Rather than hit the ground running, the Ducks slid, tripped, fell and tumbled into the 2022 season on Friday.
Oregon baseball took the field at Torero Stadium for not only its season opener, but the highly anticipated Ducks debut of Adam Maier. The Canadian transfer shot his name into draft conversations with a standout performance in the Cape Cod League last summer and looks to headline this Oregon rotation.
Before the game, Oregon legend Kenyon Yovan compared Maier to “prime Josh Beckett,” an MLB pitcher who came in second in Cy Young voting in 2007 for the Boston Red Sox. It’s safe to say Maier has potential.
Despite some early command issues that put the Ducks in an immediate hole, Maier turned in a solid debut. He set a career high in strikeouts while limiting the Toreros to two earned runs in five innings. But the Ducks played a sloppy game with errors, overthrows and a baserunning blunder. The bullpen gave up seven runs in the seventh, sealing the deal on the 11-1 beatdown.
On the first pitch of the Ducks’ season, Tanner Smith laced a single to left. Sophomore transfer Brennan Milone followed with a single of his own in his first Oregon at-bat, but Josh Kasevich struck out swinging to end the threat.
The Toreros followed suit, leading off their half of the first with a single against Maier. The righty, struggling to lock down on the zone, gave up a deep drive that flew into the trees behind the left field fence. San Diego was up 2-0 before Maier could record an out.
But he stayed composed, utilizing his sharp slider and precise sinker to strike out the next four batters.
In the second inning, after Kasevich’s second error of the game, Maier became erratic again. He hit back-to-back batters, loading the bases. A wild pitch and a single brought in two more runs, giving San Diego a 4-0 lead.
Jacob Walsh collected his first collegiate hit with a rocket to right field in the third. But the Ducks struggled to put anything together against San Diego starter Garrett Rennie.
Maier settled back in, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. His nine strikeouts eclipsed his previous career high of eight. He showed a remarkable ability to spot his sinker on the inside part of the plate, freezing batters before wiping them away with his slider.
Maier pitched five innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits, two hit batsmen and no walks.
The Ducks finally got on the board in the fifth. After Smith walked, Walsh smacked his second hit into center field. Smith rounded third and was able to score on an error. But two impressive defensive plays by San Diego prevented any further damage.
Oregon still could not get a rally going. Kasevich led off the sixth with a double, but he was picked off second after tagging up too early on a fly ball.
Smith collected his second hit in the seventh, putting two runners on. Walsh, representing the tying run, hit one hard up the middle, but the Toreros turned a double play to get out of another jam.
Senior transfer Dylan Sabia made his Ducks debut in the bottom of the seventh. He pitched against the Ducks for Central Connecticut State in last year’s Eugene Regional.
A walk, a bloop single and an intentional walk loaded the bases for San Diego. Sabia induced a clutch force out at the plate for the second out, but a single up the middle extended the Toreros’ lead to 6-1. Another walk loaded the bases, putting an end to Sabia’s evening.
Junior Matt Dallas came in and gave up three straight hits, blowing the game open to 11-1. It was a seven run inning with 11 batters coming to the plate.
Any slim hope of an Oregon comeback was punctured, deflated and disintegrated.
The teams played out the rest of the game with an empty, quiet atmosphere in the ballpark. The final score was 11-1, putting a resounding slash in the loss column.
Despite the ugly opening, the Ducks and Toreros still have three games to play this series. The teams will pick things back up at 5 p.m. Saturday for Game 2 of the four-game slate.
