It didn’t matter if they won big, close, clean, ugly or a combination of the four. What mattered was that the Ducks needed to leave East Lansing, Michigan, with another Big Ten series win.
They got it done.
No. 6 Oregon baseball (33-13, 16-8 Big Ten) entered the weekend third in the Big Ten standings and needing a weekend win to maintain their spot, especially with the other top teams in the conference battling each other across the country. They dropped the series opener, but rallied for wins on Saturday and Sunday to maintain a good spot in the Big Ten standings with the Big Ten Tournament rapidly approaching.
The Ducks didn’t play their best brand of ball. They saved that for last week’s four-game sweep of the Oregon State Beavers. But, they were good enough to avoid what was almost a disastrous weekend.
It didn’t start off too great. Oregon lefty Grayson Grinsell became the first Oregon pitcher since 2017 to pitch a complete-game loss. He only allowed one earned run (a solo shot from Parker Picot) across eight stellar innings. Grinsell fanned nine and only allowed two hits in his incredible complete-game effort.
But it wasn’t enough. The Ducks’ offense was shut down on all fronts by Joseph Dzierwa, a Golden Spikes Award candidate. Dzierwa held the mighty Oregon offense to three hits across nine shutout innings. He fanned 11 Ducks and benefited greatly from the Michigan winds that held several well-hit balls in play.
It was a bummer of a loss, but stuff like that happens. Sometimes, a pitcher gets the best of a team. Heck, Oregon’s certainly shown the ability to do that to others. The major downside of it happening to the Ducks on Friday was that it gave them no wiggle room on either Saturday or Sunday.
As it turns out, it wouldn’t matter. Oregon’s offense returned to form on Saturday, blasting four homers in a dominant 13-5 win. Mason Neville homered twice and both Jacob Walsh and Anson Aroz added to their season totals.
The Ducks got six solid innings from Collin Clarke, who allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits in the win. Ian Umlandt went the rest of the day to secure his first save of the season. Oregon evened the series with a much more characteristic appearance.
But everything was on the table on Sunday.
Early runs from the Oregon offense in the second and third innings gave the Ducks an early 2-0 advantage, but it would be all the run support Jason Reitz would get on Sunday.
He threw 6.1 innings of three-hit, one-run ball while collecting four strikeouts. Cole Stokes relieved him and was brilliant, stranding several runners and Seth Mattox closed the door in the ninth after a solo shot from Aroz gave the Ducks a much-needed insurance run in the top of the frame.
Game, Ducks. Series, Ducks.
Somehow, three runs on only five hits was enough to secure the series win on Sunday. It wasn’t their best offensive series, but it was enough to keep pace in a competitive Big Ten.
The interesting part of the weekend was the errors. Neville was named Oregon’s designated hitter for the weekend, moving Aroz to center field and Walsh to left for the first two games while Dominic Hellman played first.
Michigan State scored unearned runs in each of the first two games on errors by guys in new positions. While the prompting of the defensive shifts is unknown, it’s hard to call the experiment a success.
Still, Oregon will be (at worst) third in the Big Ten standings with two weekends left. It’s important for the Ducks to be a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament, as it would allow them to potentially lose a game and stay alive in Omaha. Oregon will play Washington and Iowa to close out the season, both of which are also fighting for top seeds in the conference.
The Ducks need to be on top of their game moving forward in conference play, especially with the Huskies making their way to PK Park next weekend.
