Oregon baseball (27-27, 10-17) fell to UC Riverside (19-34, 7-14) 3-1 Monday afternoon in Riverside, California. The Ducks offense could not support a good outing from Oregon’s pitching staff.
Sam Novitske walked on a 3-2 count to start the game, and he advanced to second base from a Tanner Smith sacrifice bunt. Spencer Steer singled to left field to plate Novitske and give Oregon a 1-0 lead. Novitske finished 3-for-4. 
UC Riverside responded in the next half-inning. With two outs, Dean Miller hit a double to right field. He scored from second because of an error by Oregon shortstop Novitske, tying the game at 1-1 after the first inning. 
The game was a pitchers duel for the rest of it. Alec Arnone recovered from the first inning to hold Oregon to no runs over the next two innings. UC Riverside used three pitchers over the next six innings and limited the Ducks to five hits, walking three batters and striking out four.
Oregon’s starting pitcher Christian Ciuffetelli finished with three innings pitched, allowing three hits and one run. 
UC Riverside took the lead in the fifth inning with one swing of the bat. On a 3-1 count, Cole Pofek hit a solo home run to right field. In the eighth inning, Miller singled to right field to drive in a runner from third base. 
Oregon didn’t muster a comeback in the ninth. 
The Ducks will return home this weekend for their final series of the season against No.1 UCLA on Thursday.