Friday was all about Isaac Ayon.
After giving up five runs in back-to-back starts, the right-hander returned to PK Park and turned in the best outing of his career. He threw a complete game, his second this season and first of the nine-inning variety. He struck out a career-high 10 batters while throwing 98 pitches, helping Oregon secure a 4-3 victory over No. 25 Arizona in the Ducks’ penultimate game of the season.
“He’s a tough kid,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “When he feels it and he smells it, he wants it.”
The win gave Oregon the series victory and secured the No. 4 seed in the Pac-12 tournament.
The Ducks took another early lead in the first inning, though they missed out on a crooked number. After Colby Shade singled and was thrown out trying to steal second, Brennan Milone reached on a three-base error by the right fielder. Drew Cowley singled him home with two outs, but Shade’s overaggressive baserunning cost Oregon at least one more run.
The Ducks ended up tacking on two more anyway in the second inning. Freshman catcher Bennett Thompson smashed his first collegiate home run over the left field fence, extending the lead to 3-0.
“He’s waited his turn, waited his turn,” Wasikowski said of Thompson. “He’s blocking really well back there, catching really well. His combination between he and Isaac, that’s no fluke.”
Ayon gave up a single in each of the first three innings, but worked around them without issuing a single walk. He ended the third inning with a sharp slider to record his second strikeout.
Ayon cracked in the fourth, giving up a solo shot. He bounced back with three quick groundouts to hold the lead at 3-1.
The Wildcats put something together in the fifth, chipping away to tie the game at three apiece. After Ayon issued his first walk, MLB draft prospect Daniel Susac ripped a run-scoring double. The tying run then came home on a groundout.
Ayon had a strong bounceback sixth, continuing to use his slider to induce swings and misses. He racked up two more strikeouts in a perfect frame.
“The sun goes off the batter’s eye and it makes it hard to see spin,” Ayon said. “So me and [pitching coach Jake] Angier talked, and we decided to throw a lot of sliders this game because it’s just harder to pick it up.”
The Ducks’ bats, meanwhile, slowed down. Tanner Smith hit his third fly out to strand two runners in the fourth, and Cowley recorded his third single of the game in the fifth but was left at first base.
Thompson reached on an error in the sixth inning and stole a base — another first for him. Gavin Grant flew out to leave the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.
The Ducks turned their second double play of the evening to get out of the seventh inning after Ayon issued his second walk of the game. The sophomore right-hander kept rolling, striking out another pair of batters in a perfect eighth.
The big hit for Oregon came in the bottom of the eighth. With two on and two outs, Grant grounded a single through the middle. Pinch runner Tyler Ganus — the multitalented utilityman who also released a music video Friday — scored the go-ahead run.
“When Gavin Grant came through, that really got me going,” Ayon said. “He was the right guy at the right time, and I knew he was gonna come through. So right when that happened, it gave me that little bit of extra fire to go out there and finish the game.”
With Oregon taking a one-run lead, Wasikowski had no hesitations about sending Ayon back out for the ninth.
“I didn’t want to get hit today by a bat or anything like that with Isaac,” Wasikowski said. “He wasn’t coming out of the game. There was no discussion.”
Ayon ramped it up, striking out the side to finish the complete game. He pumped in strikes at the end, the crowd cheering with each one. Ayon shared a hug with catcher Jack Scanlon as the team celebrated its final regular season series victory of the year.
“Jack caught me at the beginning of the year, and I feel a bond with him,” Ayon said. “So it was nice to finish the game with him. Jack’s a great catcher.”
Oregon (34-21, 17-12 Pac-12) will look to sweep the series over Arizona (35-19, 16-13 Pac-12) Saturday at noon in the final game of the regular season. The win would secure a No. 4 seed in the conference tournament for the Ducks, though either way they’re likely to face the Wildcats again in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday.
