The Ducks have finally taken flight.
Monday’s game wasn’t perfect, nor was it pretty. But the bats exploded in dominant fashion, putting up a school record 12 runs in the eighth. Josiah Cromwick’s pinch-hit grand slam gave the Ducks their first lead of the game, from which they never looked back.
There’s waking up, and then there’s catapulting out of bed and sprinting over a mountain. The Ducks’ bats did the latter in Monday’s 21-11 victory over San Diego, avoiding a season-opening sweep and securing their first win of the year. Pitcher Tommy Brandenburg’s collegiate debut was an afterthought by the time the game ended over four hours later.
Brandenburg didn’t pitch during the fall because of an injury. But his attitude and performance upon returning gave coach Mark Wasikowski the confidence to put him in the opening rotation, ahead of returning players like RJ Gordon and Caleb Sloan.
Brandenburg immediately showed why Wasikowski had so much praise for him. He froze the first batter he faced, collecting a called strikeout to begin his college career.
He issued a one-out walk, but San Diego poorly executed a hit-and-run, helping Brandenburg navigate through a scoreless first inning.
Brandenburg had a tougher time in the second inning. After a leadoff single, Tanner Smith lost a ball in the sun that landed for a double.
The Ducks almost escaped the jam when San Diego failed at a suicide squeeze, allowing Jack Scanlon to tag the runner out at home. But Brandenburg allowed a two run single that gave the Toreros a 1-0 lead.
The inning nearly turned disastrous as Brandenburg lost control of the strike zone, walking consecutive batters to load the bases. A line drive practically flew over Anthony Hall’s head in right field, but he was able to hang onto it as Oregon limited the damage to one run in the second.
The Ducks fought back in the fourth, with Colby Shade tying the game with a sacrifice fly.
The tie didn’t last long. A two run blast off Brandenburg in the bottom of the fourth gave San Diego the lead back, 3-1. A subsequent walk put an end to Brandenburg’s debut.
Scott Ellis relieved him and gave up a double, scoring a run that was charged to Brandenburg. Ellis ended the inning on a nice pickoff at second.
Drew Cowley, who was slotted into the two hole after a clutch hit on Sunday, got the Ducks back in it with a two run homer in the fifth.
Milone followed with a double, his sixth hit in his last seven at-bats. The Toreros then made the curious decision to intentionally walk Walsh to get to Kasevich. The draft prospect made them pay, slashing a single to left field that tied things up again, 4-4.
Once again, the tie didn’t last long. The depleted Oregon bullpen couldn’t prevent disaster from striking in a four run fifth inning.
After a walk and a double, a comebacker drilled Ellis and allowed a run to come home. The training staff came out to check on him, but he stayed in the game. San Diego plated another on a bunt where nobody covered first — yet another defensive mistake by Oregon.
The Ducks finally pulled the plug on Ellis. Stone Churby allowed two more runs on a single and a force out, making it 8-4.
Oregon got two back in the sixth, aided by Scanlon’s first hit of the year and a double from Cowley.
The teams continued trading crooked numbers. Oregon’s Dylan Sabia gave up two in the bottom of the sixth to make it a four run game again, but Kasevich cut the deficit in half with a two run homer in the seventh.
The Ducks kept on rallying, with Cowley eventually drawing a bases loaded walk that cut the deficit to one. Milone, the Ducks’ hottest hitter, hit a hard fly out to end the inning.
Rio Britton had all but completed a scoreless seventh, but Scanlon threw the ball into right field trying to complete the inning-ending strikeout. A run came home, making it 11-9.
The eighth inning was the breaking point. Kasevich collected his fourth hit of the day, putting runners on the corners. A bloop hit from Shade made it a one run game, and Cromwick’s pinch-hit grand slam gave the Ducks their first lead of the day, 14-11.
The damage didn’t stop there, somehow. Walsh homered later in the inning, a two run shot for the first long ball of his career. Oregon refused to let up, rubbing salt in San Diego’s wound by rallying for three more runs. When all was said and done, the Ducks led 21-11.
The game ended after eight innings due to curfew. With that, Oregon collected its first win of the season in wild fashion.
The victory has to be a huge sigh of relief for a team that was in serious danger of being swept to open the season. The Ducks will return home looking to build off that momentum. They’ll kick off a four game series in Eugene on Friday, with first pitch set for 4 p.m.
