Pass balls and wild pitches have been nagging issues for the Ducks all year, and those issues came back to bite them Friday night.
Oregon dropped its Pac-12 opener 4-1 to Utah at PK Park. The deciding factor in the game proved to be Oregon’s inability to keep the ball in front of the plate at key moments.
The Utes took advantage of Oregon’s sloppy defense, scorings two runs by way of pass ball in the late innings. They scored on a wild pitch earlier in the game.
“It might have been a 2-1 or 1-1 game if we don’t give away a few things defensively,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “(Utah) did a better job of scrapping it out.”
Oregon ace Cole Irvin delivered one of his sharpest outings of the season for seven innings. Once he reached the eighth, he and the Ducks imploded defensively.
Oregon entered the eighth inning trailing 2-1 , very much in contention for a win. Utah center fielder DaShawn Kiersey Jr. singled  to lead off the inning, then Kody Davis reached on a throwing error following a sacrifice bunt attempt. Hunter Simmons bunted over both runners, and Utah No. 3 hitter Dallas Carroll followed with a four-pitch walk. The fourth pitch bounced off the top of Oregon catcher Tim Susnara’s glove, and Kiersey scored easily on the error to increase to Ute’s lead to 3-1.
Irvin was replaced by Brac Warren, who got the Ducks out of the inning without further damage. But one inning later Utah extended its lead to 4-1 on another pass ball that ultimately put the game out of reach.
The loss drops Oregon’s record to 8-6 on the year, and marks its fourth consecutive loss.
Oregon’s offense has been sputtering of late; Friday was no exception. The Ducks tallied just three hits. Walks and stolen bases created almost every scoring opportunity.
“It’s easier said than done, catching fire, but we’ve got to start putting some at-bats together,” Horton said. “As they say: a blooper and a bomb, or something like that. We just need something special to mix in with all the walks that we’ve been getting.”
Irvin ended the game with six strikeouts, no walks and six hits in 7.1 innings of work; only two of the runs were earned. The Utes were only able to get two big hits off of him — a double in the first and a triple in the seventh — and both of those hits resulted in runs.
“I thought (Irvin) was really good,” Horton said. “No walks and he really pounded the strike zone. He might have thrown a few too many strikes, but it’s hard to fault a guy on that.”
Irvin’s record dropped to 2-2 with the loss. He has a 1.93 ERA and 0.93 WHIP.
Seven of Utah’s nine starters got base hits, and Dallas Carroll drove in a run and scored for the Utes. Austin Grebeck went 1-for-3 with a walk for Oregon and reached base for the 27th consecutive game, dating back to last season.
Oregon will face the Utes Saturday at 2 p.m. at PK Park, with sophomore Matt Krook slated to take the mound.
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney