Oregon had been searching for a run all game.
The Ducks (11-5, 2-1 Pac-12), who were outscored by the Huskies (11-7, 1-2 Pac-12) 28-6 over a two-game span, only mustered four hits through the nine innings in their third matchup of the season.
Neither team could put up a run, until the 10th inning.
Washington threatened to score following a balk by relief pitcher Nico Tellache, which advanced runners to second and third base. Tellache was able to strikeout, then pop-up the following two batters to work himself out of the jam.
Taylor Adams singled to put one baserunner on for Oregon, Tanner Smith was able to follow, two-batters later, with a single through the ride side of the defense, giving Oregon life. Sam Novitske, worked at walk out of pitcher Stevie Emanuels, to load the bases for Oregon, bringing up Jonny DeLuca.
“In my situation 0-4, 3Ks, isn’t very good but the game always says you want the fifth at-bat,” Deluca said.
DeLuca, who entered his fifth at-bat 0-for-4 on the day, worked the count full. With the bases loaded and the crowded roaring, DeLuca ripped a walk-off single to right field to give his team a 1-0 victory in the bottom of the 10th.
“Tough day, but finished out on top,” DeLuca said. “I think last year we would’ve caved being behind 2-0 in the series. It tells you how bad we want it each and every game.”
Washington, who dominated Oregon in every statistical category over the past two days, was kept at bay today, mustering eight hits, leaving 11 runners on base and not scoring a single point.
The Ducks opened up the game with Brett Walker, who went 3.1 innings and gave up five hits.
Head coach George Horton knew his team needed a win during the opening weekend of conference, and he went to his bullpen, who have been dominated all weekend, and called on Ryne Nelson.
Nelson went 5.2 innings, giving up three hits and striking out eight batters of the 21 batters he faced.
“We didn’t necessarily think going into the weekend we were going to use him out of the bullpen,” Horton said. “For him to go that long…was pretty dynamic stuff. He took a really good hitting team and neutralized them for a good bit of time and kept us in it until we could muster up a run.”
Tellache, who came in for relief of Nelson, only went one inning and getting Oregon out of trouble to avoid a series sweep. He earned the win bringing his record to 2-1 on the year.
“That’s something we’ve been focusing on is the bullpen,” Nelson said. “Getting guys to come out and compete, we definitely did it today, it was fun to be a part of.”
The Ducks will stay in Eugene ahead of their three-game series with No. 25 Arizona State this weekend at PK Park.
Follow Gabriel on Twitter @gabe_ornelas
