Written Story by Griffin Bowes

Hovering around the bottom of the top 25 of the D1 rankings, the #23 Oregon Ducks have been struggling with inconsistent play. Heading into this series against Gonzaga, they desperately needed to right the ship and gain some momentum heading into the home stretch of the regular season. In the first game, Oregon escaped with a 11-4 win in which they were tested harder than the score would indicate.

Things didn't go as planned for the Ducks in the early going, as Gonzaga’s pitching was lights out and completely shut down Oregon’s offense. Outside of a home run in the 2nd by star player Tanner Smith, Oregon was in an offensive drought throughout the first 5 innings. During that span, they were only able to muster together 3 hits, including the homer. The Ducks’ pitchers were able to keep the game in reach, but their play was shaky at times. Jackson Pace did not have his best game, as he had a wild pitch in the 2nd inning that led to a run, and then proceeded to give up runs in the 3rd and 5th innings.

Luckily for Oregon, their offense kicked into gear in the 6th inning. They scored on a sacrifice fly by Sabin Ceballos, but a mishit by Tanner Smith ended the inning before they could tie things up. In the 7th, the defense answered the bell with a double play, and Bryce Boettcher helped the Ducks take their first lead of the game with a 2-RBI single. A few minutes later, Drew Cowley had a 2-RBI single of his own, and Ceballos hit a homer that sent two runners to the plate along with him. That was Ceballos’ 10th home run of the season, placing him one short of team leader Gavin Grant. The Ducks kept their momentum through the 8th, as Grant and Cowley each scored a run.

The second game of this series will take place tomorrow at 5:05 PT. Then, the Ducks will get a day of rest before starting a 3-game home series with #12 Arizona State starting this Friday.

Audio Story by Griffin Bowes