The last time the Oregon baseball team played the Gonzaga Bulldogs was during the 2021 Eugene Regional. Robert Ahlstrom pitched eight innings and Gabe Matthews hit a two-run homer as the Ducks won 7-3, advancing to the regional final.
It turned out to be the Ducks’ last win of the year.
The regional rivals faced off once again Tuesday, this time at Patterson Baseball Complex. The Ducks have traditionally handled Gonzaga, having won 17 of the teams’ last 19 matchups entering Tuesday’s single-game road trip. Strangely, it was the Bulldogs’ home opener despite having played 18 games.
Oregon beat Gonzaga once again, prevailing 9-5 and extending its winning streak to four games.
Every game seems to be the same story for the Ducks as of late. They walked a few too many batters and got an unsatisfactory outing from their starting pitcher, but their relentless offense showed up as usual. They recorded hits up and down the lineup, including big days from Tanner Smith, Brennan Milone and Jacob Walsh.
The Ducks got a pair of runs on the board with just one hit in the first. After Smith walked and Milone singled, Walsh hit a ground ball that should have been a routine inning-ending double play. The Bulldogs’ shortstop botched it, loading the bases. Josh Kasevich drove in the first run of the game with a walk.
Oregon added another on an Anthony Hall groundout, going to the bottom of the first with a 2-0 lead.
Freshman Jacob Hughes got the start on the mound for the Ducks. His older brother Gabriel plays for Gonzaga and was recently named the NCBWA Pitcher of the Week.
Hughes gave up a triple to the second batter he faced. With two outs, he walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases. A two-run double quickly tied the game back up, 2-2.
Smith stayed hot in the top of the second, hitting his career-high sixth home run to put Oregon back on top 3-2. All six homers have come in Smith’s last nine games.
Hughes continued to struggle with walks, which have been this team’s kryptonite. His third walk was erased on a runner caught stealing by catcher Josiah Cromwick. After Hughes issued his fourth walk of the afternoon with two outs in the second, Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski replaced him with Logan Mercado.
Wasikowski has had low tolerance for his team’s excessive control problems.
The Ducks tacked on to their lead in the third. Walsh doubled, Kasevich singled and Hall made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly.
Mercado gave up two singles and a hit batter to load the bases once again in the bottom of the third, but he recorded a strikeout to hold onto the lead.
Smith continued his torrid stretch in the fourth by smashing an RBI double. Singles by Colby Shade and Walsh added three more runs, breaking the game open to 8-2.
The Bulldogs got one back with a string of hits off Stone Churby in the bottom of the fourth. Dylan Sabia came in and stopped the damage there.
The Ducks’ offense finally quieted down in the fifth and sixth. They got runners on the corners in the seventh with a Hall double and a Cromwick single, but pinch runner Tyler Ganus was caught stealing.
Oregon left-hander Rio Britton gave up a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh. Britton didn’t have his best command, allowing another run on a pair of walks and a wild pitch to make it 8-5. He was pulled with two outs in the inning.
Matt Dallas recorded a big strikeout to stop the bleeding. He went on to pitch a perfect eighth inning as well.
Walsh added some insurance in the ninth with his fourth homer of the year to make it 9-5. He finished the day a triple short of the cycle.
Oregon closer Kolby Somers entered in the ninth and immediately got into trouble, as two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs. He miraculously escaped unscathed, with a hard lineout and a comebacker double play ending the game.
The Ducks have now won seven of their last eight games and 18 of their last 20 matchups with Gonzaga.
Oregon (14-6) will come back to Eugene for three games against USC (12-6) starting Friday at 4 p.m.
