The Ducks opened the Louisville Regional with more of the same inconsistencies that plagued them in the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament.
They smacked seven doubles and made an impressive comeback in the middle innings, with Brennan Milone having a strong day at the plate. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome their shaky pitching and struggles with runners in scoring position. They fell 8-6 to the Michigan Wolverines, who were coming off a Big Ten Tournament championship.
Oregon went with its usual Christian Ciuffetelli-RJ Gordon combination on the mound. After Ciuffetelli cruised through a nine-pitch first inning, he had more trouble throwing strikes in the second. Some close calls didn’t go his way, leading to a pair of walks and a single that loaded the bases with one out.
Ciuffetelli then induced a ground ball to Jacob Walsh that had the potential to be a double play. Walsh made a low throw to second, but Josh Kasevich saved him with an impressive pick. They nearly doubled up the runner at first, but he was confirmed to be safe upon replay review, giving Michigan an early 1-0 lead.
The frame ended on a routine ground ball to Kasevich that he made a low throw on, but this time Walsh saved him with a nice scoop — the opposite of the previous play.
In the bottom of the second, Kasevich was hit by a pitch and Jacob Walsh walked, but Bennett Thompson grounded into an inning-ending double play.
After Ciuffetelli got two quick outs in the third, he hit a batter and gave up a two-run homer to Jimmy Obertop. That ended Ciuffetelli’s day with Oregon trailing 3-0.
Gordon took over, as expected. He recorded the final out of the third and threw a scoreless fourth, ending the inning with his first strikeout of the night.
The Ducks’ offense went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position in last Thursday’s loss to Arizona State. They picked up where they left off, leaving a runner on second in each of the first three innings.
They finally got on the board in the fourth, as Anthony Hall poked a double into left field. Kasevich initially held up at third, but a clumsy throwing error allowed him to come home. Hall later scored on a wild pitch as Michigan gifted Oregon a pair of runs.
The Wolverines quickly got those two back, as Obertop hit his second two-run homer of the game, this time off Gordon. Michigan rallied for another run in the inning, putting Oregon in a 6-2 hole.
Milone hit his second double of the game in the bottom of the fifth, driving in Gavin Grant to make it a three-run game. The Ducks continued to chip away.
Josiah Cromwick took over for Thompson behind the plate in the sixth. Fresh into the game, he hit another two-out RBI double for Oregon, cutting Michigan’s lead to 6-4. With two runners in scoring position, Tanner Smith nearly hit a game-tying single, but the shortstop snagged the liner to end the inning.
That made the Ducks 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position in their last two games.
Caleb Sloan threw a scoreless sixth inning for Oregon. He led off the seventh by issuing the fifth hit batter of the day between the two teams, prompting the Ducks to bring in Rio Britton. The lefty walked the first batter he faced, putting Oregon in trouble once again.
Britton made an athletic play on a sacrifice bunt, doing a good job just to get the out at first base. With two runners in scoring position, Britton buckled down and kept Michigan off the board.
The Ducks kept crawling back and injecting life into their dugout. Milone continued his torrid day in the bottom of the seventh, smashing a solo home run and flipping his bat as he made it a 6-5 game.
Drew Cowley singled and was thrown out trying to advance on a ball in the dirt. Kasevich and Hall hit back-to-back doubles anyway, which tied the game with two outs. The Ducks’ sixth and seventh doubles of the game helped them erase a four-run deficit.
The tie didn’t last long, as Logan Mercado gave up a two-run shot in the eighth inning. The Wolverines flipped the momentum back in their favor, taking an 8-6 lead.
The Ducks couldn’t respond. They went down in order in each of the final two innings, bringing an anticlimactic finish to an otherwise eventful game.
Oregon is now one loss away from its season coming to an end. The Ducks will try to avoid elimination Saturday at 12 p.m. ET against Southeast Missouri State, with whom Mark Wasikowski began his coaching career.
