In the bottom of the 12th inning on Sunday, with runners on first and second, Oregon designated hitter Dominic Hellman had the opportunity to walk it off for the Ducks. Instead, the strike three pitch flew right by.

No. 19 Oregon baseball’s (19-4, 7-2 Big Ten) final game of the series against Northwestern (8-11-1, 2-4 Big Ten) today in a 11-10 comeback loss in extra innings on strong relief performances from Luke Morgan (3.1 IP, 5 K, 0 R, 2 H) and Tanner Bradley (1.1 IP, 3 K, 0 R, 1 H). Hellman (3-6, 6 RBI, 2 HR) and Ryan Cooney (4-6, 1 RBI, HR) were dominant at the plate in the latter half of the game but could not pull out the win in extras.

Scolari kicked things off in the first, firing into the zone early with the fastball before mixing in his slider. He managed to strike out the first two batters looking, with a lone single from shortstop Ryan Kucherak momentarily breaking his stride before picking up a third strikeout to retire the side.

Northwestern’s Matthew Kouser got the nod for the series finale and got off to a rocky start after walking Cooney and Jax Gimenez with only one strike between the two. Hellman got the hitting started with an RBI single through the right side of the infield with Cooney scoring from second. With runners at the corners, Drew Smith hit a pop-up to left field, sending Gimenez home to make it 2-0.

Northwestern got off to a cold start in the second inning, striking out looking for the third time, but a solo home run from designated hitter Noah Ruiz ended the frigid spell and put the Wildcats on the board early. Following the homer, a walk put centerfielder Jack Lausch on base, and catcher Jay Slater sent him home on a double down the left field line. An RBI single from second baseman Jake Yang made it 3-2, giving Northwestern its first lead of the series heading into the bottom of the second.

Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski pulled Scolari abruptly in the fourth inning, bringing on Toby Twist, who got off to a bad start with a double from Lasuch on his first pitch. A sacrifice bunt from Slater moved Lausch over to third to set up an RBI double from Yang to add on to the lead. A hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases with one out, setting up a sacrifice fly from Kucherak and an RBI single from first baseman Nick Barron, scoring two to make it 6-2.

Michael Meckna came in to stop the bleeding and loaded the bases with a walk, but escaped the jam with a strikeout looking. In the top of the fifth, Meckna let up a leadoff home run from Lausch to deep left center field to extend the lead for Northwestern. Following a walk and a single from Yang and left fielder Logan De Groot, Ryan Kucherak demolished a three-run home run to take a 10-2 lead heading.

A leadoff double from Cooney in the bottom of the sixth gave the Ducks a bit of a jolt offensively as Hellman sent a ball deep to left field for a two-run home run to make it 10-4. In the bottom of the seventh, Oregon drew two walks with Burke-Lee Mabeus and Gabe Miranda reaching with no outs to set up RBI singles from Josh Schleichardt and Gimenez to make it 10-6.

The miracle the Ducks were looking for came shortly after, with Hellman launching a ball to right center field for a three-run bomb to make it 10-9 to close out the seventh inning.

A scoreless eighth inning put Oregon in a dangerous spot in the ninth. Down one run, Oregon pulled off a scoreless inning defensively with two strikeouts from Luke Morgan, who struck out two in the eighth, and a pickoff from Brayden Jaksa behind the plate to head into the bottom of the ninth.

When the Ducks needed a hero, Cooney stepped up to the plate. After taking a few pitches, he found his shot and smashed a solo home run to deep right-center field to tie it up at 10 to take it to extra innings.

It was a stalemate through the 10th and 11th, with both teams failing to secure that go-ahead run. Luke Morgan and Tanner Bradley came in with strong pitching performances, but the offense couldn’t come alive.

Devin Bell came in to relieve Bradley at the top of the 12th for his second appearance in 24 hours after appearing in yesterday’s win. He let up a single from Kucherak, who advanced to third following a groundout and a wild pitch before being sent home on an RBI single from third baseman Owen McElfatrick heading into the bottom of the twelfth.

A double-play ground ball from Schleichardt put Oregon back in a dangerous spot with Cooney up to bat, but he sliced a single to right-center field to keep the inning alive before a bunt base hit put Cooney in scoring position. Hellman had the opportunity to be the hero the Ducks needed once again, but struck out looking to end the game 11-10.

Oregon heads on the road down to La Jolla, California, on March 24, where they’ll take on UC San Diego in a two-game series.