The Oregon baseball team battled on Sunday as they came out victorious, 7-5, in the rubber game of their series against USC.
The Trojans struck first, as back-to-back singles off Brett Walker to start the bottom of the first put runners on the corners. The first run came in on a throwing error by Oregon catcher Jack Scanlon, and another run came in on a single as USC took a 2-0 lead.
The Ducks fought back in the second. With two outs, Gabe Matthews tripled down the right field line, and Sam Novitske came in clutch with a two-out single to knock him in. The Ducks got on the board, still down 1-0.
Walker allowed a one-out double in the bottom of the second, and the runner advanced to third on a balk. However, the third baseman Novitske cut the runner down trying to score to hold the deficit at one.
The Ducks came right back out in the third, as Gavin Grant singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a groundout. Anthony Hall then pulled a single through the right side to tie the game at two apiece.
The back and forth affair continued as a walk and two singles for USC put them back on top, 3-2. A sacrifice fly added to that, and the Trojans led 4-2 after three.
Once again, the Ducks fought back in the fourth. After Matthews was hit by a pitch, Novitske doubled him in to cut the lead in half.
The Ducks threatened in the sixth, as Josh Kasevich and Matthews singled, and Scanlon was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Grant lined out though, as the Ducks couldn’t get anyone in.
Nico Tellache replaced Walker after five innings and pitched a perfect bottom of the sixth.
Oregon wouldn’t settle as they roared back in the eighth. Aaron Zavala was hit by a pitch and Kasevich singled to set the table. Singles from Matthews and Novitske brought in three runs to give the Ducks a 6-4 advantage, their first lead of the day. Matthews collected three hits and two RBIs in the game as he continued his hot streak.
The damage didn’t stop there, as back-to-back singles from Grant and Tanner Smith extended the lead to three.
An RBI triple for USC in the bottom of the eighth got them back to 7-5, but Kolby Somers recorded the final three outs to secure the win and the series victory.
The Ducks, now 22-8, will come back to Eugene for a three-game series against UCLA starting Friday at 6:00 p.m.
