Catcher Eddie Rodriguez stepped to the plate in the eighth inning with two outs, needing a home run to hit for the cycle. And with a 2-2 count, East Tennessee State pitcher Drew Story delivered a high and outside fastball that Rodriguez deposited onto the other side of the wall in right-center field to complete the rarely achieved milestone.
“On contact I said, ‘Get wings, ball, get wings,’” Rodriguez said with a smile, just moments before teammate Danny Pulfer ran up with a towel full of shaving cream that he wiped in the catcher’s face.
Rodriguez finished the day going 4 for 6 with two runs scored and five RBI to go along with the single, double, triple and home run.
The Oregon baseball team (34-18) won in just about every possible way this weekend in sweeping the East Tennessee Buccaneers (29-24). In game one of the series, the Ducks shut out the Bucs 5-0, then followed that up with a come-from-behind, walk-off 7-6 win on Saturday. Then on Sunday, Oregon muscled home 17 runs to win 17-7.
“I really liked my team’s approach, though,” head coach George Horton said. “That was a very mature approach. That was our most complete offensive effort since I’ve been here.”
On Sunday, both teams scored early and often. Oregon starter Zach Thornton, who came into the game with a 2.93 ERA and a perfect 7-0 record, allowed five runs in the first inning on six hits. The Buccaneers batted around in the inning, and their first three batters reached safely. Thornton struck out Derek Trent, but Beau Reeder — who started Friday’s game at pitcher — hit a two-run single, followed by an RBI double by Kerry Doane.
After East Tennessee State’s big first inning, the Ducks slowly chipped away at the lead, scoring one in the first on a double by left fielder Marcus Piazzisi. In the second, Oregon got three more with the bases loaded, Pulfer hit a sacrifice fly to right, followed by a RBI single from Piazzisi and an RBI double by catcher Eddie Rodriguez. 
The Bucs followed with a solo home run off Thornton in the third, and they would score just one more in the game. Reliever Alex Keudell came in with two outs in the third inning for Thornton and held the high-powered East Tennessee offense at bay. He finished with two hits and one run in 4 1/3 innings pitched.
“Alex came in and saved the day, so to speak,” Horton said. “He made it easy, and then we could extend the lead.”
The Ducks would tack on another three in the third, one in the fourth, and three more in the fifth to take an 11-6 lead. From there, Oregon cruised the final innings to take the three-game series from the Buccaneers and extend its winning streak to four games.
“The bounceback effort was a good way to finish the series,” Pulfer said, who also had a big day with four hits, four RBI and three runs scored.
The 19 hits Oregon had was the second most it has had in a game this year. Back on April 21, the Ducks racked up 25 hits and 19 runs in a 19-10 win over Gonzaga.
In game one, left-hander Tyler Anderson (7-3) earned the victory, going 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, giving up four hits. He struck out six batters and walked five, and Anderson said he wasn’t very sharp, but it didn’t matter for Oregon, which scored five runs on 10 hits. 
Game two also looked like it would be another big Oregon win. The Ducks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, and scored again in the third to go up 5-0. But the Buccaneers scored three in the fourth, and three in the eighth to surprise everyone and take a 6-5 lead. 
But Oregon, which has made a name for coming back in the ninth inning, scored two runs to win the game. Pinch hitter Mitch Karraker did the honors, singling home pinch runner Jett Hart.
In all, the Ducks amassed 45 hits in the three games. For Horton, it was a positive thing for the Ducks to get the bats going this week when you include last Tuesday’s 13-hit performance against San Diego.
“We gave some at-bats away on Friday and Saturday, and today they were locked in pretty good,” he said. “It was a run-scoring contest, and we got it done.”
Next up for Oregon is a rematch at Portland on Tuesday night. In four games over the last two years, the Pilots have taken every game, including a 3-1 win in Eugene on May 4.
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