PK Park was full on Tuesday night, some orange, some green.
As the Beavers jumped to a 5-0 lead in the second inning, those in orange made their voices known. By the end of the fourth, they were silent as Oregon led 7-5.
When the game ended, they headed back to Corvallis, stunned and silent. Oregon (30-14, 12-9 Pac-12) scored nine unanswered to capture a 9-5 win on Tuesday night.
No. 6 Oregon State (33-10, 12-8 Pac-12) used seven pitchers and tallied four hits as it watched its early lead erased by Mr. Eugene himself.
Bryce Boettcher had an incredible night with a pair of homers, five RBIs and two runs. An elite night from an incredible player.
“I was just trying to see a ball over the white and let it rip,” Boettcher said. “I had some confidence going in and knew I was going to get the job done.”
But it didn’t start pretty for the Ducks.
Despite coming off a complete-game win against Sacramento State on April 22, Oregon starter Ian Umlandt’s outing looked nothing like his recent success. After walking the bases loaded in the top of the first, he allowed a gargantuan home run to Jacob Krieg. OSU’s first baseman’s eighth homer of the season — which went a whopping 461 feet — came in grand fashion and gave the Beavers an early 4-0 lead.
A 54-pitch first frame from Umlant featured two hits, four walks and four earned runs. He would not return for a second.
“I think he’s just got to see that we all have his back,” reliever Brock Moore said. “You can’t let one outing dictate the way you play. He’s gonna [bounce] back when he gets on the mound again.”
Moore took over. He immediately surrendered a home run to Travis Bazzana. His Pac-12-leading 21st bomb of the season took things from bad to worse.
Boettcher took it upon himself to respond in the second. After a string of ground balls singled through, moved runners over and scored Jeffery Heard, Boettcher launched his seventh home run of the season to drive in three and bring the Ducks within a run. After two action-packed innings, the Beavers led 5-4.
Moore settled down after allowing the shot to Bazzana. He ended up throwing 3.0 relief-innings allowing just the one hit and recording eight straight strikeouts across the second, third and fourth innings. Moore became the first pitcher in Oregon history to fan eight-straight batters. Moore earned his second win of the season.
“I just wanted to give our team a chance,” Moore said. “We got a lot of fight in our team and after the leadoff bomb to Travis, I was able to settle in pretty well.”
Heard drove home a run on his second infield single of the day in the bottom of the third. Mason Neville scored as the Ducks erased their 5-0 deficit. Then, in the fourth, they took the lead on another homer from Boettcher.
“I think it was obviously at a pretty important part of the game,” Boettcher said. “That couldn’t have happened without the guys getting on base in front of me. I’m thankful for my teammates for doing that and getting me to that spot.”
Heard’s fourth homer of the season added some cushion to what was suddenly an Oregon lead. After a bit of a slump and being dinged up, the Ducks’ outfielder responded in a big way.
“I feel good,” Heard said. “The stuff we’re doing definitely is working. I’m getting my wheels back a little bit, I was limping out there for a little bit, but it’s nice to be able to kinda go out there and run around a little bit better than I was before.”
After the Bazzana blast, the Beavers didn’t record another hit until the seventh. By that time, Oregon’s lead was 9-5 and the fans of the green and yellow had full control of PK Park.
The No. 6 team in the country used seven pitchers and tallied four hits on Tuesday night. Starter Jaren Hunter earned the loss with his 3.0 innings of seven-hit, seven-run (only three earned) ball.
Despite earning the win, Oregon didn’t make up any ground on the Beavers as Tuesday was technically a non-conference game. The Ducks still sit fourth in the Conference of Champions, the Beavers are third, No. 21 Arizona (26-16, 14-7 Pac-12) is second and No. 25 Utah (29-13, 14-7 Pac-12) is first.
The Ducks are now 2-2 against the Beavers this season after losing two of three in Corvallis this past weekend. Oregon State now leads the all-time series against Oregon 197-172 and is 42-42 in Eugene.
The Ducks, however, outscored OSU 18-11 head-to-head in 2024.
“I think it’s huge to win the last two [against OSU] versus the first two,” Heard said. “We have three series left, and we’re trying to win this league. I think [winning two] really builds momentum for the next three weeks we have coming up.
Oregon looks ahead to a weekend series with the Utes. Game one is set for Friday at 6:05 p.m.
