The Oregon Ducks (13-25) lost to the No. 6 UC Irvine Anteaters (28-10) Tuesday afternoon to end a five-game road trip. The Anteaters used three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie to win 7-4.
Oregon finished 1-4 on the road trip.
Reliever Drew Gagnier (1-1) took the loss after coming in for reliever Bennett Whitmore in the eighth inning. Starter Madison Boer gave up four runs on six hits and walked three Anteaters.
Noel Avison earned the win for Irvine, going 2.2 innings and striking out two batters.
The Ducks, who were down 4-2 going into the sixth inning, rallied behind a two RBI single by Mitch Karraker in the top of the sixth to tie game. Reliever Bennett Whitmore then held the Anteaters in check until the eighth inning when he hit the lead off batter. That left the door open for Irvine to score the go ahead run on a single from DJ Crumlich.
For Oregon, left fielder Curtis Raulinaitis continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Third baseman Danny Pulfer also scored a run and walked, going 1-for-2.
Next up for Oregon is a three-game home series starting Friday against the Washington Huskies (14-22, 4-8). Oregon has already played the Huskies four times this season, going 1-3. They were swept in two-game series at the start of March in Seattle, and then they split with Washington at the Rose City Invitational in two games.
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