Oregon baseball completed a five game road trip with a 7-6 come from behind victory Monday night against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
The Ducks (22-13, Pac-12 7-5) jumped out to a 1-0 lead courtesy of an Evan Williams sacrifice fly. Their lead wouldn’t last long, as Gonzaga (17-15, WCC 10-5) quickly tied the game with an Austin Pinorini solo home run to right field.
Oregon starting pitcher Tyler Frazier would continue to struggle through the inning and three batters later Nick Nyquist hit another home run for the Bulldogs, this one with a man on second giving Gonzaga a 4-2 advantage.
Gonzaga would increase its lead in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and a runner on second, Kolby Somers gave up a double down the left field line, which brought home a run for the Bulldogs, giving them a 6-2 advantage.
But then for the 10th time this season, Oregon came roaring back. In the top of the eighth inning, with Gabe Matthews on second, Jonny DeLuca crushed a two-run home run to right center field to cut Gonzaga’s lead in half to 6-4.
Then in the top of the ninth, Kyle Froemke walked and Sam Novitske singled, putting two runners on for freshman outfielder Tanner Smith. Smith then launched his third home run of the season to give the Ducks a 7-6 lead.
“I knew I was going to get something to hit. And I got what I was looking for,” Smith told GoDucks. “… Whatever the obstacle, we have enough firepower in our offense, one through nine, that I don’t think there’s a lead we couldn’t come back from.”
This marks Smith’s third go-ahead RBI in the ninth inning this season. He had a walk-off sacrifice fly against St. Mary’s on Feb. 22 and a go-ahead single in the top of the ninth against Hawaii on March 10.
Nico Tellache slammed the door shut for Oregon, but not before putting runners on second and third. With two outs and runners on second, Froemke secured the victory for Oregon by ranging to his left and making a diving play keeping the ball in the infield, and calmly collecting himself before throwing the ball to first for the final out, earning the 7-6 victory.
Oregon will be back in action against Stanford on Thursday for the first of a three game series.
