Oregon baseball (23-22, 8-13) was blown out by Arizona on Sunday 28-7, losing its ninth game in its last 10 games while being swept for the second time in conference play. The game ended after eight innings due to the getaway day curfew rule.
Although down 2-0 in the series with Arizona heading into Sunday’s game, the Ducks still had a chance to salvage the series and possibly build some momentum for a postseason push.
Oregon baseball once again had to wait until the final game of a conference series to win a game. Sunday’s matchup with Arizona marked the fourth conference series (the others being Washington, Stanford and Cal) in which the Ducks trailed 2-0 heading into the finale.
The losses have also been devastating. Oregon has allowed four walk-offs in this tough 10-game run, all four coming off reliever Ryne Nelson.
With all this bad, there was a chance for some good when the Ducks scored a run in the top of the first inning. That lead did not last long, however, as Arizona scored eight runs in the bottom of the first, seven more in the second inning, one in the third inning and seven more in the fourth inning.
Despite the four runs through four innings for the Oregon offense, the result, and the sweep, was never in doubt.
Arizona’s Nick Quintana had five RBIs and Austin Wells had four. Justin Wylie also scored five runs in the game for the Wildcats.
Six Oregon pitchers combined to allow 28 runs, 22 earned, over the seven innings. Starting pitcher Cullen Kafka allowed 11 runs, five earned, in just one inning of work. Tyler Frazier, Kolby Somers, Peyton Fuller and Christian Ciuffetelli all allowed at least three runs as well.
The lone pitcher to produce was the fourth reliever, Nico Tellache. Tellache pitched two scoreless innings, although the game was already won at that point.
Oregon will return to Eugene for its first home game since the three-game sweep by Stanford on April 18-20. The Ducks will host Portland at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7. The Ducks lost to Portland 5-3 March 5, in Portland.
Follow Maverick Pallack on Twitter @mavpallack