UO outlasted OU as the Ducks (1-0) leaned on their bullpen and capitalized on the Sooners’ (0-1) miscues to capture their first win of the season.
Oklahoma tallied seven wild-pitches, two of which scored Oregon baserunners, and was unable to score after the 3rd inning as Grayson Grinsell and Michael Freund combined for 4.2 innings of scoreless ball.
The Ducks jumped out to an early lead in the 1st inning. A Dominic Hellman single scored Drew Smith to give Oregon its first run of the season.
Another was tacked on in the 3rd. Bryce Boettcher led the inning off with a single, stole second and scored on a wild-pitch later in the inning.
The lead quickly disappeared in the bottom of the 3rd. Back-to-back hits from Oklahoma gave way to back-to-back sacrifice-flies and two Sooners crossed the plate to even the score at two.
Oklahoma’s small-ball led to a tie that would last until the 8th inning as both pitching staffs shook off the early-season jitters and settled in.
Oregon’s RJ Gordon’s day ended after 4.1 innings, three strikeouts, one walk and two earned-runs. Gordon worked out of several jams during his 2024 debut, including a 2nd-inning scoring opportunity for Oklahoma that was muffled by a key strikeout and a groundout.
Grinsell relieved Gordon in the 4th, who immediately balked. The sophomore then settled down to escape the inning and provide three full innings while allowing just one baserunner.
That runner, Oklahoma’s Carter Frederick, would steal second and third before Grinsell slammed the door with a strikeout and a foul-out to end the threat.
For the Sooners, starter Braden Davis went 5.0 innings allowing two runs (although, only one was earned) on three hits while tallying seven strikeouts.
Malachi Witherspoon relieved Davis for the 6th inning and would throw two scoreless innings before things unraveled for Oklahoma in the 8th.
A pair of Witherspoon-issued walks and a Jacob Walsh single provided the Ducks with a bases-loaded opportunity with no outs. After a pitching change, Bennett Thompson grounded into a double-play. It brought the go-ahead run and moved Justin Cassella over to third. One batter later, he scored on a wild pitch to double the lead.
The second Duck to score on a wild pitch provided the Oregon bullpen the chance to close out its first game of the season. It did just that. Grinsell turned the ball over to Freund in the 8th. Freund would promptly get the five-out save for his first as a Duck.
Offensively, Oregon tallied four runs on seven hits while stranding seven on base. But, the Ducks got hot when they needed to and took advantage with heads-up baserunning. In what was a relatively even game — OU tallied two runs on six hits while stranding five — Oregon’s pitching made fewer costly errors to emerge victorious.
The Ducks, however, will need to tighten up their pitch selection for the rest of the tournament as they struck out 13 times to Oklahoma’s six.
Grinsell got his first win of the season while OU’s Witherspoon was dealt his first loss. Oregon’s win comes over a team that made the NCAA Tournament last season, and could serve as a positive omen entering a season with so many new faces and question marks.
With last year’s 3-2 season-opening win over Xavier and Friday’s 4-2 victory, Oregon earned its second-straight season with a win on Opening Day since 2018-19.
The Ducks will battle with Baylor on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. as the Shriners Children’s College Showdown continues in Arlington. The Bears are the only team on Oregon’s schedule in this tournament that didn’t make last year’s NCAA Tournament, and may serve as a prime chance for the Ducks to secure another win in Globe Life Park.
