Another day, another win for Oregon baseball.
The Ducks extended their winning streak to nine on Sunday, completing a sweep of the University of Arizona with an 8-5 victory at Hi Corbett Field. Drew Cowley homered twice and collected five RBIs, while Jacob Walsh swatted his third home run of the series. It brought the Ducks’ total to 109 runs in their last nine games — an average of more than 12 a game.
Oregon struck right away, getting off to a much better start than the 10-0 deficit it faced early in Saturday’s game. Sabin Ceballos hit an RBI single in the first inning, and Walsh led off the second inning with a homer.
Leo Uelmen battled some early control issues for the Ducks, walking three in the first two innings. The Wildcats scored a run against him with a sacrifice fly in the second, cutting Oregon’s early lead to 2-1.
The Ducks responded by continuing to swing the bats. They’ve been getting contributions up and down the lineup recently, and Sunday’s game was no exception. Cowley went dead central for a two-run shot to make it a 4-1 game.
Oregon scored another with the help of some shoddy Arizona defense in the fifth. After Gavin Grant doubled, he advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on an error by center fielder Mac Bingham.
The Ducks kept the party going in the seventh inning. Rikuu Nishida recorded his second hit, following a five-hit performance on Saturday. With one out, Cowley sent another one to center for his second two-run homer of the game. Oregon found itself with a comfortable 7-1 lead.
The sailing wasn’t as smooth as the Ducks might have expected, though. Matt Dallas, who’s been utterly dominant in recent weeks, came in in relief and surrendered back-to-back homers in the bottom of the seventh. Dallas hadn’t given up a home run since the very first pitch he threw this season.
Speaking of the very first pitch, Dallas’s first offering in the eighth inning was sent over the left-center field wall by Emilio Corona. It was Arizona’s third homer off Dallas, cutting Oregon’s lead to 7-5 and knocking him out of the game.
The Ducks went to their closer, Josh Mollerus, to record the final five outs. He allowed a single and a walk, but froze Kiko Romero to end the eighth inning.
Cowley continued his great day at the plate with an RBI double in the ninth, knocking in Colby Shade and giving Oregon an insurance run. After a slow start to the season, Cowley’s batting average has climbed all the way to .309.
Mollerus recorded the final three outs in the ninth once again, securing the 8-5 victory. Mollerus has not allowed a run this year in 13 2/3 innings.
Oregon, now 18-7 overall and fourth in the Pac-12 with a 6-3 conference record, will come back to Eugene to play four games this week. It’ll start with a Tuesday evening matchup against Portland (16-10) at 5 p.m., and then a three-game series against in-state rival Oregon State (18-10, 5-7 Pac-12) beginning Thursday.
