On a day with strong winds, the Ducks managed to soar past the flightless Penguins with ease.

Oregon baseball (7-0) kept things rolling with a dominant showing against Youngstown State (0-6). The Ducks ran away with a 7-0 win over the Penguins off quality pitching from starter Collin Clarke (6.0 IP, 6 K, 0 R, 1 BB) and strong hitting from Burke-Lee Mabeus (1-3, 2 RBI, HR) and Ryan Cooney (2-4, 1 R, 2 SB). 

Clarke pitched for contact, throwing strikes early and punched out two batters in the first inning. Angel Laya took flight in the first inning, robbing Misael Uriepero of a home run off the right-field wall. 

“(Clarke)’s pitched well so far this season” head coach Mark Wasikowski said postgame. “Angel brought one back in the first inning that was hit really well and a great defensive play by the freshman.”

Penguins starter Jack Messmore tried a different approach, attempting to paint the outside of the strike zone, but ended up walking and hitting multiple batters. Early mistakes, including multiple dropped balls and a passed ball, allowed the Ducks to score five runs through the first three innings off only five hits, including a Gabe Miranda solo home run and a two-run home run from Mabeus in the third.

The Penguins put runners on early via walks who then moved into scoring position during each of the three innings in that stretch, allowing Drew Smith to send in two runs on a single in the first inning and later setting up the home runs in the third.

“I know that one through nine we’re gonna have really good competitive at bats,” Miranda said. “Knowing that the guy behind me, if i dont get the job done, he’s gonna get the job done, whether its power or not, just about the situation”

Jake Ferretti took over for Messmore in the third and made the same mistakes, loading the bases in the fourth with no outs. A sacrifice-fly RBI from Molony would score Gimenez, the lone run of that inning.

Clarke was relieved in the seventh inning by Miles Gosztola after pitching six scoreless innings allowing only two hits and one walk. Gosztola struck out two batters before fielding the final out himself to retire the side. 

“He’s got an electric arm,” Waskowski said. “He had a lot of success, went two innings and didn’t give anything up which was great.”

“(The pitching staff) did exactly what we asked them to do, zero runs, just executing and we put a lot of emphasis on 0-0 0-1 pitches and they did exactly that,” Mabeus said.

Oregon will close out its series against YSU tomorrow at 12:05 p.m. at PK Park.