Playing nine innings is a struggle for any team whose offense isn’t scoring and the defense isn’t making plays.
In their last four games — all of which they lost — the Oregon Ducks (9-6) scraped together just 10 runs on 22 hits, committed five errors and doled out 21 free passes to first base. There was more energy in a library than Oregon’s dugout during its 4-1 loss to Utah on Friday.
Manager George Horton said he had “tried everything” to get the momentum rolling in his team’s favor, but nothing had worked. So on Saturday, his message to the team was to “start having some fun.”
“Quite honestly, I told them the dugout was not very good,” Horton said. “If we’re going to wait around for somebody to hit a ball over a fence or get a two-out RBI, we’re not going to have a lot of energy from the dugout. So what I said is, ‘Let’s start finding anything to get positive energy out there,’ and they did that.”
Just when the Ducks appeared to have fallen out of the game all together, they clawed their way back in with a four-run fifth inning and went on to win 9-5 at PK Park. RBI singles from Kasser, senior Steven Packard and freshman Travis Moniot in the fifth inning turned a 5-2 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Oregon’s Tim Susnara snuck home unnoticed from third base to tie the score while the Utah second baseman was pleading his case to the umpire for an out call on a fielder’s choice.
“That’s big for us, because we’ve been scuffling a little bit,” junior Austin Grebeck said. “To string some hits together, get some execution done — that’s fantastic. That’s what we needed.”
Grebeck and sophomore Kyle Kasser provided the Ducks much-needed sparks on offense. Kasser’s double to left in the first inning scored Grebeck, who led off with a single, from first. Grebeck scored again on Kasser’s base hit up the middle in the fifth, following his own lead-off triple down the right field line. The two combined for six hits, four runs and three RBIs.
Kasser normally plays middle infield, but Horton gave him his second start of the season at first base. Horton said he was looking for a “fresh” mentality at the plate, and his “hunch” to start Kasser paid off.
“You really never know when your name is going to be called,” Kasser said. “You just always have to be ready and keep putting in the work. I got the call today, and I was ready.”
The Ducks put the game out of reach with three runs during a two-out rally in the seventh. Grebeck’s infield single scored senior Nick Catalano from third, and redshirt sophomore A.J. Balta’s bases-loaded shot up the brought home Grebeck and Moniot.
Moniot, like Grebeck and Kasser, notched three hits, plus an RBI and run on a balk.
Coming off a rough outing that lasted just 0.2 innings against Mississippi State, starting pitcher Matt Krook took another early exit. His command issues persisted with four walks, including two in the fourth that set up a two-run frame. He was pulled no outs into the fifth inning after conceding three straight singles and a wild pitch. He was charged with all five runs, all earned.
Krook has given up 19 walks and hit six batters in five starts and 21.2 innings this season.
The Ducks take on the Utes for the rubber game of the series Sunday, 12 p.m. at PK Park.
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @KennyJacoby
