The Oregon Ducks (10-2) were geared up for a series sweep in Sunday’s finale against the Columbia Lions (1-6). Oregon was up 7-0 in the bottom of the ninth and had only allowed two hits up to that point. With two outs, the Lions were looking for a desperation comeback attempt as they got two runners on first and second.

Right-handed closer Seth Mattox was on the hill for the Ducks. He got ahead early in the count 1-2 against Lions pinch hitter Tate Vogler. On the next pitch, he set, fired and delivered a nasty breaking ball. Vogler whiffed, and that capped off an excellent Oregon pitching performance with a win and the first sweep of the season.

The strong Mattox close was preceded by other solid pitching performances. Freshman starter Will Sanford shoved in his third start of the year, going six innings with one hit, zero runs, two walks and seven strikeouts.

The Ducks came off a historic doubleheader sweep the day before. In Game 1 of the day, Oregon put up a program record 35 runs and followed it up with an 8-3 win in Game 2.

One of the two Columbia hits on the day came in the first with two outs. Sanford escaped though while picking up his first strikeout of the day in the inning.

Oregon couldn’t get anything going in their half of the first. In the second, Sanford struck out a batter swinging for another strikeout. When the Ducks got back to the plate, some small ball got the first Oregon run on the board. Freshman catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus doubled the opposite way and was able to advance to third off a fielder’s choice. Freshman second baseman Ryan Cooney then stepped up and got enough of the ball for a swinging bunt right in between the catcher and third baseman. Cooney’s speed beat the throw, and Mabeus scored from third.

This would be the only run scored until the bottom of the seventh. In the meantime, Oregon threatened in the third by loading the bases with two outs, but couldn’t convert after Mabeus grounded out.

Sanford grabbed strikeout number three and four in the fourth. He channeled that same energy in the fifth notching two more to make the tally six.

Sanford’s seventh and final strikeout came in the sixth. This confirmed a career high for the freshman, breaking his high of six that came in his first start two weekends ago.

“I just gotta do my job, just put up zeroes,” Sanford said. “Our goal is to win, me putting up zeroes is going to do that and our offense is great as you saw. They’re going to produce, so the more zeroes you put up, the harder that team has a chance to win.”

Relief came in the seventh when sophomore left-handed reliever Santiago Garcia replaced Sanford. He immediately made an impact by continuing the efforts of Sanford as he struck out two with electric stuff.

“Our bullpen, we’re all dogs,” Garcia said. “We go out there and just go shove. There’s not a weak link in there. We’re all put together really well. I think we’re going to do great this year.”

The Ducks finally broke through again in their half of the seventh. Free passes loaded the bases and an easy run came in when junior left fielder Anson Aroz was plunked. Junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman snuck in a run through the back door when a possible inning-ending double-play was bobbled by the Lions shortstop. The Ducks left runners on this inning, but damage was done and the lead was three after seven innings of play.

Two Ducks pitchers took credit for striking out the side in the eighth. Garcia picked up the first two, then Jordan came in to strike out the third in electric fashion.

In the bottom of the eighth, Oregon was able to put the Lions to bed. Cooney singled again and stole second, and junior third baseman Carter Garate rewarded him by ripping one down the right field line for a double. Cooney came around to score, and on the next at-bat, junior center fielder Mason Neville knocked a near identical hit that scored Garate. 

Hellman walked and was taken out for freshman pinch runner Jax Gimenez. The speed on the basepath paid off for the Ducks when a double steal got the runners to second and third and Aroz singled to score them both.

“We had been at it for a lot of hours this weekend and the guys looked tired,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “I was just happy that they were able to build onto the lead in the seventh and eighth innings. When they were the most tired they were still able to find something to dig deep and come through.”

That proved to be the dagger in the heart for the Columbia Lions, as Jordan shut them down in the ninth to close out a 7-0 Ducks win and sweep.

Oregon didn’t record a shutout until June 2 in the season before. In the new campaign, the Ducks already have three, showing off the improved depth of the pitching staff.

Oregon gets their first midweek of the season against the Utah Tech Trailblazers on Mar. 4 with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch.