No. 13 Oregon baseball’s never-ending sixth inning left its lineup card looking like a Costco receipt, as four straight pitchers could only muster one out while Washington seized game three with a two-home run, seven-run frame.

Washington (21-26, 10-14 Big Ten) took several innings to support starter Hayden Lewis’ excellent day on the mound (8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 8 K) while Oregon (35-12, 17-7 Big Ten) managed four runs across the eighth and ninth innings, but ultimately couldn’t escape the hole its bullpen dug.

In the Ducks’ bid to secure the series on Saturday, typical Sunday starter Cal Scolari made his first career relief appearance, leaving game three in the left hand of frequent midweek starter Miles Gosztola.

For the third straight game, the Huskies took a first-inning lead, this time courtesy of a two-run shot by Sam DeCarlo.

Oregon gathered a quick response in the second inning, although it wasted an opportunity to break the game open. Drew Smith’s leadoff single was followed by eight-straight balls from Lewis, but Gabe Miranda’s sacrifice fly came in between two strikeouts that left the Ducks trailing 2-1.

Gosztola pitched through traffic to put up a scoreless second inning, before both starters did the same in the third. Neither pitcher blinked in a clean fourth inning, before Gosztola finally did with his pitch count climbing in the fifth. 

The sophomore recorded the first two outs, but allowed a single to DeCarlo before advancing him to third base on a failed pickoff and a wild pitch. Gosztola ended his outing by putting runners at the corners with a walk, but Luke Morgan drew a pop-out to escape the jam.

Morgan stayed in for the Ducks after Lewis extended his streak of retired batters to 10. By the end of the sixth inning, over 30 minutes after Washington second baseman Ty Cowan stepped to the plate, 11 Huskies had seen the batter’s box.

Cowan led off with a double, before a full-count hit-by-pitch brought in Gabe Howard to replace Morgan. Washington designated hitter Braeden Terry took a 2-2 fastball from Howard the opposite way for an RBI single, which left runners on second and third after left fielder Tyler Jones overran the ball. Howard, like Morgan, recorded just one out for the Ducks due to a sacrifice fly, which put the Huskies ahead 4-1.

Freshman Cooper Markham relieved Howard and allowed another sacrifice fly. With the bases emptied, Washington left fielder Jackson Hotchkiss broke out of the situational hitting that had broken the game open, crushing a fastball that caught too much of the plate over the left field wall for a 6-1 lead.

Markham couldn’t stop the spiral, allowing a single and a walk before Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski reassigned that task to redshirt sophomore Cooper Strawn. Strawn fell into the same spiral, falling behind Washington third baseman Blake Wilson 2-0 before the last new Husky to the plate stayed with an outside fastball and got just enough to put it over the right field wall. Strawn eventually recorded an inning-ending strikeout, but the Ducks faced a 9-1 deficit.

Lewis emerged from the dugout unchanged, stringing together his fourth straight 1-2-3 inning. He returned for the eighth inning at 82 pitches with the score still 9-1. For the first time since the second inning, Oregon put pressure on him, with Dominic Hellman following Gabe Miranda’s leadoff walk by chopping a single through the left side before Jack Brooks singled into no-man’s land down the left field line to load the bases.

Brayden Jaksa snuck a weakly-hit groundball out of the reach of the shortstop to bring in a run, before Lewis’ over-100 pitch count showed when Smith tapped a ground ball to him and he launched a soft sidearm throw over the catcher’s head, bringing home two more Ducks. A pair of foul pop-outs ended the inning, along with Lewis’ fantastic outing, but Oregon had cut the lead to 9-4, making a ninth-inning comeback slightly less daunting.

Freshman Hudson Carvalho created an obstacle in the Ducks’ search for a comeback, walking the first batter he faced and hitting the next before sophomore Michael Meckna took over. Meckna struck out the first batter he faced, but ceded the one empty base by allowing a single. He overcame the pressure for back-to-back strikeouts to provide some extra energy for his offense.

Washington sophomore Bryce Johnson limited Oregon’s hopes to a two-out rally by drawing a first-pitch flyout from Naulivou Lauaki Jr. and striking out Miranda. Dominic Hellman kept the Ducks alive with a full-count single, and Jack Brooks came through with a ten-pitch walk to occupy first base behind pinch runner Elijah Cook. Jaksa brought Cook in with a hard-hit ground ball through the left side to deal the first blow to Washington’s five-run lead.

Ryan Cooney couldn’t stave off the Huskies any longer, dribbling a game-ending groundout to the shortstop.

Oregon got what it needed in Seattle with the series win, but Sunday’s loss may have been its last chance to secure a sweep this season, with a road series against No. 1 UCLA next weekend followed by three home games against 36-12 USC.