On a night where Oregon played a sloppy game — one that was interrupted by two separate rain delays — it just felt like things might not go the Ducks’ way.

They had all the ingredients to win Tuesday’s game on a wet evening in Portland. They received a worthy effort from Jackson Pace on the mound, and the offense jumped out to an early cushion. But they blew leads of 6-1 and 9-6, committing three costly errors in the process, and the Pilots walked off Oregon on a dropped popup in the ninth inning.

If one had checked the score with one out in the bottom of the ninth, they likely would have felt comfortable turning the game off and counting it as a Ducks win. Lockdown closer Josh Mollerus was in the game, and he had struck out all four batters he’d faced with Oregon leading 9-6.

But Mollerus — who came into the night with no runs allowed in 18 innings this season — for once, had a rough inning. After he gave up his first earned run of the year, a two-run double into the right field corner tied the game. Then, with the rain still beating hard out of the gloomy sky, second baseman Gavin Grant mishandled a popup he’s probably fielded successfully thousands of times in his life.

It erased what had been a great night for Grant, one in which he homered twice and nearly powered Oregon to a victory. He finished the game with two homers and two errors.

Facing KJ Ruffo, a converted catcher who posted a 13.50 ERA last year, the Ducks got off to a quick start with four runs in the first inning. Tanner Smith doubled in a pair with the bases loaded, breaking the all-time school RBIs record. With two outs, catcher Bennett Thompson hit a two-run double of his own to give Oregon the early cushion.

The Ducks made it 5-0 on a Grant solo homer in the second. Portland responded with a run in the bottom of the inning, with three hits against Pace. The game was then interrupted by its first rain delay, which only lasted a few minutes.

Ruffo allowed a double to Jacob Walsh and hit Thompson in the third, ending his outing after two-plus innings. Reliever Ty Saunders walked Rikuu Nishida to load the bases, but Colby Shade flew out to center as Oregon missed a chance to blow things open.

Pace kept things under control through five innings, holding Portland to one hit outside of the second inning. The Ducks also tacked on another with Sabin Ceballos’s 10th home run of the season, extending their lead to 6-1.

A game that felt like a blowout, and could have easily been more of a beatdown, was rapidly tightened in the sixth inning. After the Pilots loaded the bases on two base hits and a hit batter, Grant and Ceballos made back-to-back errors. Pace should have gotten through six solid innings, but his defense let him down, and he exited after 5 1/3.

Austin Anderson came in and recorded a three-pitch strikeout, but then surrendered a two-run single to make it a one-run game. He issued his 15th walk in 16 2/3 innings this year, which loaded the bases, but induced a groundout to keep things from getting disastrous.

Grayson Grinsell entered for the seventh, and the Pilots didn’t take long to tie it. Grinsell gave up a hit to the first two batters, making it 6-6. After he recorded a strikeout for the first out, the game was sent into another rain delay. This one lasted slightly longer, but play still resumed within a half hour.

Grinsell retired the first batter, then was pulled after just two pitches post-delay. Matthew Grabmann came in and got the final out of the inning, keeping the game knotted at six apiece.

With the contest approaching three hours old, Grant gave Oregon the lead back with his second homer of the game. Nishida doubled, and three consecutive walks from reliever Brock Gillis forced in a run to make it 8-6.

The Ducks got another insurance run in the ninth, as Thompson doubled and scored on a throwing error.

But it wasn’t enough insurance.

Mollerus looked like his typical self at first, striking out the first four batters he faced. But a single, a walk and a hit batter made things dicey in the ninth. He induced a ground ball to second, which nearly ended the game but was hit a tad too softly for the inning-ending double play. Oregon settled for the out at second, with Mollerus allowing his first run of the year after 19 1/3 scoreless.

But still, it wasn’t done. The game was only alive by a matter of inches, but a team still needs 27 outs to win a baseball game. Mollerus was one out away from closing out a 9-7 victory with a sub-1.00 ERA.

Up stepped pinch-hitter Justin Tsukada, who had just two hits in his career entering the night. He lined one into right field for a game-tying double. Mollerus’s day went from bad to worse, as he blew his first save of the year.

And then, on a sky-high popup into the rainy night, the ball popped in and out of Grant’s glove. All the Ducks could do is watch in disbelief as the Pilots formed a mob on the infield to celebrate their stunning come-from-behind victory.

Oregon (24-11, 9-6 Pac-12) will move its road trip down south for a series against Cal (16-16, 5-13 Pac-12) this weekend.