Have a day, Drew Smith.
Oregon has been searching for the final piece of its deep and impressive lineup, with a large cast of characters rotating in and out — including but not limited to Owen Diodati, Jackson Jaha, Dominic Hellman and, most recently, Anson Aroz. While Aroz impressed, a different freshman got his moment under the spotlight on Wednesday: third baseman Drew Smith.
Smith was granted his second collegiate start, and his first at third base with Sabin Ceballos moving to DH. While he made outs in each of his first two at-bats, he more than redeemed himself in the next two. He outdid his own RBI single — which gave Oregon the lead — with a massive blast to extend the lead in the seventh inning.
“It’s awesome,” Smith said. “Just being with my guys, and being in that moment, it’s really nice. They push me every day in practice.”
His heroics helped the Ducks overcome an early hole and explode with a late-innings barrage for the second straight day, going on to beat Gonzaga 10-5 at PK Park. Turner Spoljaric kept Oregon in the game through five innings of work, while Josiah Cromwick homered and Gavin Grant contributed four RBIs.
“They threw a lot of different guys and different looks at us. I thought our guys handled it really well,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “To be able to score the runs and put the run totals up we did in the last few days; I thought there were really quality arms that we saw, and to be able to break them down, I was impressed with what coach [Jack] Marder’s game plan had, and the guys executed.”
Spoljaric, unlike many of the other young pitchers on Oregon’s staff, hadn’t struggled much with walks this year; he came into the day with a respectable seven walks in 17 innings. But he got himself into a hole almost immediately, walking the second and third batters of the game. He then surrendered a three-run homer to cleanup hitter Sam Stem.
“In the first inning, I was trying to be a little bit too nitpicky and be too precise and fine,” Spoljaric said. “I came out in the second and told myself, ‘I’m just gonna let these guys get themselves out. We have a really great defense.’”
With a 3-0 deficit, the Ducks’ offense matched up against Bradley Mullan, a left-hander with a funky motion. Their first two hits against him both came from lefties: Drew Cowley and Tanner Smith.
T. Smith’s single led off the bottom of the second. With two outs, Bryce Boettcher worked a walk, and Grant lined a two-run single to get Oregon back in the game. Grant was thrown out trying to advance to second.
Spoljaric settled in nicely to keep things close. He retired nine in a row after four consecutive batters reached in the first inning, inducing a lot of ground balls in the process.
“Sometimes when you’re pitching to contact, you can give up a few hits. You gotta stay mentally strong,” Spoljaric said. “But if you’re getting results, it’s definitely nice to see it rewarded.”
Gonzaga brought in another lefty, Matthew Mueller, for the third inning. Mueller’s delivery was completely different, as he reared all the way back and fired his arm with an over-the-top motion. He threw a hitless third and fourth innings, issuing just a walk to Ceballos.
Mueller lost his command in the fifth, as he issued back-to-back walks to Boettcher and Grant. Boettcher stole third, and Oregon tied the game on a sacrifice bunt by Rikuu Nishida.
Gonzaga brought in a third pitcher with an “M” last name: this time, funky right-hander Jack Moffitt. With Grant on second, D. Smith lined an 0-2 slider up the middle for a go-ahead RBI single. He pumped his fists and yelled towards the dugout as he rounded the bag.
“He’s playing like an upperclassman,” Grant said. “He has been since he set foot on campus. Everyone saw that from the start, and it was just a matter of time before he got his chance, and he’s taken advantage of it.”
With the Ducks gaining their first lead of the evening, they went to their probable Saturday starter, Logan Mercado, to give him some work ahead of a big weekend. Spoljaric ended with a solid final line, with threes across the board — three hits, runs, walks and strikeouts. Mercado allowed just a two-out single in a scoreless sixth inning.
The Ducks tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a two-out RBI single from Grant. It gave Grant his third RBI of the game and extended Oregon’s lead to 5-3.
D. Smith went deep in the seventh, stretching Oregon’s cushion to three runs. It went nearly dead central, clearing the black outlining beyond the wall. Josiah Cromwick followed with a solo shot of his own in the eighth inning. It was much-needed for Cromwick, who hit three homers in the first week of the season but had only hit one since then.
The Ducks weren’t done there, adding three more runs in the inning with hits from Boettcher, Grant and Nishida. Grant scored on a passed ball, with Nishida going all the way from first to third. D. Smith collected his third RBI, driving Nishida in with a groundout and running Oregon’s lead up to 10-3.
“We take a lot of pride in it. That’s huge for our team whenever those guys in the bottom of the order can produce — like Gavin Grant, he’s been on fire,” Boettcher said. “Just working in pairs. Working with the guy ahead of you, the guy behind you to work the pitcher, give yourself some good counts, and give your guy that’s behind you the best chance of getting a plus AB for the team.”
Freshman lefty Logan Olson walked three batters in an ugly ninth-inning performance. He threw 22 pitches, just seven of which were strikes (and two of which were hits). Austin Anderson came in and walked in another run, but Stem — who hit the three-run homer in the first inning — got under one to end the game.
No. 23 Oregon (28-12, 11-7 Pac-12) will play an important series with the conference leader, No. 18 Arizona State (28-12, 13-4 Pac-12), this weekend, starting Friday at 5 p.m.
