SCOTTSDALE — The Ducks and Wildcats took to Scottsdale Stadium early Wednesday morning for the first game in Pac-12 Baseball Tournament history. Oregon, which swept Arizona last weekend, came up on the short end of a back and forth affair, falling 8-6 in the desert.
The Ducks battled after falling behind early, and Anthony Hall hit a massive three-run homer to give them a chance. But an unearned run and an ugly seventh inning got the best of Oregon as the team now faces elimination.
“I saw a really competitive baseball game,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “That was a hell of a game. For these people that were wondering what the Pac-12 Tournament’s gonna be about, they got a good one.”
The Wildcats opened with early and aggressive swings against Christian Ciuffetelli. After both teams went down in order in the first inning, Arizona jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second on a home run by Garen Caulfield.
Ciuffetelli surrendered another homer in the third inning, this time a solo shot to highly regarded draft prospect Daniel Susac. Arizona took a 3-0 lead before the Ducks had even recorded a baserunner.
“He didn’t execute enough pitches,” Wasikowski said of Ciuffetelli. “That’s what happened. When you don’t execute pitches to get hitters, then they get ya, and when you do, then you got a chance to have some success. He didn’t make enough quality pitches, and so they got him.”
Oregon’s first hit of the tournament came on a one-out single by freshman catcher Bennett Thompson in the third inning. Tanner Smith hit another single with two outs, prompting Arizona to make its first pitching change.
Lefty Javyn Pimental came in to face Colby Shade. Shade singled, lining the first pitch he saw into center field to put the Ducks on the board. Brennan Milone followed by poking a single through the infield, getting Oregon within a run.
The decision to bring in a lefty proved costly for the Wildcats as the Ducks found themselves right back in the game.
Ciuffetelli stayed in for the fourth inning, eclipsing his season high of three. After racking up his third strikeout, he gave up a single and his first walk of the day. RJ Gordon, the expected bulk pitcher, replaced him and recorded two big outs to hold the deficit at one.
Gordon got the first two outs in the fifth, but some messy play led to a run. After Susac singled, Thompson made a throwing error on a bunt to extend the inning. Gordon then allowed a single that brought in an unearned run for Arizona.
The Ducks roared back in the sixth. Drew Cowley walked and Josh Kasevich doubled to set things up for Hall, who crushed one to right field for a three-run homer. He flipped his bat before trotting around the bases, boosting Oregon to a 5-4 advantage.
“It always feels good to hit a home run,” Hall said. “It got some momentum, but we just didn’t execute late in the game.”
With the Ducks in the lead, the Wildcats immediately put Gordon in another tough spot. A single, a hit batter and a walk by Susac loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh. Oregon elected to bring in lefty Rio Britton to replace Gordon, who threw 2 2/3 innings.
Britton hit the first batter he faced, which forced in the tying run. After falling behind 3-0 on the next batter, Britton induced a sacrifice fly which gave Arizona a 6-5 lead.
Logan Mercado came in and induced a scorching line drive, but it went right into the mitt of Jacob Walsh for an inning-ending double play.
The Ducks blew chances in each of the seventh and eighth innings. They had runners on the corners with one out in the seventh and didn’t score, with Cowley and Kasevich making outs. Walsh ripped a single off the wall in the eighth, and Thompson collected his second hit, but Gavin Grant and Smith flew out.
Susac tripled Oregon’s deficit, smacking his second homer of the game off Mercado in the ninth. The two-run shot was his fourth time reaching base on the day, making it 8-5 Arizona.
The Ducks nearly made a comeback in the ninth as Cowley hit an RBI double. It all came down to Hall, who lined out to end the game.
“We’re not stressing at all,” Hall said. “Just gotta come back tomorrow.”
The Ducks will face elimination Thursday at 9 a.m. when they play the loser of Wednesday’s Stanford-Arizona State matchup.
“Get your rest,” Wasikowski said of his message to the team. “A lot of baseball in front of us. Now we need to win five games in a row, which is hard to do, but it can be done.”
