No. 9 Oregon baseball defeated Utah 16-3 Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City.
Kenyon Yovan led the way in a game where every Ducks hitter reached base. The designated hitter was 6-for-6 with two RBIs and four runs scored. Yovan leads the team with 42 RBIs on the season and his six hits are a new school record for most in a game.
Anthony Hall tied another school record with three doubles. Overall, Oregon tallied 23 hits, their highest mark of the year. Seven Ducks had multiple hits and four drove in multiple runs, including Sam Novitske, who hit his first career home run, a solo shot in the second.
Oregon scored in all innings but the sixth and ninth, benefitting from five-run frames in the third and fifth.
Starting pitcher Cullen Kafka lasted six innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits, striking out four and walking three on the way to his fifth win of the season.
In relief, Rio Britton entered in the seventh. The left-hander gave up a two-run home run to the Utes’ designated hitter, Christopher Rowan Jr. The blast made the score 15-3 and capped off Utah’s scoring.
Hunter Breault pitched the eighth and struck out the side. To close it out in the ninth, RJ Gordon had no trouble after allowing a double to Vinny Zavolta.
The win propels Oregon to 32-11 on the year. They close out the series with Utah on Sunday, then host Stanford next weekend for an important three-game series. After Saturday’s win, the Ducks are a half game behind the first place Cardinal.
