Yes, you read that headline correctly.
For the first time in three games, the No. 11 Oregon Ducks didn’t hit multiple grand slams, but they did score 15+ runs for a fourth-consecutive game in their 35-1 win over Columbia.
The Ducks (8-2, 0-0 Big Ten) scored a program-record 35 runs on 25 hits to thump Columbia (1-4, 0-0 Ivy League) in a demoralizing win. The Ducks had seven players with multiple RBIs and three players with three or more knocks.
Oregon scored two in the first, four in the second, nine in the third, three in the fourth and fifth, eight in the sixth and six in the eighth.
That’s the condensed recap. Keep reading for the full breakdown of the abuse that took place at PK Park in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
The Ducks were on the board before Columbia recorded an out in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. The first four Oregon batters reached base. Mason Neville (2-4) scored on a Jacob Walsh RBI single and Maddox Molony (3-4, six RBI) brought a run in with a sacrifice fly to center as the Ducks took an early 2-0 advantage.
Oregon starter Jason Reitz was incredible. He allowed an earned run to cross in the second on an Anthony Temesvary sacrifice fly, but that would be the extent of the damage he faced in his 68-pitch outing.
Columbia righty Thomas Santana was pulled in the second inning after walking a pair of runs home and surrendering a two-RBI single to Burke-Lee Mabeus (3-6, three RBI, three runs), who continues to be one of the hottest hitters alive. He threw 69 pitches in his 2.1-inning outing while allowing six runs on four hits while walking three and hitting three more. His disastrous outing earned him his first loss of the season.
Just hours after his two-grand slam performance, Dominic Hellman (3-5, 4 RBI, four runs) came up with the bases loaded in the third inning. This time, however, he reached on a measly fielder’s choice, but two more runs came across on a pair of errors from the Lions’ third baseman. Ryan Cooney (4-4, 6 RBI, four runs) whalloped his first homer of the season to plate three as a part of a five-hit, nine-run third inning that put Oregon ahead 15-1.
The Ducks got a pair of runs from a Molony homer as a part of a three-run fourth. The shortstop’s fourth of the season traveled over the PK Park scoreboard and added insult to injury. He went yard again in the fifth for his fifth, recording his fourth, fifth and sixth RBIs of the day.
Reitz’s day ended after four innings of three-hit, one-run ball. He fanned six and walked two in his really solid outing. As long as Saturday’s contest was, he did everything he could to speed it up.
Walsh (2-5, 5 RBI, four runs) tallied his fourth homer of the season as a part of an eight-run sixth frame. The Lions used four pitchers and it didn’t matter in the slightest. They walked a combined 10 hitters while plunking seven more. The Ducks plated eight in the sixth as the contest continued to get more and more comical.
Carter Garate reached seven times on his 2-2 (four RBI) day, drawing two walks and getting plunked three times. Jax Gimenez — who didn’t enter until the sixth inning — recorded a 2-3 day. Oregon hit .532 on the day, .541 with runners on, .462 with two-outs and .586 with men in scoring position. Columbia threw 245 pitches.
Michael Meckna came in for Reitz in the fifth. He threw three scoreless frames and allowed just two runners on 32 pitches, but both led to double-play balls that ended consecutive frames. Tanner Bradley and Isacc Evaniew both threw scoreless frames to cap off the win.
Oregon emptied the bench in the closing innings. 14 different Ducks took at-bats in the clobbering and played musical chairs defensively.
The Ducks have now scored 55 runs in their last two games. Game Two of the doubleheader starts in a little less than an hour.
