Following two victories to start their season, the Oregon Ducks continued their four-game series against Seattle with game three at PK Park on Saturday.

After dazzling with a 0.84 ERA in 21 1/3 innings last year, junior Brett Walker got the start for the Ducks.

The Redhawks hit the ground running as a leadoff walk, a double and a single led to two runs in the top of the first.

The Ducks responded, as Aaron Zavala and Josh Kasevich continued their early hot streaks with back-to-back singles. Tanner Smith brought home Zavala with a sacrifice fly, but Nick Bellafronto, in his first start as a Duck, left Kasevich stranded at second.

Walker gave up a one-out single in the second inning, and the runner stole second and advanced to third on a balk. Each team’s starting pitcher balked in the first two innings. Walker worked out of it though, with a strikeout and a hard liner caught by first baseman Gabe Matthews.

Anthony Hall led off the bottom of the second with a single, and ended up scoring the tying run on the third balk of the game.

Walker settled down in the third, giving up just a two-out single. TCU transfer Caleb Sloan relieved him in the fourth, and allowed a home run to his first batter to put the Redhawks ahead 3-2. 

Tanner Smith bunted for a hit and advanced to second on an error in the bottom of the third, but was left stranded. Anthony Hall had a baserunning blunder in the fourth getting doubled off first, as the Ducks offense quieted down.

Decker Stedman replaced Sloan after one inning. After pitching a perfect fifth, he walked the first two in the fifth and was taken out for Hunter Breault, who allowed an inherited runner to score on a single but struck out the next two while utilizing his nasty slider. Breault pitched a scoreless seventh as well.

The Ducks threatened with two baserunners in each of the sixth and seventh, but left them all stranded.

Kolby Somers pitched two hitless innings to hold the deficit at two going into the bottom of the ninth, as the Ducks looked to replicate Thursday night’s magic.

With one out in the ninth, freshman Tyler Ganus pinch-hit and walked in his first collegiate plate appearance. A.J. Miller pinch-hit as the tying run but struck out, and Zavala hit a sharp grounder that was scooped up by the second baseman to end the game by a score of 4-2.

For the third straight game, the Ducks got some solid pitching performances, but the bats ultimately let them down in this one.

“I just thought we didn’t hit very well at all today,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “A lot of lazy fly ball outs…  the bottom line is we just didn’t hit well enough to win tonight.”

The Ducks will take on Seattle in game four tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. with a chance to take the series.