Oregon baseball’s bats finally woke up on Wednesday as the Ducks completed a two-game sweep of UC Riverside with ease. They compiled 14 hits in the 12-3 blowout, a much-needed confidence booster in preparation for its weekend bout with Arizona.
Rather than do its damage late in the game like it has much of the season thus far, Oregon refreshingly wasted no time on offense today. Matt Eureste led off the game and reached safely on an error, then Scott Heineman bunted him over and Mitchell Tolman drove him home with a base hit up the middle. Tolman later scored off a Josh Graham single to provide Oregon a 2-0 cushion early.
Graham’s third-inning grand slam served as the exclamation point on a seven-run frame which gave Oregon more than enough run support it’d need for the win.
Graham’s has impressed in his at bats since George Horton added him to the fifth slot in the batting order on Saturday. He’s showing he can supply the power the Ducks have missed from Shaun Chase for much of the season, although Chase got the nod at catcher last year due to his slugging. Graham’s three hits and six RBIs Wednesday all but guarantee his return, in some offensive role, to the Oregon lineup for the upcoming Arizona series, in which he may also see time on the mound.
Chase returned to Oregon’s starting lineup from sitting three games straight after leaving six runners on base in his last start on Friday. Horton decided to move him down to the ninth spot in the order, perhaps to see more fastballs and fewer off-speed pitches. Consequently Chase was able to contribute to the Ducks’ explosive third inning with a two-run single and left no runners on base today.
Freshman starter Jacob Corn is still looking for his groove as well, lasting five innings and yielding nine hits and three earned runs. He walked three, threw two wild pitches and struck out four before 6’4″ freshman right-hander Kohl Hostert relieved him. Hostert completely shut down the Highlanders offense, allowing zero of his 14 opposing batters to reach base and striking out five in his four-inning save.
Tolman logged four RBIs and five hits including two doubles in the series, indicating his slump, in which he recorded just one RBI in the last 13 games, may be history. He sat at 99 career RBIs for seventeen days before breaking the triple-digit milestone with a two-run homer on Tuesday. Tolman’s offensive production has been a key determinant in the Ducks’ team success for much of his career at Oregon, and will likely continue to be versus Arizona and other fierce Pac-12 competition.
The Ducks will battle the Wildcats at 7 pm on Friday for the first time in Tucson since taking two of three in 2012. The entire weekend series will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @kennyjacoby