Bennett Thompson stepped up with two on in the eighth. His Ducks were staring down an 8-3 deficit and running out of outs.
Thompson was sent in to pinch-hit for Carter Garate. Evidently, he was the right man for the job.
His third homer of the season was a clutch one. It bounced off the “All Americans” banner in left and brought No. 21 Oregon within a run.
Pinch-hitting success became a byline of a series in which, once again, the Ducks took two of three.
“I think it says something about their readiness to come off the bench,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowksi said about the pinch-hitting. “We know we’ve got a lot of good players, but [pinch-hitting is] a really hard thing to do.”
One batter later, Bryce Boettcher smacked his fifth bomb in his last five games out the same direction. The No. 25 Utes’ lead was down to a lone run.
But ultimately, it wasn’t enough. The hole was too big for Oregon to fully work out of as the Ducks (32-15, 14-10 Pac-12) fell to the Utes (30-15, 15-9 Pac-12) 9-7 in the series finale.
As has been the theme of 2024, the Ducks won the series, but couldn’t earn the sweep.
The difference ended up being the damage done by Utah’s Core Jackson just minutes before Thompson’s blast. He doubled home three with a ball in the gap to put the Utes up 8-3 in the eighth.
Aside from Thompson’s blast, the Ducks didn’t have the timely hitting they needed. They finished 1-6 with RISP and 2-9 with runners on base on Sunday.
“We win a series, and we’re disappointed.” Wasikowski said after his team failed to secure the sweep. “The standard’s high when your guys win a series and they’re disappointed, and so I’m glad that’s the standard here.”
For the first time in the series, Utah struck first. Jackson came in to score on a TJ Clarkson RBI single in the opening frame. An incredibly-close play at the plate sparked a review — and some words from both teams and dugouts — but ultimately, the run counted and the Utes had their first lead of the day.
Maddox Molony quickly erased it with a leadoff homer to open the bottom of the second. His seventh homer of the season sets a new Oregon freshman record.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” Wasikowski said. “I really like our freshmen class. They’re really good players.”
The barrage of homers would continue for the next few innings. Justin Cassella hit his seventh homer of the season on top of the scoreboard to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead. In his first start of the series, Casella was 1-3 with the homer and a pair of walks.
The very next inning, Tyler Quinn sent a two-run shot out to left field to give the Utes the lead again. He injured himself celebrating with a teammate and was subbed, but the damage had already been done. Utah added another run later in the frame and took a 4-2 lead in the fourth.
Bryce Boettcher scampered home on a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the fifth to bring the Ducks back within a run. Colter McAnelly had put a trio of Oregon runners on with a slew of free passes, but escaped the jam with just the one run allowed.
Seitter’s day ended with a runner on second and one out in the sixth inning. Jaxon Jordan closed out the frame to keep the Utes off the board and help Seitter out of the jam. Seitter finished with 5.1 innings of four-run, seven-hit ball while fanning three and walking a trio.
“I don’t think Kevin had his best game at all,” Wasikowski said. “They got to him pretty good. I felt like he had a good fastball early in the game. I didn’t feel like his breaking ball was as sharp as it normally has been and that’s probably why they were able to get to him a couple of times with two strikes.”
After yesterday’s pair of wins, Wasikowski said that Seitter would have to “pitch old” as the Ducks looked to sweep the Utes. This means not letting moments get too big and not letting mistakes snowball. Seitter did a decent job pitching old on Sunday, but a few mistake pitches put Oregon’s offense in a hole.
That hole grew exponentially with Jackson’s eighth-inning double. Oregon’s bullpen threw another inefficient ninth as another run came in to score. Logan Mercado was responsible for five runs on five hits across just 1.1 innings of work.
No Oregon player had more than one knock, but the Ducks only struck-out seven times — a considerable decrease from the 21 Ks Oregon had in Saturday’s doubleheader.
Once again, the Ducks win the series, but can’t manage to earn a sweep. Winning two of three isn’t a bad habit to be in, but the best teams are the ones with the ability to completely dominate their opponents. The Ducks haven’t demonstrated that yet in conference play, and it’s becoming concerning.
McAnelly (5-2, 3.75 ERA) got the win. Seitter (5-4, 5.16 ERA) earned the loss. Micah Ashman earned his 11th save of the season — which temporarily puts him in a tie for the most in the conference.
Oregon now holds a 31-8 all-time record over the Utes and is 14-4 against Utah in Eugene.
Oregon heads to Washington for a three-game series next weekend. The Huskies sit ninth in the Pac-12 standings, so the Ducks really need to win at least two of three. First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m.
