sac-fly.
Freshman right-handed reliever Kellan Knox took the hill in the eighth and struck out one to hold the Antelopes at six.
The eighth would be the final inning of the game. A Meggers single, Walsh walk and Molony walk loaded the bases and set the table for Aroz, who got plunked to extend the lead to 10, enacting the run rule.
Hernandez led the way for the Oregon pitching today. He finished his day with 2 ⅔ innings pitched, two hits, two earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts.
The Ducks stay at home for a three-game weekend series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Game 1 of that series is Friday, Mar. 14 with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch.