After an extended hiatus, the Oregon baseball team is back.
The Ducks returned to action on Thursday for the first of a four-game series against Seattle at PK Park. Senior left-hander Nico Tellache took the mound for the Ducks after posting a 3.86 ERA in six games last year.
Tellache was greeted with a deep leadoff triple to right. The runner was eliminated on a fielder’s choice at home, but a two-out double brought home the game’s first run in the top of the first. Right fielder Aaron Zavala made an impressive throw to nab the runner trying to extend it to a triple.
Zavala led off for the first time in his career, drawing a walk in the bottom of the first after falling behind 0-2. Josh Kasevich doubled and Tanner Smith walked to load the bases, but Seattle left-handed pitcher Alex McBee recorded two strikeouts and a flyout to get out of the inning. Four of the Ducks’ first five batters were lefties, and this plagued them early on.
Tellache struck out the side in order in the second inning, flashing some nasty breaking pitches. The Ducks left two more runners on in the bottom of the second, bringing their left-on-base total to five through two innings.
Both southpaws settled down in the third inning. The Redhawks burst back out in the fourth, bringing home two more runs on a double to make it 3-0, while the Ducks went down quietly again.
Tellache returned for his fifth inning of work having thrown 55 pitches, and recorded his sixth strikeout of the night in a scoreless frame to finish his outing.
Zavala led off the fifth with a single, his third time on base, but was left stranded on second. The Ducks had eight left on base and were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position through five.
In the sixth, freshman Isaac Ayon took the mound for his collegiate debut. He worked quickly, heaving mid-90s fastballs, but some control issues loaded the bases with two outs. However, he utilized his sharp breaking ball to record a strikeout and get out of the jam.
“It wasn’t pretty, but Isaac’s got a tremendous future for us,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said.
The Ducks offense continued to struggle. Zavala got on base for the fourth time with a walk in the seventh, but was immediately erased on a double play. Gabe Matthews doubled, but was left at second.
Oregon pitcher Christian Ciuffetelli worked around a triple in the seventh, and struck out the side in order in the eighth. It was a key outing for him given his struggles with walks the last two seasons.
Following a Sam Novitske single in the bottom of the eighth, Stanford transfer Nick Bellafronto pinch-hit and drew a walk. Two-sport athlete Robby Ashford then got his first plate appearance as a Duck with a chance to tie it, but grounded out to end the threat.
Decker Stedman relieved Ciufffetelli in the ninth and also struck out the side in order. Oregon pitchers struck out the last six batters they faced, and had 13 punchouts on the night.
Zavala singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth, his fifth time reaching base. After Matthews was hit by a pitch, Smith stepped up to the plate as the tying run while Seattle brought in a lefty.
Smith hit a soft roller to short that looked like a double play ball, but the shortstop bobbled it and Smith beat it out to load the bases with one out. Pinch-hitter Sam Olsson then popped one into right field that fell over the second baseman’s head, moving everyone up 90 feet and cutting the Seattle lead to two.
Sam Olsson finally provided Oregon with the clutch hit they needed, tying the game with a two-run single. Jack Scanlon then came through with a sacrifice fly that scored pinch-runner RJ Gordon as the Ducks stunned the Redhawks, 4-3.
“These kids have gone through a ton, and to be able to just have some joy after a night, I think is worth an awful lot,” Wasikowski said.
The Ducks will continue their four-game series with game two tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. in Eugene.
