Amidst a deep and versatile Oregon offense, one player who hadn’t done much yet was Gavin Grant. He had been held hitless through the Ducks’ first three games.

That changed on Sunday.

Grant hustled to beat out an infield single for his first hit of the year in the third inning, but it was his seventh-inning blast that made all the difference. A hitter not known for his power, Grant stepped to the plate in a 1-1 tie and rocketed one over the left field fence, helping Oregon win 3-1 and secure a sweep of Xavier to open the season. The moment was complete with a bat flip and all.

“Massive,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “He’s clutch when he needed to be… That was a fantastic swing on the ball with two strikes.”

The Ducks got another strong performance from a freshman on the mound, this time with six solid innings from Jackson Pace. Freshman relievers Logan Olson and Dylan McShane also made their debuts in the late innings.

Pace cruised through the lineup on his first go, allowing just a one-out double in the first. He utilized his offspeed pitches to get Xavier hitters to chase, and spotted his high-80s fastball well.

“I thought I got a lot of swings and misses on my slider,” Pace said. “We had a lot of different sliders thrown this weekend, but mine wasn’t really like the rest.”

Josiah Cromwick walked in the second inning for Oregon’s first baserunner. Jacob Walsh gave one a ride to left center, but Xavier center fielder Garrett Schultz sprinted over and made a great catch. Cromwick had already run past second base, so Schultz was able to double him off first. The Ducks had trouble with the hard fastballs of Xavier pitcher Joe Doyle.

Pace struck out the first two batters in the third inning. Schultz tried to call time during his at-bat and was denied, prompting a delay of play. Schultz argued with the home plate umpire, while Xavier coach Billy O’Conner had a heated discussion with the other two umpires. A strike was temporarily called on Schultz for taking too long to step in the box. 

Schultz eventually won his case and continued the at-bat, though ironically, the whole debacle took more time than if they had simply continued playing. The purpose of these rules is to speed up the pace of play, and it did anything but.

“I was pretty in the zone,” Pace said. “Stuff like that’s gonna happen. Their coach had the right to go out and do all that stuff.”

Pace permitted a single and a walk in the fourth inning, but he induced a pop out to shortstop to get out of trouble.

In the bottom of the fourth, Tanner Smith drew a walk, and Owen Diodati laced one to right field that went directly into the mitt of Carter Hendrickson. Like Cromwick two innings prior, Smith couldn’t get back to first base in time, and he was doubled off. 

The Musketeers broke the scoreless tie in the fifth on a run-scoring double by Hendrickson. Pace settled down, recording a couple groundouts to stop the bleeding.

The Ducks’ biggest chance to that point came in the bottom of the fifth. Walsh and Mason Lytle drew back-to-back walks, and Grant walked with two outs to load the bases. That prompted Xavier to replace Doyle with reliever Luke Bell, in a matchup against the pesky Rikuu Nishida.

Nishida did exactly what one would expect him to do: slap the ball. Unfortunately for Oregon, the ball zipped right into the shortstop’s mitt for the third out, and the Ducks stranded three runners.

Pace worked around a leadoff hit to get through his sixth inning of work. It was a strong debut for Pace, giving up just one run while striking out four. Oregon has gotten effective outings from its freshmen all weekend.

“The freshman arms threw very, very well,” Wasikowski said. “It was impressive to watch ‘em. Coach [Jake] Angier invested the amount of time that he has in those freshman arms, and those guys being able to slow the game down and execute their pitches… they made it look easy.”

The Musketeers stranded three runners in the seventh after freshman lefty Olson walked the bases loaded. Jack Housinger nearly hit a grand slam, but it stayed just shallow enough that Smith was able to snag it.

With the Ducks’ offense struggling, Cromwick tied the game up in a hurry. The ball exploded off his bat, flying well past the left field bullpen, a similar spot to where his second home run on Saturday landed. It was Cromwick’s third homer of the season already in eight at-bats.

“I think I was just relaxed,” Cromwick said. “I was able to see the ball well today and yesterday, and just trying to get a good pitch to hit.”

Oregon saw another freshman pitcher make his debut in the eighth, with 6-foot-9 McShane coming in and throwing a perfect inning. The tall, funky right-hander recorded a pair of strikeouts as he held the 1-1 tie.

“Oh man, he’s like 6-foot-14,” Wasikowski said. “He’s gangly and loose, and he just has a lot of fun. He’s quirky and tough to hit.”

Grant’s go-ahead blast led off the bottom of the eighth, stunning both Bell and the PK Park crowd.

“It’s nice to feel that come off the bat,” Grant said. “Just nice to see something fall for the weekend.”

Hits from Nishida and Smith scratched out an insurance run, giving closer Josh Mollerus a two-run lead to work with.

Mollerus walked the first batter, but then locked down the save with a pair of strikeouts. It capped the fourth consecutive win for Oregon to begin the 2023 season — the Ducks’ best start since 2016.

Oregon will now go on its first road trip of the year, beginning a series with UCSB Friday at 5 p.m.