No one could have blamed Oregon ace Tyler Anderson if he began to think, “Here we go again” in the sixth inning of the Ducks’ 6-3 win over BYU.
Anderson, a tough-luck, no-decision recipient in two of his first three starts, was on the mark yet again, surrendering only one earned run over his first six innings of work.
Nonetheless, the Ducks were down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, their offense nowhere to be found.
But instead of getting frustrated with his team’s lack of scoring production, Anderson tried to keep perspective.
“I just realized in my head I can only control what I can control, and the offense is going to pick us up eventually,” Anderson said.
Thanks to some patient hitting and a timely single by freshman Aaron Jones, the Ducks offense finally broke through, in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Andrew Mendenhall, J.J. Altobelli and KC Serna all walked to open the frame. After Marcus Piazzisi grounded into a fielder’s choice, Jack Marder knocked in the Ducks’ first run of the game with a walk of his own that forced home Altobelli.
Oregon took the lead when Jones came back from a two-strike deficit to poke a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield that scored Piazzisi and Serna.
“I got behind 0-2, and then I shortened up with two strikes and battled to beat an infielder, as we always say, and it happened to squeak through,” Jones said.
While the hit only gave Oregon a one-run lead, it felt more significant for a team that has been struggling to come up with clutch hits during its rocky start to the season.
“In a situation with the bases loaded we kept sticking with it,” Anderson said. “Tonight (we) finally had a break, and it was huge for us. I think it gave the whole team momentum.”
The three-run inning also seemed to fuel Anderson. He set down all six Cougars he faced in the seventh and eighth innings to maintain the Ducks’ lead.
“As the game went on I settled down a little bit and stopped trying so hard and just went with it,” Anderson said.
With its ace in command, Oregon tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Altobelli led off the inning with a solid single to center field. After Serna hit into a fielder’s choice, Piazzisi tried to bunt for a hit and ended up reaching base on an error by BYU third baseman Bret Lopez. That brought Marder to the plate, and Oregon’s catcher delivered once again. This time, he hammered a double to the left field wall that scored Serna and Piazzisi and gave Oregon a 5-2 lead.
Two batters later, the Ducks scored their sixth and final run on a perfect bunt from Jones that scored pinch runner Connor Hofmann.
But even with a four-run lead, Oregon couldn’t breathe easy. The Ducks’ bullpen has struggled this year, blowing leads in four of Oregon’s seven losses.
And for a few brief moments, it looked like reliever Scott McGough, who was summoned in the ninth inning to replace Anderson, would make it five.
McGough loaded the bases with two outs and proceeded to hit BYU outfielder Kelton Caldwell to reduce Oregon’s lead to 6-3 and bring the tying run to the plate. However, with the pressure on, McGough induced a pop out to end the game.
So ended a night that featured its fair share of poor execution and missed opportunities.
“Sometimes ugly wins are the start of something special, so let’s hope that’s the case,” Oregon head coach George Horton said.
The victory was further blemished by an injury to Marder, who had a team-high three RBIs in the win. A few moments after his RBI double gave Oregon a 5-2 lead, Marder dislocated the middle finger on his right hand when he dove awkwardly back into second base on a pickoff attempt. There is no official timetable on his return.
Marder was a big reason why the Ducks were able to overcome single runs in the second and third innings by BYU. In the second, Cougars outfielder Ryan Bernal scored on a passed ball, and in the third, catcher Alex Wolfe knocked in Dane Nielsen with a double down the right field line.
Oregon (6-7) will continue its three game series with BYU (7-5) at 6 p.m. today at P.K. Park.
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