Scott Heineman didn’t wake up Monday expecting to be on the mound when the Ducks took on San Fransisco. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=11401&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205411250@@
“I actually found out on Twitter,” said the true freshman from Pacific Palisades, Calif. “A buddy of mine sent me a text and said, ‘You know you’re getting the start?’ That was about 11:30 in class. ”
Heineman hadn’t pitched since high school and even then injuries limited him to 20 innings over the course of his junior and senior years at Crespi Carmelite. But he felt ready to take the mound for the Ducks on Monday. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=94833&SPID=11401&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205381481&Q_SEASON=2011@@
“We needed to have some pitching today,” Heineman said. “So I thought I could go out there and throw some innings and save some guys’ arms.”
The Ducks pulled out the come-from-behind win over the Dons by a final score of 4-2. Jordan Spencer picked up the win for the Ducks — but only after a shaky start to his outing.
Spencer entered the game in the third inning after Heineman reached a pre-determined pitch count — and promptly served up a pair of doubles. Oregon head coach George Horton said he pulled Heineman early because the coaching staff had him on a strict pitch count.
“We were thinking of 25-35 pitches, and he ended up at 34,” Horton said. “I thought it was the right time to bring Spencer in to face the left-hander. In retrospect, maybe Scotty (could) get through that inning and get that last out.”
Once he settled down though in the fourth inning, Spencer was fantastic.
“I thought Spencer was spectacular,” Horton said. “I thought that was his best outing.”
Oregon took the lead for good on a two-out, two-run single from sophomore Brett Thomas in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“It was a splitter, he just left it up in the zone and I hit it up the middle,” Thomas said. “That’s how we’re taught.”
The win allowed the Ducks to avoid a repeat of an earlier midweek series that saw Oregon lose two straight to Texas State before a pivotal series with Arizona State. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=11401&SPSID=94835@@
“Every game’s a grind, and we know that,” said Thomas. “Texas State reminded us how much of a grind it is, and we don’t take anybody lightly.”
Oregon got a great deal of offense from the bottom of its order with Brett Hambright and Connor Hoffman each going 2-for-3 from the eighth and ninth spots in the order.
“It isn’t always Aaron Jones or Ryon Healy that has to do it all the time,” Horton said. “So that was a bright spot.”
The Ducks pulled out the come-from-behind win, but the performance did leave room for improvement in Horton’s eyes.
“They walked ten of us and we have four runs,” he said. “We left a lot of guys on base, our bunting game still needs to be sharpened out and we struck out more times than I think we should have.”
With a 4-2 lead heading into the eighth inning, the Ducks gave the ball to Henry Gigeous for his first collegiate appearance. Gigeous didn’t give up a hit and struck out two in his debut.
“Our intent with him was to consider redshirting him,” Horton said. “I asked him to talk with his family and consider it and his response right before we went on the road was that he’d rather take whatever innings he could get.”
Tommy Thorpe started the ninth for the Ducks but Horton brought closer Jimmie Sherfy in to close the door after Thorpe gave up a walk to bring the tying run to the plate.
The Ducks return to PK Park today for a 12 p.m. matinee to close out the series with sophomore Jeff Gold making his fourth start of the year for Oregon.