Coming off back-to-back shutout victories versus Oregon State, the Ducks looked to wrap up their three-game set with another victory. Oregon’s six-game winning streak came to an end Sunday as they failed to score when they needed it most, stranding eight runners and inevitably losing 3-1.

An absolute pitchers duel between Oregon’s Brett Walker and Oregon State’s Jake Pfennigs gave both pitchers their second decision of the year. Sunday’s win for Pfennigs puts him at 2-0 while Walker fell to 1-1. 

Pfennigs was drafted by the San Diego Padres back in 2018 but didn’t sign when he opted to play for Oregon State. Through the five innings that Pfennings threw, Oregon batters collected four hits off of him including two doubles, one by Kenyon Yovan and the other by Gavin Grant. 

Grants’ one-out double in the fifth brought up the top of the order and put the Ducks in a good position. After a Tanner Smith strikeout, the Beavers decided not to pitch to Yovan, intentionally walking him to bring up Gabe Matthews. 

A passed ball advanced both runners to put two runners in scoring position, including the go-ahead run 90 feet away. This was the Ducks’ best chance to score, but Pfennigs thought otherwise as he fanned Matthews to pick up his sixth strikeout of the day.

Walker’s first four frames were solid, sitting down 12 straight and retiring every OSU batter he faced. The bottom of the fifth is when he ran into some trouble. 

The first two Oregon State hitters, Troy Claunch and Garret Forrester, hit back-to-back singles, which led to them advancing to second and third after a Joe Casey sac bunt. Walker was able to get the second out of the inning when Matthew Gretler grounded to short, but Claunch was able to score from third. On the very next pitch, Wade Meckler hit a towering two-run blast to left to make the score 3-0. 

Oregon was able to score in the next frame after an Aaron Zavala single to lead off the frame. Zavala was able to get around the bases thanks to his hustle as Josh Kasevich rolled over to the shortstop, but Zavala was quick enough to not force a throw to second. After taking third on a wild pitch, Sam Olsson was able to drive him in on a ground ball to short, which put the Ducks on the board.

Neither team was able to score after that and would go on to finish 3-1 Beavers. 

Despite the loss, the Ducks still swept UCSB and took two of three over Oregon State on this road trip. The Ducks will now travel back to Eugene for a three-game series against Arizona State starting Friday, March 19.