Standing in the on-deck circle with two men on base in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday, KC Serna had just one thought running through his mind.
“I’m going to get this done.”
Forget that he was coming off the bench for the third straight game, that he came into the series opener against Arizona with a woeful .202 batting average, that head coach George Horton was clearly unhappy with his play.
None of it mattered. The confidence carried over when he finally stepped into the batter’s box; with two outs and runners on first and second, it was his game to win.
With a sharp single into right field, he did just that, propelling Oregon (20-16, 3-7 Pacific-10 Conference) to a 4-2 victory over No. 23 Arizona (23-14, 5-8 Pac-10).
“I felt like I was going to get it done,” Serna said. “I was just confident going into it, knowing that I just had a couple good hacks, and it should happen.”
Serna’s hit was all Oregon starter Tyler Anderson needed. The junior pitched his first complete game of the season, striking out nine and allowing just three hits. For Horton, it was an encouraging start to a three-game series against a talented conference foe.
“It’s a good victory for us,” Horton said. “We’ve still got our work cut out for us (Friday) and Saturday.”
Oregon struck first in the early going, pushing across a run in the second inning as freshman Tyler Kuresa singled and was driven home by a Jack Marder double. The Ducks would tack on another run in the third on an RBI single from sophomore Ryan Hambright, but Arizona would not go down without a fight.
The Wildcats responded in the top of the fourth with two runs to tie the score. First baseman Cole Frenzel drove in the first with a single to left field, and eventually came around for the tying run on a sacrifice fly from right fielder Robert Refsnyder.
From that point on, Anderson was simply too much to handle. The Wildcats were held scoreless through the final five frames, leaving the door wide open for Oregon to squeeze by with a victory.
The opportunity came in the eighth inning, when Hambright singled and Marder walked. With Serna at the plate, Arizona reliever Bryce Bandilla lofted a fastball over the outer corner. Serna connected to drive pinch runner Dylan Gavin home, and Marder would also come in to score after J.J. Altobelli bunted for a hit.
Anderson returned to close the game out in the ninth, and Horton never considered replacing his ace.
“Tyler’s big and strong, and has invested a lot,” Horton said. “I don’t think there was a doubt that we wanted him to have the ball as long as his pitch count wasn’t too high.”
Indeed, Anderson mowed down the Wildcats in order, and Oregon escaped with its 20th victory of the season. Freshman center fielder Brett Thomas went 3 for 4 at the plate, while Marder finished 2 for 2 with a run and an RBI.
The Wildcats managed just three hits despite coming into the series with a .331 team batting average. They simply had no answer for Anderson, who credited his control for the shutdown performance.
“Just throwing strikes,” Anderson said. “If you don’t give them free bases and throw the ball over the plate … just tried to get ahead all night.”
Though Horton was certainly happy to see the Wildcats struggle offensively, he knew it might not last.
“Hopefully, they won’t prove it before they get out of town, but they’re pretty good offensively,” Horton said. “(Anderson) made it look pretty easy against them.
“We’ll have to key it up again tomorrow. That just makes them a little more hungry tomorrow, and hopefully my group will stay hungry.”
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