Kenyon Yovan paced around the first baseline, shaking his head and hitting his helmet against his knee in disappointment.

Moments before, the junior stood in the box with the tying runner on first. He was the Ducks’ final chance. He’d worked the count, he’d made solid contact with the ball, but it wasn’t enough. He flew out to center-right. 

Oregon baseball fell 6-5 to Stanford on Saturday in Eugene. 

After avoiding damage in the top of the inning, the Ducks got their bats moving in the bottom of the first. A good eye from right fielder Aaron Zavala put the first runner on with two outs and Gabe Matthews followed him with a line-drive infield single. 

Shortstop Josh Kasevich singled through the left side, scoring Zavala and putting the Ducks on the board with a 1-0 first-inning lead over the Cardinal. 

Leading up to Saturday’s game, Kasevich was ranked the third-most difficult batter to strike out in the Pac-12, going down only once every nine at-bats. 

Zavala broke the school record in single-season runs on Saturday, with 54 on the season. 

After a quiet first two innings from Stanford, the Cardinal began to threaten in third. An infield single from shortstop Adam Crampton, a Tim Tawa grounder through the second base gap and full-count walk loaded the bags for the Cardinal with two outs. 

On a 1-2 count, Ducks right-hander Cullen Kafka looked to avoid damage. A bottom-corner slider squeaked through the legs of Scanlon and into the backstop, allowing Crampton to make the slide at home and tie the game at one apiece. 

A full-count walk on the next at bat loaded the bases once again. A single from right fielder Christian Robinson would score two more before the end of the inning. At the 3 1/2 inning mark, Stanford led the Ducks 3-1. 

But the Ducks were quick to respond. A leadoff single from Tanner Smith put a runner on and designated hitter Yovan stepped into the batter’s box to the tune of the limited capacity PK Park crowd. 

Yovan swung away on a 1-1 fastball, blasting a two-run homer over the left field fence and giving the Ducks a much-needed equalizer. 

Yovan, a junior, sits fourth in the Pac-12 in home runs, with 12 on the season.

“He’s a guy that you want in your uniform,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “I bet if you ask any team out there in the country if they’d take him on their team, the answer would be absolutely.”

Zavala, who walked from the third spot, added the go-ahead run before the end of the inning. Going into the fourth, the Ducks harnessed a meager 4-3 lead over the Cardinal. 

But Stanford, much like the Ducks, wasted little time on a response. 

On the first pitch of the fourth inning, a fastball from Kafka, third baseman Drew Bowser took one to right-center, scoring the tying run and locking the game at four. But Kafka battled back, inducing a fly out, a groundout and a line drive to third base to fend off further damage. 

After a one-out walk in the fifth, Nico Tellache replaced Kafka on the mound. On his first pitch, Bowser made his presence felt once again, ripping a double to right-center and scoring the go-ahead run. Bowser stole third during the next at-bat, but was stranded as Tellache forced a pop fly to right for the final out of the inning. 

As right-handed reliever Isaac Ayon took the mound in the sixth, the Ducks trailed 5-4. 

The freshman’s first batter of the day, Tawa, swung away on an 0-1 fastball, letting a solo shot fly over the fence in left-center and boosting the Stanford lead to 6-4. Ayon was clean through the remainder of the inning, inducing three pop flies and leaving the sixth without further wreckage. 

Ayon allowed only one run through four innings on Saturday. 

“[Ayon is] one of the best freshman arms in the country and that was on display,” Wasikowski said. “He was dominant.” 

Going into the bottom of the eighth, the Ducks hadn’t scored in four innings. 

Zavala walked to first to begin the at-bat, but was followed by back-to-back outs from Matthews and Kasevich. Facing a two-run deficit and two outs, Anthony Hall stepped into the box, working a full count before singling up the middle and scoring Zavala in the process.

With the ninth approaching, the Ducks closed the Cardinal lead to one. 

Ayon and company took care of business in the top of the inning, retiring Stanford batters three up, three down. 

Despite their efforts, the Ducks were unable to convert in the bottom of the ninth. 

With the series tied at one apiece, the Ducks look to Sunday’s noon matchup in hopes of a series win.