It hasn’t been perfectly smooth sailing for Oregon baseball this season, and Friday was no exception. The hits still aren’t all falling. Tanner Smith said he doesn’t even think the offense is up to 50% of its potential.

But they found a way to get it done.

Smith was the hero with the rain sprinkling on a windy night at PK Park. He ripped a game-winning double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Ducks a 4-3 win over San Diego, Oregon’s second walk-off win of the year and second straight victory to start the series.

Smith sprinted out as far as he could in left field before his team mobbed him, admittedly afraid of getting drenched in the already cold weather. After the game, he sported a large white jacket that the Ducks are dedicating to walk-offs.

“Each time we walk it off, I think we’re going to add a new little piece to it,” Smith said. “And hopefully by the end of the year, this thing’s all decked out.”

Oregon also got a key hit from Drew Cowley in the third inning, as well as solid pitching performances from Leo Uelmen and Logan Mercado. The offense hit a wall in the middle innings, and it took until the ninth inning for Oregon fans to breathe easily, but the Ducks ultimately came through victorious.

“Always room to grow,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “We’re not asking them to be perfect. We’re asking them to have progress every single day and just get better.”

Like on Thursday, San Diego started the scoring with an early solo home run. This time it was a second-inning bomb from Will Worthington, sending a pitch from Uelmen just under the left field scoreboard.

The Toreros scratched another run across in the third inning on two Oregon errors. Kevin Sim reached on a throwing error by Gavin Grant, and he came around to score on a ball that ticked off Rikuu Nishida’s glove.

The Ducks had the offensive rally they’ve been searching for in the third inning. Grant led things off with a strong double to the gap, and Smith singled to get Oregon on the board. With two on and one out, Cowley continued his clutch-hitting ways, sending one to the left field corner for a go-ahead two-run double.

Uelmen fell into a jam in the fifth, giving up a single and walking Jack Costello. It was Costello’s fourth walk in his last five plate appearances, with the Ducks wanting no part of him after his Thursday home run. That put it in the hands of Thursday’s starting pitcher and Friday’s cleanup hitter, Austin Smith, batting with two on and Oregon leading 3-2.

The biggest spot of the game thus far had a fairly anticlimactic ending. Smith appeared to foul one off his foot, but Uelmen tossed to first and, after a delay, Smith was called out. The umpires held a discussion, and the video showed the ball bouncing off his foot, but the call stood in Oregon’s favor.

Mercado came in after Uelmen issued a one-out walk in the sixth. Uelmen finished with a pitch count of 98, the most an Oregon pitcher has thrown in a game this year.

“I honestly felt the best my fourth and fifth inning,” Uelmen said. “So I was really excited that I got the chance to go out there. I was at a lot of pitches, but I still was holding velocity. It didn’t surprise me. They had faith in me, and I had faith in myself.”

Mercado hit a batter but induced a pop-up to hold the one-run lead. After starting Oregon’s first game of the season, he’s been utilized as a long reliever lately.

“It’s been cool to pitch in a bunch of different roles,” Mercado said. “It lets you know that the coaching staff trusts you a lot.”

The Ducks knocked out San Diego starter James Sashin in the sixth inning after 101 pitches. Sashin started the day with more walks than innings pitched, but he only walked two on Friday, one of which was intentional. He exited with Grant and Jacob Walsh both in scoring position after two singles and a fielding error.

Oregon’s Smith had a chance to cash in some insurance, but he struck out. It brought the Ducks to 3-for-16 with runners on and 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position — a lull after an impressive third inning.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, Mercado walked Costello yet again — already the ninth walk for Mercado this year and the fifth this series for Costello. San Diego’s Smith sent one rolling into the right field gap to bring in Costello, making it a brand new ballgame in the seventh inning.

Mercado worked around a single and a Walsh error in the eighth, then navigated another walk in the ninth to hold the tie.

The Ducks didn’t make the Oregon fans brace the cold for too much longer. Owen Diodati, who’s been in a tough slump to start the season, got things going with a double that finally landed — something that’s been hard to come by for the strong left-handed hitter.

“I didn’t really see it all that well. I knew it was a slider,” Diodati said. “I was just lucky enough to stay on it long enough and drop it in there… It was huge and raised our chances of winning that game.”

That it certainly did, as Mason Lytle pinch ran for Diodati and scored on Smith’s double. Despite the struggles that have plagued each member of this Oregon baseball team in some form or another, it was a moment where they could all come together, let loose and celebrate — at least until they get back to work on Saturday.

“Sometimes you start great. Sometimes you don’t. It’s a long season,” Diodati said. “What we know this offense can do is more than what we’ve shown so far. It’s great that we can still win games when we’re not at full force.”

Oregon (6-3) will try to clinch the series win against San Diego (5-3-1) Saturday at 2 p.m.