EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon fought its way back within two but the Ducks could not overcome a seven-run Sacramento State first inning in an eventual 15-8 loss at PK Park on Tuesday night in nonconference action.
Oregon (22-9) cut the Hornets lead to 8-6 in the fourth innings but Sacramento State (15-19) adddc multiple runs in three more innings to pull away from the Ducks.
How It Happened: The Hornets jumped out to a big lead scoring seven runs in the first inning but the Ducks cut into the lead with a four-run second inning.
Drew Smith started the rally with a bunt single up the third base line and then moved to second on a Dominic Hellman base hit. Chase Meggers got the Ducks on the board with a single up the middle before Carter Garate drove in Hellman and Meggers with a double into the right-center gap. Garate moved to third on a fly ball and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-4.
The teams traded runs in the third inning. After Sacramento State scored one in their half of the inning, Oregon got it right back when Jacob Walsh scored on a Hellman ground out after leading off the inning with a walk and moving to third on a Smith double into the right-field corner.
Oregon got within two runs in the fourth after scoring a run with two outs. Bryce Boettcher started the two-out rally with an infield hit while taking second on a throwing error by Hornets shortstop Gunner Gouldsmith. Boettcher moved to third on another Gouldsmith throwing error on a Bennett Thompson ground ball and then scored on a Walsh RBI single.
Sac State added three runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh to push the lead to 13-6 before freshman shortstop Maddox Molony hit a two-run homer for Oregon. The Hornets got both runs back in the top of the ninth.
Box Score Notes: Michael Freund took the loss after allowing seven runs in two innings of work … Collin Clarke allowed just one earned run in 4.0 innings on the mound … Molony’s home run was his third of the season and his second in Oregon’s last two games … Walsh’s RBI was the 107th of his career moving him within one of tying Kyle Garlick (2011-14) for sixth all-time at UO … Smith (2-for-5, R) had his 12th multi-hit game of the season and the 24th of his career … Meggers (2-for-4, RBI, 2 R) had his fourth career multi-hit game … Garate (1-for-4, 2 RBI, R) had his second multiple-RBI game of the season and the fourth of his career … Molony (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R) picked up his third multi-RBI game of the season … Outfielder Justin Cassella missed his eighth consecutive game.
On Deck: The Ducks will look to earn a series split when the two teams meet Wednesday at PK Park. First pitch is at 5:05 p.m.
Quotes:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
Thoughts on Collin Clarke’s outing
“Yeah, I mean I think he did fine, threw multiple pitches for strikes. He threw four innings; I think have gave up one earned run. We had a couple of defensive miscues out there, you know, and we just didn’t play very good baseball.
Thoughts on the bottom half of the lineup tonight
“When you lose there’s not a million positives that you want to take away. When a freshman hits a home run, that’s really good. We’ve got two young freshmen middle infielders that are having a good year for us. Carter (Garate) got one good swing in with a double to score a guy. That was a big at-bat at that point in time. Overall, the consistency top to bottom in the order, they had more consistently good at-bats than we did and that’s why they won.”
