What a difference an inning makes.
Heading into the seventh and final inning on Sunday, Oregon’s Club baseball team led Western Washington 11-4 at Eugene’s Civic Stadium. The Ducks (12-3) were only three outs away from winning the series against one of their toughest opponents and securing first place in the National Club Baseball Association.
When the top of the seventh inning ended, Western Washington (2-1) had scored nine runs and taken the lead, 13-11. All nine runners came around to score before Oregon even secured an out. Western Washington took the series, 2-1.
“It’s one thing when you lose, but it’s another thing when you have the game in your hand and lose at the very end,” Oregon center fielder Tory Caputo said.
A day earlier, the Ducks struggled against Western Washington from the start, finding themselves behind 9-0 heading into the fourth inning of the first game of a doubleheader. Oregon managed to score six runs in the fourth inning, and in its last inning at bat, the Ducks tied the game at 11. Catcher Jon Loomis’ single brought the winning run home and the Ducks won their first home game, 12-11.
Then came game two.
“We thought we had tons of momentum going into our second game and we did. We jumped on them and got a 5-0 lead,” first baseman Jeff Douglas said.
Third baseman Travis Chock hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning to put the Ducks up early. In the fifth, Oregon gave up six runs and found itself behind, 11-6, going into the last
inning. Oregon failed to score any runs in the final stanza.
“We need to learn how to finish games,” Loomis said. “We need to learn how to put away teams. We can’t just get a lead and sit on it.”
In the last game of the series against Western Washington, Matt Mensik did not allow a hit until the fourth inning when the Vikings took the first lead of the game, 3-0. Unlike Saturday, Oregon immediately answered Western Washington’s outburst, scoring five runs of its own in the fourth inning.
The Ducks entered the sixth inning ahead by two, and Mensik allowed one run before striking out the side with the bases loaded. Oregon escaped the sixth inning with a 5-4 lead and used its turn at bat to add to it.
Douglas began the inning with a single, and five Oregon players followed as the Ducks scored six runs and took an 11-4 lead.
“We came into the final inning a little overconfident,” Caputo said. “It only takes a play or two to turn the tides.”
Oregon’s fate was decided in the seventh inning. Mensik walked the first two batters and it went downhill from there. Western Washington scored nine runs off four pitchers and took the lead for good, 13-11.
“It made us realize we are beatable,” Douglas said. “It humbled us a little bit and now we know where we stand and what we have to do.”
Oregon will play its last home game of the season at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer on Saturday at 11 a.m. against Central Oregon Community College.
“It’s our last series against them,” Loomis said. “We beat them two out of three last time, so they are going to be looking for blood.”