It was a good season. It was a shame to see it end like this. 

Entering the top of the seventh inning, Oregon held an 8-4 lead and was comfortably in the driver’s seat and on its way to forcing a third game in the Bryant/College Station Super Regional.

But in that seventh frame, disaster struck. Seven batters were walked as nine came around to score in a frame that featured just two hits. One of those hits, however, was a costly one. Kaden Kent launched a grand slam out to right-center field to blow open a game that was once dominated by the Ducks. 

Oregon lost the second game of the weekend 15-9, eliminating the Ducks from the 2024 NCAA Tournament and ending their season.

Brock Moore had a disastrous seventh frame. He allowed free pass after free pass as the Aggies hosted a miniature track meet on the basepath. He was allowed to remain in the game, despite consistently showing that he was lacking any sort of command. 

The momentum completely shifted. The Ducks went from soaring to dead. 

But before there was a lead to blow, Oregon had to get ahead. 

As was the theme on Saturday, early runs came from both sides. The Aggies struck first in the top of the first as two groundball hits plated the game’s first tally. It was a 1-0 advantage that wouldn’t survive the opening frame. 

Texas A&M starter Shane Sdao only threw 11 pitches in his start. He allowed three-straight hits — including a two-run homer to Chase Meggers — to open the game before leaving with an injury. Immediately after the homer, Sdao called for the trainer and exited the game. The Ducks would face the Aggies’ bullpen for the remainder of the game.

Brad Rugis entered in relief with his 6-0 record and 1.82 ERA, but didn’t fare much better than Sdao. He was greeted with back-to-back homers (making it three-straight for Oregon) from Drew Smith and Anson Aroz as the Ducks jumped ahead 4-1 in the first. 

The Aggies had a disastrous first inning to work back from.  

Grayson Grinsell didn’t make it easy. He allowed four runs across his 4.0-inning start, but very few of the hits he surrendered were hit very hard, and he kept the Aggies’ bats at bay for the most part. 

Over the next few frames, Oregon added on. Bryce Boettcher stole home in the second and the Ducks plated a few more tacky runs in the third. The offense was what it needed to be. 

Still, the Ducks scored nine runs on Saturday, and it wasn’t nearly enough. 

In what became a bullpen game for both teams, the two squads used a combined X pitchers in the second game of the series. Bradley Mullan was never used this weekend, raising questions on his health and availability. 

It was incredibly unpoetic for walks to kill a team that had relied on its pitching staff to be the strength of its team for the majority of the season. Still, that’s the beauty of baseball at times. Oregon pitchers issued nine walks in both games of the Super Regional round. 

Last season, the Ducks were two outs from Omaha. This year, they fell two games short. 

Mark Waskikowski’s squad will look to regroup during the offseason and get ready for its inaugural season in the Big Ten.