Oregon baseball opened its series in Seattle with a 7-5 win over the Washington Huskies Thursday night at Husky Ballpark.
The offense was fueled by a four-run first inning. RJ Gordon pitched well enough to keep Oregon in the lead, while the bullpen escaped some jams to hold on. It was a solid start to what the Ducks hope will be a sweep of one of the weaker teams in the Pac-12.
The Ducks struck right away. Tanner Smith led off the game with a single, Brennan Milone doubled and Jacob Walsh started the scoring with a two-run single. Anthony Hall then continued his torrid stretch, smashing a two-run homer to make it 4-0 in the first inning.
Smith’s run was the 136th of his career, which set a new all-time record for Oregon.
Washington got one back in the bottom of the inning as Gordon issued a one-out walk and surrendered a two-out triple. Colby Shade caught a well-struck fly ball in center to end the inning with the Ducks up by three.
The Huskies got another one back off an ugly play in the second inning. Washington’s Cam Clayton singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch, then came all the way around to score on another wild pitch that catcher Josiah Cromwick couldn’t handle.
Both offenses slowed down with Oregon up 4-2. After working around back-to-back leadoff singles in the third, Gordon retired nine straight Huskies.
Hall stayed hot with a triple in the sixth. The Ducks finally added to their lead as Sam Novitske hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
After surrendering a leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth, Gordon was taken out. It was an encouraging outing for him despite a shaky beginning.
Matt Dallas entered and gave up a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly that got the Huskies back within two runs. The run was charged to Gordon. With runners on the corners and one out, Dallas induced a huge double play to end the inning. The Ducks have now turned the second-most double plays in the nation.
Dallas issued another leadoff walk in the seventh, but he recorded three groundouts to escape unscathed.
Andrew Mosiello replaced Dallas in the eighth. Head coach Mark Wasikowski has been looking to get Mosiello back into the late-inning relief role he was in last year. Mosiello retired the first batter he faced, but then gave up a single and a double and was taken out.
Closer Kolby Somers entered with the tying runs in scoring position. He induced a lineout right back to him, then hit a batter to load the bases. He recorded a strikeout on a nasty breaking ball to end the inning, holding on to Oregon’s 5-3 lead.
Gavin Grant and Shade drew walks in the top of the ninth. With two outs, Walsh hit his second two-run single of the night, providing the Ducks with some massive insurance as their lead extended to 7-3.
Somers gave up three singles in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate again. A ball dropped in shallow center to bring in a run with one out, but Shade was able to get the force at second for a rare 8-4 fielder’s choice. A two-out single made it 7-5, but Somers recorded a strikeout on a ball in the dirt to end the game.
Walsh’s insurance RBIs turned out to be crucial.
Oregon (22-11) and Washington (16-16) will continue with the second matchup of the three-game series Friday at 2:05 p.m. The Ducks will look to clinch the series.
