Thursday was another imperfect performance from Oregon baseball, with offense still only coming in spurts and some errors on the basepaths. But a win is a win, and this was a needed one after an 0-3 weekend. The Ducks took down the San Diego Toreros 3-2 behind a strong pitching performance from Jace Stoffal, a home run from Jacob Walsh and a key hit by Drew Cowley.

“I thought we pitched the ball good. I thought we played good defense,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “There’s some things that we can clean up offensively and on the bases, but for me, it was great to see a couple of the hitters catch one on the barrel that had been struggling.”

With Stoffal on the bump, San Diego jumped out to a lead right away. Jack Costello, who already had five home runs on the season, added another in the first inning, rifling one over the left field fence. It proved to be the only real blemish on Stoffal’s afternoon.

With offense being a rare commodity as of late, Sabin Ceballos began the bottom of the second with a hustle double to the opposite-field gap. Ceballos is one of the few Oregon hitters who’s looked good at the plate; he was moved up to the cleanup spot on Thursday and got his first start at third base. Cowley, meanwhile, was moved to the designated hitter spot.

“Ceballos is a really good player,” Wasikowski said. “We just wanted to do something different. We didn’t want to see the same thing rolled out there.”

With Ceballos on second, the Ducks ran themselves out of the inning. He tried to advance on a groundout and was nabbed at third, and Cowley was doubled off first on a shallow fly out to right.

The Ducks nearly had something going again in the third, but once again, they squandered the opportunity with baserunning blunders. With runners on second and third and one out, Jacob Walsh was caught in a rundown between third and home. After the third baseman tagged Walsh out, Bryce Boettcher failed to stay on the third base bag and was tagged out as well.

“Nobody likes to see baserunning mistakes,” Wasikowski said. “Nobody likes to see unclean baseball. And so there’s some things that we can improve upon as a coach.”

Stoffal didn’t let the first-inning homer phase him, as he kept the ball in the zone and worked through the first three innings efficiently. He let up in the fourth, issuing a pair of two-out walks, but he induced a groundout to keep the deficit at 1-0.

The Ducks’ offense finally broke through in the fourth. Tanner Smith walked, and Ceballos displayed another impressive piece of opposite-field hitting. That set it up for Cowley, who poked one into the left field corner to drive in two runs and jolt Oregon into the lead.

“Was just looking for a pitch I could drive,” Cowley said. “Got a fastball and was able to put a good swing on it, and it found the green and got those two runs which was nice.”

Stoffal pitched a perfect fifth, ending the frame on a nice play where he had to cover first. It was an encouraging outing for Stoffal against a potent offense, as he gave up just one run on two hits over five solid innings. He threw 57 pitches and said his pitch count coming into the day was 60.

“They were aggressive early, and it led to me being able to keep my pitch count down,” Stoffal said. “So I just thought if I kept throwing strikes and pounding the zone early, they’d get themselves out with our good defense.”

The Ducks added an insurance run in the seventh on a solo bomb from Walsh. It was much-needed for Walsh, who had been just 1-for-20 to start the season. Making it all the more impressive was that it came off a lefty.

“Was it 1-for-20? Wow, I didn’t even know that,” Walsh said. “I don’t really pay attention to that stuff. Baseball always evens itself out. So keep doing what works.”

That insurance run proved to be important, as the Toreros scratched one out in the eighth. Matt Dallas pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, but Oregon took him out as Costello came up with two outs and a runner on second in the eighth.

The Ducks brought in closer Josh Mollerus for a four-out save. Mollerus walked Costello, then gave up a run-scoring single to Kevin Sim, cutting the lead to 3-2. Mollerus buckled down, inducing a foul pop-up and holding on to the one-run advantage.

Mollerus went the rest of the way, allowing just a two-out single as he shut the door on the series-opening win.

“I was proud of the pitching,” Wasikowski said. “I thought the pitchers did very well.”

The four-game series between the Ducks (5-3) and Toreros (5-2-1) will continue Friday at 3 p.m.