The Ducks were shut out Tuesday night for the first time since Mark Wasikowski took over as Oregon’s head baseball coach.

It came against No. 2 Oregon State in the teams’ second matchup of the year at PK Park. The Ducks put together a strong bullpen game, but their offense couldn’t rally against the Beavers in their 2-0 loss. It was the first time the Ducks have been shut out since April 20, 2019.

“It was a hell of a college baseball game,” Wasikowski said. “If you like college baseball and you like rivalries, that was it. Somebody had to lose. I’m pissed that we lost… Proud of the way the guys played. We just got beat tonight.”

After Anthony Hall’s injury on Sunday, the Ducks pulled a rarity by shaking up the lineup. Tyler Ganus got his first career start, leading off and playing right field with Hall in the DH slot. Jacob Walsh got the day off, while Brennan Milone played the field for the first time this year and started at first base.

“We put Tyler Ganus in the lineup because he’s been hitting better than Jacob,” Wasikowski said. “When you do better than somebody else, then they play, and that’s the way it is. We don’t promise anybody playing time around here. It needs to be earned.”

Milone and Ganus each made a putout in a scoreless first inning as right-hander Dylan Sabia navigated around a walk.

Ganus flew out to the warning track in left field in his first at-bat. Milone walked and cleanup hitter Drew Cowley singled, but the Ducks stranded them.

Caleb Sloan came in for the second inning. Like Sabia, he gave up a one-out walk, issuing a free pass to Oregon State’s Tanner Smith. 

A hit by pitch and a two-out single appeared to get the Beavers on the board, but Colby Shade cut down the runner at third. The umpire appeared to motion “Safe,” but he was apparently saying “No run” as Smith didn’t cross home before the out was made.

Sloan rebounded with two perfect innings. He struck out five in three scoreless relief frames. Andrew Mosiello followed him with two more perfect innings and three strikeouts, as Oregon pitchers continued to mow through the Beavers’ lineup.

“Proud of the way we pitched,” Wasikowski said. “Thought we pitched with a lot of confidence, with a lot of tenacity.”

The Ducks struggled to do much on their side of the ball either. Shade collected the first non-Cowley hit for the Ducks in the fifth, but Josiah Cromick lined into an unlucky double play.

Oregon’s Matt Dallas entered in the seventh and walked the first hitter. After Dallas gave up a double, Smith hit a sacrifice fly to finally drive in the first run of the game. Christian Ciuffetelli replaced Dallas and recorded the final two outs in the inning to prevent any further damage.

The Ducks had their best chance to score in the bottom of the seventh. Hall and Shade singled, and Cromwick walked to load the bases with one out. 

Gavin Grant struck out, and Ganus lined one that shortstop Jabin Trosky made a nice snag on. Ganus had four quality at-bats on the night but nothing to show for it. He extended his streak of not striking out to 26 collegiate plate appearances.

“He injected energy into our program,” Wasikowski said of Ganus. “He’s the hardest worker we got… Really happy with how Tyler Ganus played.”

Logan Mercado gave up a solo homer in the eighth to Justin Boyd, who also homered against the Ducks last Tuesday. The Beavers extended their lead to 2-0.

Left-hander Rio Britton gave up a leadoff double in the ninth, but ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts to keep it a two-run game.

The last eight Ducks hitters were retired as they failed to ignite a late rally. The final out was met with cheers from the large flocks of Beavers fans at PK Park. It was the Ducks’ second straight Tuesday night loss to the in-state rivals.

Oregon (28-15) and Oregon State (34-9) will play three games in Corvallis this weekend, starting Friday at 7 p.m.

“For two games here, the crowd that has showed up has gotten their money’s worth,” Wasikowski said. “It’s been good, clean baseball on both sides. It looks like two very good programs playing against each other, and that’s what I would think the fans of Oregon or anywhere else want to see when they’re in their rivalry game.”