Oregon baseball utilized 11 base hits to pick up a 5-2 road win over the Portland Pilots on Wednesday afternoon.
Second baseman Mitchell Tolman led the way with a three-for-four, two RBI day at the plate, while Scott Heineman, Mark Karaviotis, Austin Grebeck and Nick Catalano each had two hits to provide plenty of offense from the bottom of the Oregon lineup.
Tolman got the scoring started in the first inning with an RBI double to right center field, then Phil Craig-St. Louis picked up his 26th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly, giving Oregon a 2-0 lead in the first frame.
Portland would answer with an RBI single set up by an Oregon error in the bottom of the second inning before both pitching staffs settled into four consecutive scoreless innings.
The Ducks (22-16, 4-8) got back on the board in the sixth inning on a Grebeck two RBI double down the left field line, then pegged their fifth run when Tolman walked with the bases loaded to push Oregon’s lead to 5-1.
In the bottom of the eighth, Portland did its best to make things interesting when Michael Lucarelli cut the lead to 5-2 with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the eighth,
Coach George Horton decided to use a committee of pitchers to get through the midweek contest, but gave freshman Kohl Hostert the first start of his career.
Hostert (1-0) gave up one unearned run in two innings and picked up his first career win. Jacob Corn came in second and lasted for two innings, then Trent Paddon, Brac Warren, Cooper Stiles and Stephen Nogosek each pitched one inning before handing the lead to Cleavinger in the ninth.
Oregon heads to Los Angeles this weekend for a critical three game series against No. 12 USC.
Follow Josh Schlichter on Twitter @joshschlichter