After easily winning their first two games of the Club Baseball World Series in Fort Myers, Fla., the Oregon Ducks hit a bump in the road yesterday, losing to the Colorado State Rams 7-2. The usually potent bats of the team were silenced by starting pitcher Nicholas Jeanette who went almost six innings and gave up one hit.
Oregon struggled through the first half of the game offensively, getting only five walks in the first four innings. They didn’t get their first hit of the game until sophomore Cam Gaulke hit a ground ball through the hole at shortstop. However, the Ducks couldn’t capitalize on the play, as junior Scott Marchione struck out swinging and junior Nick Johnson flew out to end the inning.
The fifth inning was the turning point in the game, according to Marchione. The Ducks went into the inning down only one run, but after starting pitcher Frazier Bennett gave up four runs before being relieved by sophomore Kyle Knapp, Oregon was faced with a 5-0 deficit.
“We left a few balls up (in the strike zone) and Colorado State is too good of a team to not capitalize,” Marchione said.
Despite the bad finish to the night, Bennett pitched well, giving up only six hits and striking out 10 in 4 2/3 innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for the team, but no Duck crossed home plate after a ground out by junior Brad Terada ended the inning. The next inning Marchione registered the second hit of the night for the Ducks and it looked like they might finally get on the board after he stole second. However, strong pitching from the Rams stopped the rally with two strikeouts.
The Rams added two more runs in the seventh to stretch their lead to 7-0 and Oregon scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to avoid the shutout. Terada scored on a by Johnson and Gaulke scored on a wild pitch.
Overall, it was a frustrating night for Oregon. Gaulke was the lone bright spot offensively for the Ducks. He went 1-for-3 with one run scored and two walks.
“We had a few hard hit balls, it’s just that we hit them right at players. Sometimes that happens.” Marchione said.
The loss didn’t hurt the Ducks that badly as they still have one more chance to advance. The double-elimination format means that they will play Colorado State again today at 4:30 p.m. in a loser-goes-home matchup. The winner will advance to the championship game.
However, the team is confident because like they say, they’ve been here before. Last year they lost a game early in the series and faced several elimination games before advancing to the final game. And this year Oregon lost its third game of the regional tournament to Western Washington before bouncing back and beating them twice to get to the World Series.
“We know what we’ve got to do,” senior Jeff Rogers said.
Marchione agreed, saying that guys have got to wake up and realize it’s win or go home.
“This is a big game, winner moves on and loser leaves,” he said. “But with our backs to the wall, our potential really shows, so we’re confident.”
Whatever the feeling, the Ducks hope to be extra sharp and cut down on leaving runners in scoring position. They left a total of 12 runners on the bases, something that could have drastically changed the outcome of the game if even three of those runners scored.