Oregon baseball squeezed out a win against the Portland Pilots on Tuesday. It wasn’t pretty, as the Ducks issued nine free passes and nearly blew a 5-0 lead. But they got the job done at Joe Etzel Field, winning 5-4 to take home their sixth straight victory. It wasn’t as dominant as their 18-2 walloping of the Pilots earlier this season, but all wins carry equal value.
Drew Cowley, who’s been out since March 11 with a broken hamate bone, made his return to the lineup. It also happened to be his birthday.
Cowley made an immediate impact, drawing a walk in his first plate appearance. He came around to score on a two-out RBI single by Jacob Walsh as the Ducks took a 1-0 lead.
Spot starter Scott Ellis walked three in the first inning, but an impressive pickoff at third by catcher Josiah Cromwick helped him escape with no runs allowed. Navigating walks has been quite a common occurrence for this Oregon staff.
Anthony Hall doubled in the second inning and eventually scored on a passed ball. Colby Shade — who was bumped to the eight-hole despite monstrous season numbers — got hit by a pitch, Gavin Grant walked and Tanner Smith added another run with an RBI single. The Ducks scratched out a pair in the inning, extending their lead to 3-0.
Ellis issued another walk in the bottom of the second and got taken out. Overall, he issued four walks and recorded four outs, but strangely did not allow a hit. Dylan Sabia came in and retired the final two batters of the inning.
Sabia allowed Portland’s first hit of the game in the third, but he worked around the leadoff single to throw another scoreless frame.
Caleb Sloan entered in the fourth, but he didn’t make it through the inning, as he issued two walks and hit a batter. Rio Britton came in with the bases loaded and recorded the final out of the inning. The Ducks somehow navigated seven free passes to keep the Pilots off the board through five innings.
Britton continued to roll, striking out all three batters he faced in the fifth.
Hall padded the Oregon lead in the sixth, hitting a two-run homer to make it 5-0. Hall has been the team’s hottest hitter in recent weeks.
Ducks reliever Stone Churby issued yet another pair of walks in the sixth, but he struck out back-to-back Pilots to end the inning with still no runs allowed.
Portland finally got something going with two singles and a double against Matt Dallas in the seventh. A second run scored on a soft liner that Grant nearly caught in midair before making a desperation throw to first.
The inning looked to be over on another ball to Grant, but he threw one low that Walsh couldn’t handle, which made it a 5-3 game. It was an adventure of an inning for Grant, who made an impressive throw to finally end the inning.
Oregon’s Logan Mercado gave up two hard-hit balls in the eighth, both of which only barely landed for extra-base hits. A triple and a double got Portland within a run. Mercado got a generous strike three call for the second out, but the Ducks elected to bring Kolby Somers in for the fourth consecutive game.
Somers induced a comebacker, completing the eighth inning with Oregon still in the lead.
Somers has often created stressful situations for himself, but this time he cruised through the Pilots’ lineup to shut the door in the ninth. The Ducks hung on to win 5-4.
Oregon (25-11) will now come back to Eugene for a three-game series against Washington State (13-21). The Ducks’ next 11 games are against Pac-12 opponents, including five against the vaunted Oregon State Beavers.
