No. 9 Oregon baseball responded to a step up in competition with three home runs to cruise to a stress-free win over Arizona. Angel Laya’s three-run homer in the fifth inning broke the game open for the Ducks, and Tanner Bradley’s scoreless 4.1-inning relief appearance sealed the win.

Oregon (9-0) opened up the Live Like Lou Las Vegas Classic with a timely matchup against the fledgling Wildcats (1-8), who dropped three out of four games against the University of Connecticut in Tucson last weekend.

Oregon sophomore Will Sanford cruised into the start with 11 scoreless innings to start the season, while Arizona junior Owen Kramkowski looked to lower his 6.14 ERA in his third start.

Sanford stranded runners at the corners in the first inning after leadoff hitter Caleb Danseizen singled on the third straight fastball he saw in an 0-2 count, but the Wildcats’ discipline left him at 26 pitches.

Sophomore Jax Gimenez, who has provided excellent plate discipline with a .576 on-base percentage hitting second in the Ducks’ lineup, gave Oregon an early lead with his first career home run. 

The Ducks extended their lead with a second-inning rally sparked by Drew Smith’s leadoff triple, which could be a relatively common occurrence this weekend in the spacious outfield at Las Vegas Ballpark. It took Burke-Lee Mabeus just two pitches to bring Smith home with a single to left field, and Ryan Cooney put Oregon ahead 4-0 with a homer to left-center field. The early run support aided Sanford’s effort to settle in after the long first inning, and he picked up four strikeouts against seven batters in the second and third innings.

While the Wildcats struggled to reach base against Sanford, they succeeded in working long at-bats and capitalized in the fourth inning. The strikeout stuff that allowed Sanford to tie his career high of 7 waned as his pitch count reached the 70s, and Arizona loaded the bases with two walks and a 2-0 single. Jax Gimenez’s two-out error on a pop fly brought in two runs, and Sanford’s start ended after 3.2 innings. Sophomore Tanner Bradley stranded runners at second and third, battling for a seven-pitch strikeout.

Kramkowski escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, but Maddox Molony and Mabeus chased him in the fifth with a single and a double to put runners at second and third with one out. Reliever Matthew Martinez quickly surrendered both runs and an extra, hanging a breaking pitch to Laya, which the freshman turned on for a home run.

As Oregon continues to work out its bullpen roles, Bradley posted an excellent audition for a go-to multi-inning role. Bradley allowed three hits and one walk while striking out nine batters across 4.1 clean innings. Junior Ryan Featherston struck out the side to keep Oregon undefeated.

First pitch for Oregon’s second game of the tournament against UC Irvine is scheduled for noon PT tomorrow.