The Oregon Ducks baseball team (21-8, 9-4 Big Ten) needed a spark after dropping a demoralizing three in a row from the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Portland Pilots. That spark came in the bottom of the fifth inning in the series opener against the Michigan Wolverines (16-3, 7-6 Big Ten) on Friday.

Junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman was at the plate in a prime situation with the bases loaded and one out. His eyes widened when he saw an off-speed pitch curving right into his zone, and he delivered. He crushed the ball and watched it soar over the left field wall as he took his slow trot around the bases. The decent-sized crowd at PK Park erupted, and the Ducks extended their lead.

This was Hellman’s third slam of the season, a program record for grand slams in a season.

“In that instance, I like to think to myself that if I’m ever in the box and thinking too much about a situation or thinking too much about a swing I want to put on a ball, I just make sure I go back to my training,” Hellman said. “I kind of fall back on my training, not rise to the occasion type of thing and I just put a good swing on the ball and tried to free myself.”

The Ducks stepped into this game coming off that brutal loss against the Pilots on Wednesday. In the back-and-forth affair, Portland got the last laugh as it walked off Oregon thanks to a hit by pitch from sophomore closer Cole Stokes. This loss added to the recent struggle from the Ducks as they’ve dropped three in a row, dropping their record to 20-8.

The first two innings in this matchup showed signs of a pitcher's duel with both starters putting up zeroes in their first two frames.

Sophomore second baseman Ryan Cooney had other ideas, though. In the bottom of the third, he hammered a ball left over the middle of the plate, and all the Wolverines could do was watch it fly as the Ducks jumped out to a 1-0 lead.

This seemed to have fired up the whole Oregon offense. After the Cooney bomb, junior third baseman Carter Garate walked and junior center fielder Mason Neville singled to put runners on the corners. Hellman rewarded the speedy baserunning of Garate by slapping a sac-fly deep enough to plate him and advance and make it 2-0 Oregon. 

During the action, Neville tagged up and advanced to second, and senior first baseman Jacob Walsh followed that up by smoking a double down the right field line as Neville flew around to score. Walsh advanced to third due to a ground out from junior catcher Chase Meggers, but that was not needed as junior left fielder Anson Aroz continued his hot hitting and got a hold of one that sailed over the right-center field wall for a two-run shot.

Sophomore shortstop Maddox Molony struck out, but the damage was done and the Ducks were up 5-0.

The momentum from the third carried over to the fourth as senior right fielder Parker Stinson showed off the power as he went the opposite way to left center for his first homer of the season.

“He’s a kid we’ve really wanted to get healthy,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “He showed us pretty amazing stuff in all of our work, and he just hasn’t been able to get healthy to be on the field. He had a good day today. I love the kid, he’s a great kid and he’s had to really work to get on the field.”

Cooney then flew out, but Garate singled to put more pressure on the Michigan pitching. Neville then came up to bat and blasted one to right field. Fans' eyes darted back and forth from the ball to the foul pole as it was skewing towards foul territory. Music came to their ears, though, as the ball doinked off the pole, and it was a two-run nuke for the center fielder.

The Wolverines weren’t just going to lie down. To lead off the fifth, center fielder Greg Pace Jr. broke through the Oregon defense with a solo home run. After back-to-back walks from Grinsell, second baseman Mitch Voit poked one through the left side to score the runner from second. 

Despite the bleeding, Oregon held strong to limit the damage to two in the inning.

The bottom of the fifth would be the dagger in the Wolverine’s heart for the series opener. Before they could blink, the Ducks had loaded the bases off two singles and a fielding error. More poor defense would give Oregon two free runs after Cooney worked a walk and Garate got hit by a pitch. Neville gave Michigan a little breathing room by popping out in foul ground, but Hellman took that breath away by slaughtering a no doubt grand slam that electrified the crowd on the sunny Friday. Oregon made it four straight innings of scoring after a two-out rally was started by a Garate walk. Neville then plastered a line drive that found the gap in left center field, and Garate scampered all the way around to score and make it 15-2.

To start the seventh, Grinsell was pulled for freshman right-handed reliever Kellan Knox. Grinsell continued his dominance that he’s featured all season, finishing today with six innings pitched, seven hits, two earned runs, two walks and five strikeouts to improve his record on the year to 5-1.

“I just tried to stay on each pitch, tried not to get ahead of myself and whatever Hawk was calling, just going after it and trusting the guys behind me,” Grinsell said.

Michigan had a hill to climb, and it wouldn’t happen in this one as Knox fended off a leadoff single and secured the 15-2 Oregon win.

Neville led the way for the Ducks’ offense, going 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBIs.

Oregon looks to start a new winning streak against the same Wolverines on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.The Oregon Ducks baseball team (21-8, 9-4 Big Ten) needed a spark after dropping a demoralizing three in a row from the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Portland Pilots. That spark came in the bottom of the fifth inning in the series opener against the Michigan Wolverines (16-3, 7-6 Big Ten) on Friday.

Junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman was at the plate in a prime situation with the bases loaded and one out. His eyes widened when he saw an off-speed pitch curving right into his zone, and he delivered. He crushed the ball and watched it soar over the left field wall as he took his slow trot around the bases. The decent-sized crowd at PK Park erupted, and the Ducks extended their lead.

This was Hellman’s third slam of the season, a program record for grand slams in a season.

“In that instance, I like to think to myself that if I’m ever in the box and thinking too much about a situation or thinking too much about a swing I want to put on a ball, I just make sure I go back to my training,” Hellman said. “I kind of fall back on my training, not rise to the occasion type of thing and I just put a good swing on the ball and tried to free myself.”

The Ducks stepped into this game coming off that brutal loss against the Pilots on Wednesday. In the back-and-forth affair, Portland got the last laugh as it walked off Oregon thanks to a hit by pitch from sophomore closer Cole Stokes. This loss added to the recent struggle from the Ducks as they’ve dropped three in a row, dropping their record to 20-8.

The first two innings in this matchup showed signs of a pitcher's duel with both starters putting up zeroes in their first two frames.

Sophomore second baseman Ryan Cooney had other ideas, though. In the bottom of the third, he hammered a ball left over the middle of the plate, and all the Wolverines could do was watch it fly as the Ducks jumped out to a 1-0 lead.

This seemed to have fired up the whole Oregon offense. After the Cooney bomb, junior third baseman Carter Garate walked and junior center fielder Mason Neville singled to put runners on the corners. Hellman rewarded the speedy baserunning of Garate by slapping a sac-fly deep enough to plate him and advance and make it 2-0 Oregon. 

During the action, Neville tagged up and advanced to second, and senior first baseman Jacob Walsh followed that up by smoking a double down the right field line as Neville flew around to score. Walsh advanced to third due to a ground out from junior catcher Chase Meggers, but that was not needed as junior left fielder Anson Aroz continued his hot hitting and got a hold of one that sailed over the right-center field wall for a two-run shot.

Sophomore shortstop Maddox Molony struck out, but the damage was done and the Ducks were up 5-0.

The momentum from the third carried over to the fourth as senior right fielder Parker Stinson showed off the power as he went the opposite way to left center for his first homer of the season.

“He’s a kid we’ve really wanted to get healthy,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “He showed us pretty amazing stuff in all of our work, and he just hasn’t been able to get healthy to be on the field. He had a good day today. I love the kid, he’s a great kid and he’s had to really work to get on the field.”

Cooney then flew out, but Garate singled to put more pressure on the Michigan pitching. Neville then came up to bat and blasted one to right field. Fans' eyes darted back and forth from the ball to the foul pole as it was skewing towards foul territory. Music came to their ears, though, as the ball doinked off the pole, and it was a two-run nuke for the center fielder.

The Wolverines weren’t just going to lie down. To lead off the fifth, center fielder Greg Pace Jr. broke through the Oregon defense with a solo home run. After back-to-back walks from Grinsell, second baseman Mitch Voit poked one through the left side to score the runner from second. 

Despite the bleeding, Oregon held strong to limit the damage to two in the inning.

The bottom of the fifth would be the dagger in the Wolverine’s heart for the series opener. Before they could blink, the Ducks had loaded the bases off two singles and a fielding error. More poor defense would give Oregon two free runs after Cooney worked a walk and Garate got hit by a pitch. Neville gave Michigan a little breathing room by popping out in foul ground, but Hellman took that breath away by slaughtering a no doubt grand slam that electrified the crowd on the sunny Friday. Oregon made it four straight innings of scoring after a two-out rally was started by a Garate walk. Neville then plastered a line drive that found the gap in left center field, and Garate scampered all the way around to score and make it 15-2.

To start the seventh, Grinsell was pulled for freshman right-handed reliever Kellan Knox. Grinsell continued his dominance that he’s featured all season, finishing today with six innings pitched, seven hits, two earned runs, two walks and five strikeouts to improve his record on the year to 5-1.

“I just tried to stay on each pitch, tried not to get ahead of myself and whatever Hawk was calling, just going after it and trusting the guys behind me,” Grinsell said.

Michigan had a hill to climb, and it wouldn’t happen in this one as Knox fended off a leadoff single and secured the 15-2 Oregon win.

Neville led the way for the Ducks’ offense, going 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBIs.

Oregon looks to start a new winning streak against the same Wolverines on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.