Jacob Walsh became Oregon’s all-time career RBI record holder on a beautiful day at PK Park as the No. 15 Ducks (22-8, 10-4 Big Ten) took the series from Michigan (16-14, 7-7 Big Ten).
Michigan’s pitching woes and inability to throw strikes cost the Wolverines dearly as Oregon clinched the series win in Saturday’s 13-3 victory.
The Wolverines threw 184 pitches on Saturday, but only 97 of them (52.71%) for strikes. They walked a whopping 13 batters in their second brutal loss in as many days.
Series, Ducks.
Both starting pitchers in Saturday’s contest were tall, lengthy flamethrowers. Both Michigan’s Dylan Vigue and Oregon’s Jason Reitz were consistently touching 95 mph on their fastballs.
Both squads had a pair of men reach safely in the first, but only one was able to cash them in for runs. Just like they did in Friday’s 15-2 win, the Ducks got the scoring started. Anson Aroz roped a two-RBI ground-rule double with two outs in the bottom of the first to give Reitz a slight cushion.
Just like Grayson Grinsell did the night before, Reitz did a great job utilizing his defense on Saturday. He was able to get Wolverine batsmen to ground into 6-4-3 double plays in both the first and second innings.
Cole Caruso (3-4, two RBI) got to him in the fourth. He floated a pitch out to right-center and it drifted over the wall to plate two and tie the contest. Although the game was knotted after four innings, Michigan led the Ducks 4-2.
Vigue walked the first two hitters he faced in the fourth, priming Oregon for a scoring opportunity. Unfortunately for the Ducks, it was their turn to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.
Reitz’s day ended after issuing a pair of two-out walks in the fifth. He issued four free passes and four hits, but also fanned four batters. Ryan Featherston took over on the mound, but relented an RBI single to Brayden Jefferis to add another earned run to Reitz’s day and give Michigan its first lead of the series.
Chase Meggers again knotted the contest at three with an RBI groundout after Vigue loaded the bases with free passes. Maddox Molony dealt some additional damage later in the frame with a two-out, two-RBI knock as Oregon retook the lead in the fifth. Wolverine pitchers issued six free passes in the disastrous frame as the Ducks scored four on only one hit.
Vigue allowed six earned runs across 4.2 innings while allowing only two hits. He alone issued eight of Michigan’s 14 free passes (seven walks, one HBP) as he earned Saturday’s loss in his 98-pitch outing.
After Retiz exited, Oregon used just about every arm it could out of its bullpen. Five different Ducks pitched in the win with three of them throwing fewer than 10 pitches.
Walsh became Oregon’s all-time career RBI leader in the sixth inning with a two-run tater to blow the game open for the Ducks, who at the time still had fewer hits than Michigan.
The Wolverines also comically emptied their bullpen. They used six pitchers, walked 13 hitters and had four guys throw fewer than 20 pitches. The two squads did just about everything they could to slow the pace of play down, but the Ducks still escaped with a three-hour, 18-minute win.
Walsh added to his big day with a two-RBI single in the seventh. He finished 2-3 with four RBIs and two walks as the Ducks clinched their fourth Big Ten series win of the season.
Fittingly, the game ended on a walk-off wild pitch. Michigan’s pitching was absolutely abysmal on Saturday. Cooney scampered home to mercifully end the beatdown. Oregon goes for the sweep at 12:05 p.m. on Sunday.
