A 25-minute rain delay didn’t deter Cal or Oregon’s offense to start Saturday’s baseball game, where the Ducks defeated the Golden Bears 8-3.

Oregon’s offense exploded in the first two innings of the matchup, scoring six runs on nine hits.

In the seventh, Tanner Smith made a critical home run robbery off of a deep shot into right-center off the bat of Cal right fielder Dylan Beavers. With a man already on base, the play from Smith saved two runs.

“That’s something we work on every day, as crazy as it sounds,” Smith said. “Robbing home runs, but we really do the preparation and we work on that.”

Sophomore right-hander Isaac Ayon started the game for the Ducks and had a solid outing where he went six innings, allowing three earned runs and matching his career high with seven strikeouts.

The game didn’t start out the way he wanted it to when Cal DH Nathan Martorella cranked a solo home run to left on the second pitch of the game. Ayon began to settle down as Oregon’s offense provided more support.

“I mean when some stuff is not working for you that day, sometimes you gotta go to maybe your third best pitch and see if that’s working,” Ayon said. “And that’s what I had to do today.”

Intermittent rain and sunshine throughout the game seemed to impact the pitching performances.

Martorella again drew in another run in the second off a single that scored third baseman Dom Souto.

“[Martorella] is just one of the hottest hitters that there is in college baseball across the board,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said.

The support came right away as the Ducks scored six runs on nine hits in the first two innings of play.

Poor fielding was a factor for both teams, but more so for Cal. The Ducks added an extra base to multiple hits due to some handling issues from the Cal outfielders.

Left fielder Smith and third baseman Drew Cowley carried the load for the Ducks’ offense. Smith went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

Cal’s starting pitcher Joseph King, who held a 3.29 ERA before Saturday, had an off-day in the rain, allowing six runs on 13 hits. Despite his shaky start, King pitched six innings and threw 101 pitches.

Though all six runs that King gave up came in just the first two innings, the Golden Bears’ offense was unable to muster a comeback against the Ducks.

Tyler Hannan relieved King in the seventh, but the Ducks’ offense came back to life with Smith adding another single to left that drove in Anthony Hall and Gavin Grant.

Caleb Sloan came in to close out the final two innings where he allowed no hits and struck out one batter.

Right-hander Jace Stoffal will be on the mound for the Ducks when they try to get the series sweep against Cal Sunday at noon.