Oregon’s pitching woes combined with the Ducks’ cold offense for the second straight game to open Pac-12 play at PK Park in 2024.
California (12-3, 4-0 Pac-12) rolled past the struggling Ducks (11-6, 2-2 Pac-12) as the Golden Bears picked up their fifth win in a row. Cal got ahead early and took advantage of a poor night from Oregon’s bullpen to snatch a commanding 13-1 win.
The Ducks won two-of-three in Berkeley last season, but Cal was by far the better team on Friday night.
RJ Gordon started on the mound for the Ducks. His outing was littered by California long balls. Across his five complete innings, he gave up three bombs while allowing six runs and seven hits while striking-out seven and walking two. He earned the loss — his second of the season — and his ERA rose from 3.98 to 5.33.
Luke Short’s start for the Golden Bears was anything but brief. He put in 7.0 innings of work in which he allowed just one run on seven hits while fanning five and only walking one. He was absolutely dominant during his 106-pitch outing and commandingly earned his second win of the year while lowering his ERA from 2.84 to 2.29.
“I thought Luke did a nice job,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “He threw multiple pitches for strikes, he stretched the zone, he stayed out of the middle of the plate and did a fine job of pitching. I was impressed with him, his ability to change speeds and locate the fastball.”
Cal’s offense — which entered the weekend boasting a +59 run differential — got started early. Caleb Lomavita, the game’s third batter, sent his seventh home run of the season out to straight-away center field to give the Golden Bears an early 2-0 advantage.
There’s an incredible amount of excitement surrounding Lomavita and there are talks that he’ll be one of if not the first catchers taken in this year’s MLB Draft. He lived up to the hype with his 3-5 Friday night that featured three RBIs — bringing his season total up to 26.
PJ Moutzouridis sent a two-run shot of his own out in the top of the third. His third of the year doubled Cal’s lead. The Golden Bears added another after a string of two-out hits handheld a 5-0 advantage after three.
The Ducks’ offense started to show signs of life in the fourth. Drew Smith singled and Jeffery Heard reached on a bunt single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Ryan Cooney would single to put Oregon on the board, but Smith’s run would be all the Ducks would muster in the frame.
It ended up being a bad night for Oregon’s offense. The Ducks scored just one run on seven hits and stranded nine in the loss. Oregon is now averaging 4.75 runs in Pac-12 play.
Lomavita led the fifth off with his second homer of the game deep to left field. He entered the series tied for second in the Pac-12 in homers and second in RBIs. He’ll likely have sole possession of first in each category if the rest of his weekend reflects his performance on Friday,
Brock Moore entered in relief in the sixth for Oregon. He immediately struck-out the side in a 1-2-3 inning with his fastball velocity sitting in the high nineties. He fanned Green Jr. — who struck-out a whopping five times on Friday — Lomavita and Max Handron in-order in the seventh.
“We’re trying to stretch Brock out,” Wasikowski said. “We’re trying to build him up to where we can potentially get him to even be considered as a starter because we’re going to need help in our starting rotation.”
Moore got tacked for his first runs of the season in the eighth. A bomb from pinch hitter Matthew Thomas ended his night as a part of a three-run inning for the Golden Bears. Moore went 2.1 innings and allowed three runs on three hits while fanning seven, His once-perfect ERA rose to 3.52 on Friday.
“He had a really good outing,” Wasikowski said. “And as he tired, he lost a little bit of that fastball like most of them do.”
The Ducks’ bullpen allowed three in the eighth and four in the ninth — including two walked-in runs. Following a 15-5 loss to Portland on Tuesday, Oregon’s pitching staff really needed a stronger outing than the one it displayed on Friday.
Oregon and Cal will face off twice more this weekend. Their next meeting comes tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. from PK Park. Grayson Grinsell (1-2, 5.79 ERA) is expected to start on the mound for the Ducks.
