Oregon got burnt in the desert.
The Ducks (9-4, 0-1 Pac-12) took a one-run lead into the eighth inning, but the bullpen surrendered the lead and the Sun Devils (7-6, 1-0 Pac-12) took full advantage to capture the series-opening victory in Tempe on Friday night.
Riding a three-game winning streak and averaging 9.25 runs per game, the Ducks looked to stay hot in Arizona a year after winning the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament just down the road.
Instead, Bennett Thompson’s big day wasn’t enough as Oregon dropped its first conference game of the season.
In the final two innings, Oregon pitchers Grayson Grinsell and Logan Mercado were tasked with locking down what was a 4-3 Ducks’ lead. Instead, Grinsell allowed a run off two hits in the eighth and the two arms combined for a pair of walks in the ninth, eventually leading to an Ethan Mendoza fielder’s choice groundout to drive home the winning run.
The Oregon offense that had been so hot through its first dozen games went cold in the desert. The Ducks combined for just four hits — Thompson with two of them.
His first was a solo home run in the top of the third that cut the 2-0 ASU lead in half. The Sun Devils had jumped on Oregon’s starter, RJ Gordon, early for a run in both the first and second innings. A groundout in the first — also from Mendoza — and a home run off the bat of Brandon Compton in the second opened the scoring on Friday.
Gordon ended up having a decent outing, but still not kind hoped for from a Friday starter. He allowed three runs on four hits across 5.1 innings while striking-out three and walking four.
Oregon’s pitch selection issues that had been present in its tournament in Texas returned on Friday. The Ducks’ offense tallied 13 strikeouts with four players getting fanned multiple times.
A Carter Garate sac-fly in the fourth temporarily knotted the game 2-2. After Arizona State retook the lead, Drew Smith walked with the bases loaded to score Bryce Boettcher and tie it 3-3. For as many strikeouts as the Ducks had, they drew a good amount of walks as they earned 10 free passes on the night.
Thompson’s aggressiveness earned Oregon another run in the seventh. After leading the inning off with a single and advancing to second on a fielding error, the Ducks’ catcher stole third and scurried home on an errant throw from the Sun Devils’ catcher. His run gave Oregon its first — and last — lead of the night as the two squads entered the eighth.
Arizona State didn’t play great. The pitching staff limited the Ducks’ offense, but walked far too many batters. The defense made a pair of errors that directly led to an Oregon run. The offense didn’t have the best night either as it tallied just five runs on six hits.
But the Sun Devils attacked Oregon pitching when they needed to. They gave Grinsell his second loss of the season. ASU’s Cole Carlon earned the win by shutting the Ducks down in the top of the ninth, despite facing only two hitters.
The Sun Devils walked off into the night. Oregon will have to wait until tomorrow to seek revenge. First pitch for game two of the three-game series is slated for 5:35 pm Saturday evening.
