It may not seem like it, but Oregon’s series with No. 1 Arizona State this weekend was a success.
It’s not often a 2-1 series loss is a positive, but the 19-10 Oregon Ducks baseball team took the 25-1 Arizona State Sun Devils to the brink, handing them their first loss of the season. Oregon lost 1-0 on Thursday, then won 6-5 Friday in a five-hour, 24-minute game.
ASU did show why it’s the No. 1 team in the land with a 7-3 win Saturday, but Oregon proved it was not the team that lost a combined 27-2 in three games against them last year.
“Any time you beat the No. 1 team in the nation, it does something for you,” second baseman Danny Pulfer said. “Yeah, we lost this series, but going away they have one loss, and we gave it to them. That’s got to say something to the country.”
Pulfer, who had six hits in the series, said after Saturday’s game he thought the Ducks let the Sun Devils off the hook. Thursday’s game was a couple clutch hits away from a 2-1 victory instead of a 1-0 defeat, and Saturday’s loss was marred by three errors.
“I feel like we could have swept these guys if we really worked it,” Pulfer said. “But that’s the difference between us and them. They’re a very mentally tough team. They take blows, they take those punches in the face with adversity, and they deal with it and hit you late. That’s what a good team does.”
The two losses don’t take away from Oregon’s stunning win on Friday night. About 200 fans remained to see the ending (the game ended at 12:46 a.m.), but those who made it through the two rain delays and bitter cold saw something special. The Ducks held on to win in 12 innings, overcoming a comeback by the Sun Devils in the top of the ninth.
“I was proud of my team,” head coach George Horton said. “They could have folded, and last year’s team would probably have folded. But we ended up getting a win.”
It started in the bottom of the second inning, with ASU up 1-0. Oregon loaded the bases and took a 4-1 lead on a two-run single by shortstop KC Serna.
Arizona responded with runs in the third and fourth innings off Oregon starter Justin LaTempa, who finished with seven hits and four strikeouts in four innings of work. Reliever Scott McGough followed, closing down ASU’s attempts to score for the next three innings.
But things fell apart for Oregon in the top of the ninth inning. Closer Drew Gagnier got out the first man he faced, then he walked the second hitter, who moved to third on a hit by second baseman Zach MacPhee.
Then in an unfortunate sequence of events, ASU took the lead. On a 2-2 pitch to right fielder Kole Calhoun, Gagnier struck him out looking. But catcher Eddie Rodriguez missed the ball, and it rolled all the way to the backstop, scoring the runner from third to tie the game at four. Then MacPhee tried to take third base, and Rodriguez threw high, the ball sailing into left field. MacPhee scampered home, scoring the go-ahead run. The ASU bench erupted as its undefeated season looked to be preserved, while Oregon players stared in disbelief.
“Coming out and making two errors on one play, that’s not something you see every day,” Rodriguez said after the game. “I had my head down, oh man, was I bad. But I found the strength to come back, work the process again, and grind it.”
Rodriguez would lead off to start the ninth inning. He hit a pitch up the middle, but the second baseman knocked it down. Knowing it would be close, Rodriguez slid into first base, beating the throw as the first baseman pulled his foot off the base. The next batter sacrificed him to second, and pinch hitter Ryan Hambright delivered, hitting a ball to right field, scoring Rodriguez from second on a close play at the plate.
“This game is about coming back, and Eddie has been able to do that,” Horton said. “He’s our best hitter, and that was another great moment within the game. I told him afterwards that I was glad we won it for him, and that was a prideful at-bat after that devastating top of the inning.”
Oregon would eventually win the game in the bottom of the 12th inning on an RBI single up the middle by Marcus Piazzisi, who went 3 for 5 with two RBI and two walks in game two.
“This is definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Piazzisi said. “I haven’t had a game-winner in a while. Definitely feels good to win.”
“I think we matured and kept our eye off them and off the scoreboard and played each pitch,” Horton said of the series. “We may not be as far along as we’d hoped at this point, but I think what this series proves is, next weekend at Stanford we have an opportunity to take that series. We’re not going in there limping.”
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