Facing the team with the best ERA in the country?
No problem for Oregon.
The Ducks beat No. 16 UCLA 6-2 to open conference play on Friday. Home runs from Owen Diodati and Jacob Walsh helped Oregon get the offense it needed against a tough pitching staff, and the pitchers worked out of some jams to quiet a potent offense.
“Probably the most impressive thing is the swings were all to the middle of the opposite field,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “And that’s something that I know was a point of emphasis going into the week.”
For the first time all season, UCLA allowed a run in the first inning. Tanner Smith hit a leadoff double and scored on a pair of groundouts, jumping Oregon out to an early 1-0 lead.
The Ducks added two more in the second inning on Diodati’s first home run of the season. Diodati has squared up some balls this year, but he was the lone Oregon hitter who was yet to break out. It was an opposite-field bomb for good measure.
“Obviously, it’s not been an ideal start to the season offensively for me,” Diodati said. “Whether that’s an approach thing or whatever you want to call it, it’s baseball. It happens to everyone at some point. You just gotta stick with it, stay consistent in your work. To get that first one, especially at a big time for our team and the opening game of Pac-12 play, was really nice.”
On the mound for Oregon, Jace Stoffal had a strange outing, striking out nine but only going four innings because of his pitch count. He started off strong, spotting his fastballs at 90-92 miles per hour. After issuing a walk on a 3-2 count to start the game, he struck out the side, then settled in and struck out the side once again in the second inning.
Stoffal’s strikeout streak was broken by a solo home run in the third inning as the rain started to pick up. The Bruins threatened for more with a walk and a single, but Stoffal got out of it with his seventh and eighth punchouts of the day.
UCLA cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth inning on another solo bomb, this one off the left field scoreboard. With a runner on first, Colby Shade made a great catch as he rammed into the wall and lost this hat, likely saving the game from being tied.
With Stoffal already at 92 pitches, his day ended after four innings. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out nine.
“Strikeouts do run your pitch count up, but I got deep into counts, too,” Stoffal said. “So if I can just minimize those and be able to go deeper — which is what I’d rather do.”
Austin Anderson came in and worked around a walk and a hit batter to throw a scoreless fifth, keeping the one-run lead intact.
The Ducks followed with two key runs of insurance, as Walsh snuck an opposite-field shot over the left field wall to make it 5-2. It was Walsh’s second homer of the young season.
“It was awesome,” Walsh said. “Anytime we get a big hit like that, the dugout explodes. It’s a lot of fun.”
Grayson Grinsell worked out of a jam in the sixth, stranding the bases loaded after he surrendered a single and two walks. He struck out left-handed batter Duce Gourson to escape the frame unscathed after pitching coach Jake Angier paid a visit to the mound.
“Some of the [walks] were pitching around the guy here and there,” Wasikowski said. “So that wasn’t alarming for me at all. I really just like what we saw with the competitiveness, and those guys made big pitches when they needed to.”
The back-and-forth series of threats continued in the bottom of the sixth. Gavin Grant blooped a single, and Smith was hit by a pitch — the fourth time an Oregon batter was hit on Friday.
UCLA brought in right-hander Chris Aldrich to face Sabin Ceballos, and he promptly walked him on four pitches to load the bases. He then balked home a run, with the call only made after Wasikowski loudly pointed it out to the umpire. Wasikowski explained that they threw to third and didn’t make an actual attempt at retiring the baserunner, which is why it was ruled a balk.
Drew Cowley flew out to end the rally, but it still extended Oregon’s lead to a more comfortable four-run margin.
Matt Dallas held the game in check, contributing two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He struck out the first two batters, then worked around a walk in his second frame of work.
“It’s all about just being in control of yourself,” Dallas said. “So today I felt like I was really taking time between my breaths and keeping myself composed.”
Josh Mollerus held things down in the ninth as he has all season so far, and the Ducks came away with a 6-2 victory.
Oregon (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12) looks to clinch the series win over UCLA (10-3, 0-1 Pac-12) Saturday at 2 p.m.
“I think we’ll stick to a simple approach tomorrow,” Diodati said. “Stay within ourselves to keep the swing short and let [the pitcher] supply the power.”