It wasn’t the prettiest game, but Oregon got it done on Saturday, beating Nevada, 3-2. After giving up two runs in the third inning, Oregon responded with three unanswered runs to improve to 2-4 on the season.
Oregon started a young lineup on Saturday, with a lot of freshmen and sophomores in the lineup. On the other hand, Nevada started a batting order chock full of upperclassmen and its greater level of experience showed in the opening innings.
It was a shaky start for the Ducks, who went hitless in the first two innings. Starting pitcher Peyton Fuller gave up two hits in the second inning with the bases loaded but was able to escape.
Fuller was not so lucky in the third inning. Joshua Zamora hit a single to left field. Later, Fuller hit Dillan Strum with a pitch. This allowed Wyatt Tilley to hit a two-RBI double that sailed into right field to put the Wolfpack up 2-0.
“No huge innings, keep it one or two, we’ll win with that. The offense will pick me up,” Fuller said.
And the Ducks bullpen was able to do just that, keeping Nevada scoreless in eight out of nine innings. The pitching improved over the course of the game, only allowing three hits after the third inning.
“We’re not talking about strikes or walks, we’re talking about mentality,” head coach Mark Wasikowski.
Oregon’s hitting picked up in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gabe Matthews hit a double into center right field to get on base. Freshman Anthony Hall hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 2-1. Aaron Zavala hit a single to get on base but Nevada was able end the inning on a double play to keep its lead.
Oregon was able to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Streaking Kenyon Yovan had a quiet game, but was able to get on base on a Nevada error. Matthews was walked, which set up Zavala to blast a double to left-center field that sent Yovan and Matthews home.
“It’s a pretty cliche thought process, but I was just doing what I could for the team,” Zavala said.
Oregon’s hitting was able to do the job, but the team had few big hits.
“The hitting hasn’t existed yet since we came home. I think there’s a lot more in the tank with the bats,” Wasikowski said.
The Ducks were able to finish out the last three innings and held on to a 3-2 win. For a team that struggled in close games on the road last week, it was important for the squad to win multiple games in a row.
“Just because the score was low doesn’t indicate it was an ugly game. It was actually a well-played game, it was a clean baseball game,” Wasikowski said.
Oregon will close its series with Nevada on Sunday afternoon.
