The Ducks have found a knack for winning games in which they score early and lean on their pitching in the later innings. It happened again on Friday as No. 9 Oregon (16-3, 4-0 Big Ten) scored the game’s first five runs, but didn’t score after the third inning. Still, the Ducks were able to hold off the Gophers (7-9, 1-3 Big Ten) for a 5-2 series-opening win.
Oregon is now 1-0 in Big Ten Conference play at PK Park.
“It’s an awesome feeling bringing a new conference here,” Oregon catcher/outfielder Anson Aroz said. “And at the same time, it’s another baseball game that we’re really excited to play. Any opportunity we get to be on the field is a blessing.”
The early offense would be all the Ducks needed to down the Gophers, but a late push from Minnesota demonstrated how tense an environment can get when Oregon isn’t producing offensively for nine innings.
The rainy day didn’t spoil the Ducks’ Big Ten-winning streak, however, as Oregon found victory despite the awful conditions.
“It was fun,” Oregon starter Grayson Grinsell said. “Typical Eugene weather so nothing we’re not used to.”
Minnesota starter Cole Selvig needed only six pitches to work a clean first inning, but unraveled in the second. He issued four free passes (two walks, two HBPs) and surrendered an RBI double to Aroz (2-4). A fielding error extended the sloppy frame and brought another run across as the Ducks took a 4-0 lead (only one earned run) in the second.
Grinsell said the early lead didn’t change his approach on the mound at all. He said his job was the same: to go out and throw a shutout for his team.
Maddox Molony added to the advantage an inning later with his sixth homer of the year — a solo shot to right that even the intense winds at PK Park couldn’t keep in.
“He had some really good at-bats,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “He’s just kind of a steady guy out there. He just kind of goes unnoticed. He’s kind of a softer-spoken guy out there, but he’s a big, strong, physical kid. I thought he played really well.”
Grinsell recorded five stellar frames to earn his third win of the season. Across his 88 pitches (52 strikes), he fanned seven (bringing him to 199 on his career), walked one and only allowed five hits.
“I’ve got, I think, the best defense in the country behind me,” Grinsell said. “So I’m going to go out there and throw it over the plate.”
He got up to 92 mph on his fastball on Friday, finished a K away from a career milestone and had the Ducks in a great position for a win when he relented the pitching duties to Jason Reitz to start the sixth inning.
“[Grinsell] pitched well,” Wasikowski said. “He handed the ball off to Jason [Reitz], and Jason threw the ball well. Cole [Stokes] finished the solid pitching effort.”
Selvig’s day lasted slightly longer than Grinsell’s, but he didn’t have the same success that Oregon’s lefty did. While Selvig did settle down a bit after his disastrous second frame, he still finished with five runs allowed (two earned) over 5.2 innings of work. He fanned three, but issued four free passes as he earned his second loss of the season.
Minnesota got to Reitz in the seventh win a string of three-straight hits that plated a pair of runs on Jack Spanier and Easton Richter RBI knocks. As the scarce fans stretched at PK Park, the Ducks’ lead was dwindling. They either needed an offensive response or the bullpen to lock it down.
They got the latter, but only barely.
Minnesota turned up the drama in the ninth as both of its first two hitters reached to chase Reitz from the game. Cole Stokes took over and got his first man looking, but walked the second to load the bases with one away.
He got a pop out and a strikeout to end the threat and the game. Oregon held on.
Still, this recent string of wins in which the Ducks have jumped out to early leads and held on for dear life the rest of the way may not be the most sustainable path to victory.
“Our job is to keep scoring no matter the inning,” Aroz said. “What we try to do is play inning by inning and win each one. We’re not happy when we stop scoring, but we do know that we have awesome pitchers… We’ve got guys that can put up zeros, but on our end, it’s unacceptable to stop scoring.”
But it’s working for now. Oregon gets another crack at the Gophers and goes for the series win in about 13 hours.
Saturday’s contest — originally slated for 2:05 p.m. — has been moved up to 11:05 a.m. with hopes of getting it in (and possibly playing a doubleheader) before the worst weather of the weekend hits.
