The Oregon baseball team beat the Washington State Cougars on Friday by a score of 13-0 at Bailey-Brayton Field. A big third inning and another strong start from Robert Ahlstrom propelled the Ducks to a dominant victory.

Oregon threatened in the first with two-out singles from Kenyon Yovan and Aaron Zavala, but Josh Kasevich grounded out to leave them stranded.

The Ducks turned to their usual Friday night guy, the left-hander Ahlstrom. His curveball was falling off the table early as he cruised through a perfect first inning.

Ahlstrom issued a one-out walk on a full count in the second, just the 10th walk he’s allowed this year. He stayed locked in though, not allowing a hit until one out in the fourth

The Ducks offense roared into the lead in the third. Tanner Smith walked, Yovan singled and Zavala walked to load the bases with one out. Kasevich then lined a double down the right field line to bring in two. With two outs, Sam Novitske reached on a two-run throwing error, and Jack Scanlon followed with the double to make it 5-0.

The Oregon offense kept it going in the fourth. Smith led off with a hustle double, and walks from Anthony Hall and Yovan loaded the bases. Kasevich drove in a run with a single and Gabe Matthews added another run with a fielder’s choice that made it 7-0.

Scanlon led off the fifth with his second double of the game, and came home on a single by Hall to extend the lead to 8-0.

Ahlstrom allowed his second hit in the bottom of the fifth, but a double play erased the runner as he continued to keep the Cougars off balance.

Zavala continued to rake, crushing a homer in the sixth that made it 9-0. The Cougars recorded their first extra-base hit with a double in the bottom of the frame, but Ahlstrom prevented any further damage.

The Ducks’ onslaught continued in the seventh. After two singles from Smith and Hall, Yovan smashed his 10th home run of the season that made it 12-0.

The Cougars scratched out three singles in the bottom of the seventh, but Ahlstrom induced a lineout to keep the shutout intact.

Head coach Mark Wasikowski subbed in some of his bench guys in the eighth, but that didn’t stop the team from scoring. Colby Shade hit an RBI single for his second hit of the year to make it 13-0. It was the sixth consecutive inning in which Oregon scored.

Freshman Tyler Ganus recorded his first collegiate hit in the ninth, but for the first time since the second inning, Oregon didn’t score.

Ahlstrom wound up throwing seven scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 2.37. Caleb Sloan pitched the final two innings as the Ducks secured a 13-0 victory.

Yovan and Zavala were the offensive stars. Yovan went 3-for-5 with a homer and a walk, while Zavala went 2-for-4 with a homer and two walks. Smith, Hall and Kasevich also recorded multi-hit games

The Ducks, ranked No. 13 in the nation by D1Baseball, improve to 27-9 on the season. They’ll play the second matchup of their three-game series against Washington State Saturday at 2:05 p.m.