Oregon baseball is back and it didn’t take the Ducks long to get into the win column – just three hours and six minutes for new skipper George Horton after the team’s 28-year absence.
“They’ve worked awful hard and I am glad they were rewarded with a win,” Horton said after the game.
Oregon lost the next two games and Sunday’s game was cancelled because of inclement weather, but the big game on Friday made up for at least some of the disappointment.
In front of 749 mostly Duck fans at St. Mary’s in Moraga, Calif., Oregon came from behind for the 5-3 victory on Friday, and for those nine innings, fate seemed to be on Oregon’s side. Anytime the team needed a big play someone stepped up and delivered, and when the final out was made, the emotion bubbled up for the first time and players and fans alike celebrated.
Freshman left-hander Tyler Anderson started on the mound for Oregon, going 5-2/3 innings with eight hits, five strikeouts, four walks and three runs. He left with two outs in the sixth inning and a 5-3 lead. Senior Brian Justice got the loss for the Gaels.
Junior Geoff Nichols came in relief, and got the last out of the sixth inning, but he loaded the bases with one out in the seventh and Horton went to the bullpen for left-hander Ryan Fleckenstein.
He escaped the jam on the very first pitch, getting Anthony Aliotti, nephew of Oregon’s assistant football coach Nick Aliotti, to ground into a double play.
“When you come in you have a lot of emotions on the mound,” Fleckenstein said. “The bases loaded and the ball game was on the line … I was just pumped.”
After a scoreless eighth inning, closer Drew Gagnier came in and tried to save the first win of the 2009 season. After giving up a hit to Gael’s hitter Greg Ditmer, Gagnier produced a game-ending double play from catcher Ryan Mulligan.
The Ducks had trailed 2-1 going into the fifth inning, but second baseman Danny Pulfer led off with a single to center field, and senior Caleb Tommasini sent him to third with a single. Junior Curtis Raulinatis hit a sacrifice fly that got Pulfer home, and shortstop KC Serna added a double to score the quick Tommasini. Right fielder Jett Hart then cleared the bases with his two-run triple, giving the Ducks a 5-3 lead.
At the top of the order, lead-off hitter Tommasini and Raulinatis went a combined 6-for-8 in their debuts, sparking the production that the Ducks will need to stay competitive.
“I have never been as prepared as I was today before a game,” said Tommasini. “Everything that was thrown at me; I expected it.”
Saturday’s double-header was a different story.
Oregon dropped the first game 6-3, and starter Erik Stavert took the loss.
He went 5 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on five hits, including two home runs. Scott Schneider was the winning pitcher for St. Mary’s, going seven innings and giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out three Ducks.
Hart was the highlight of game two, going 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and two RBI. Rodriguez also went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
In the last game of the double-header the Ducks lost 4-2, despite 10 strikeouts from starter Bennett Whitmore. The junior from Clovis, Calif. went 6 1/3 innings and gave up all four runs on eight hits and a home run. Gaels’ sophomore Taylor Reid got the win in 7 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits.
First baseman Mitch Karraker led the Ducks, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
“It’s hard to put your finger on why we came up 0-2 today,” Horton told the Register-Guard newspaper after the game. “I thought the effort was there. We didn’t have a lot of spots, but we had some spots. “When you’re trying really hard, you tend not to get the results you want. (But) I like the character of my team.”
Next up for the Ducks is the first home series of the year, against defending national champion Fresno State. Game one starts Friday at 2 p.m.
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