Look away, Lafayette fans. There’s still two games left in the series, and no signs that it’s going to get any better for the Leopards.
The Ducks (4-1) had another offensive onslaught in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader as they cruised to a 15-4 win over Lafayette (0-5).
Fresh off Friday’s explosive 17-3 win, Oregon’s bats picked up right where they left off. Justin Cassella launched a homer In the Ducks’ first at-bat of the game to assert dominance for the second-straight game. Cassella had 25 career bombs in three seasons at Elon before transferring to Oregon for 2024.
Lafayette quickly responded with a solo-shot off the bat of Ben Petrone in the Leopards’ half of the 2nd inning. A scoreless Oregon-2nd saw the Ducks held scoreless in an inning for the first time in the series and the score knotted 1-1 after two.
The first non-longball run would come in the 3rd. After a pair of hit-by-pitches (one to Cole Meggers and the other to Drew Smith) put a pair of runners on for the Ducks, Jeffery Heard hit a laser into right field to score Meggers and put Oregon back on top.
One batter later, Bennett Thompson singled to drive in Smith and moved Cassella to third, setting up a Jacob Walsh sacrifice fly. After a pitching change, Carter Garate plated two more on his second hit of the ballgame as a part of a six-run 3rd inning that saw Oregon break open a 7-1 lead.
Tristan Helmick made his first start of the year for the Leopards, after making a 3.2-inning outing in relief during Lafayette’s sweep at the hands of East Tennessee State. He wasn’t attacked as badly as some of Friday’s pitchers were, but he was still responsible for six runs on five hits across 2.1 innings. Helmick hit three Ducks and walked another as he earned the loss.
Grayson Grinsell also made his first start of the young season. Grinsell picked up the win down in Texas as a reliever in Oregon’s 4-2 win over Oklahoma on Feb. 16. On Saturday, the sophomore struck-out five of the first seven batters he faced en-route to a 10-strikeout performance — the most by an Oregon pitcher since Robert Ahlstrom on May 21, 2021.
Grinsell would tally four dominant innings of one-run ball while allowing just the one hit. He threw 76 total pitches (46 strikes) as he kept the Leopards’ bats at bay.
Thompson flashed his speed in the 4th. After reaching base on an errant strikeout, he scored from first on a Walsh RBI double. It was a common theme on Saturday afternoon for Oregon to have baserunners all over the diamond in its fourth win of the season. Thompson — who typically does the catching for the Ducks — got the start as Oregon’s designated hitter in game one on Saturday. His bat’s been hot early in the season, entering Saturday with a .412 average. He was 1-3 with three runs in game one.
In another six-run inning, Cassella launched his second blast of the game — this one a three-run shot off the banner in left field — to add to Oregon’s lead in the 5th. Cassella finished 2-4 with five RBIs and a pair of deep flyouts to the wall that almost saw the senior wreak even more havoc on Lafayette pitching.
A few batters later, Walsh sent a ball out to right field for his second homer in as many games. After a slower-than-hoped start in Texas, Walsh is now 5-8 with eight RBIs across his two games at PK Park in 2024. His blast saw Oregon take a 14-1 lead in the 5th.
Petrone sent his second blast of the day out to center field to bring home a pair of runs. The only bright spot in Lafayette’s lineup on Saturday had all three of the Leopard’s RBIs.
Ryan Featherston earned the win during his 4.0 innings of relief. He allowed two runs on two hits while striking out five in the beatdown. Mason Goodson finished the game on the mound for Oregon.
While there was not a postgame press conference after the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Ducks’ head coach Mark Wasikowski and other Oregon athletes are expected to be available at the conclusion of game two.
That game, the third of the series, is expected to begin in the next 45 minutes.
