No, you didn’t watch a replay of Saturday’s ballgame, but it looked awfully similar, didn’t it?
The Ducks bested the No. 14 Gauchos 2-1 to win the Santa Barbara Regional of the NCAA Tournament and advance to their second Super Regional in as many years.
Now, that’s a hard storyline to beat, but Kevin Seitter may have done it.
Seitter pitched his second-career complete-game shutout as he limited the Gauchos to just four hits as their season ended in front of their home fans.
Despite Santa Barbara bringing the tying runner to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the game never felt like it was in jeopardy. The Gauchos had just one at-bat with runners in scoring position — which ended in a strikeout to end the game.
With the offense’s recent struggles, the Ducks knew they would need to rely on small ball to secure a second win over UCSB in as many nights. They scored first on some small ball in the first inning. Mason Neville walked, Chase Meggers bunted him over and Drew Smith drove him in with a single to left. It gave the Ducks a 1-0 advantage. It didn’t feel like it at the time, but with Seitter’s night, it would be enough to clinch the regional.
Seitter didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning. The Gauchos second hit came in the eighth, and their only two-hit frame — the ninth — resulted in yet another zero on the board. Oregon went into Santa Barbara and beat the No. 14-ranked team on back-to-back nights while limiting them to one run.
Throughout the regional, the Ducks’ starting pitching combined for 23.0 innings while allowing just three earned runs — all on Friday in a 5-4 win over San Diego.
The Oregon lead doubled in the fifth. Bryce Boettcher walked and took second on a wild pitch before Neville brought him in with a single up the middle. The Ducks only collected four hits of their own on Sunday, but they came at timely moments — something they’ve struggled to accomplish in the postseason. Oregon entered the game 3-28 with runners in scoring position in the postseason, but was 2-5 on Sunday.
The Ducks also only struck out five times, a much lower number than has been the theme of the season. Oregon hit the ball all over the field, it was just often right at defenders. Matt Ager was decent on the mound for the Gauchos, as he allowed just two runs on two hits across 4.2 innings of work. The hits for Oregon were few and far between, but they came at clutch times.
Speaking of clutch timing, Jacob Walsh might have started to work out of his recent slump. A long homer — his 18th of the year — opened the bottom of the seventh and provided the Ducks with a huge insurance run. While they didn’t need it on the board, the extra run likely allowed Seitter to remain in the game with two runners on in the ninth.
Seitter did just that, closing out his gem with a strikeout of what could have been the game-tying run. Using a whopping 128 pitches, Seitter went 9.0 innings of four-hit ball to send Oregon to the Super Regionals. He tallied seven strikeouts and only walked one batter. There aren’t enough words to describe his dominance.
Things looked bleak for Oregon after going 0-2 as the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. Heading down to a regional to face a San Diego team that had won the WCC and a UC Santa Barbara squad that had beaten the Ducks twice in the regular season and earned a hosting bid didn’t exactly look like a recipe for success.
Oregon’s pitching staff had other ideas.
In two games against San Diego and Fresno State in the regional, the Gauchos scored 13 runs. In two games against the Ducks, they only managed to push one run across.
Oregon will advance to its third Super Regional in program history. The Ducks will likely travel to Bryant/College Station for a three-game series against No. 3 Texas A&M. Oregon will have its work cut out, but if it can get pitching performances like it did this weekend, the Aggies are in trouble.
