It’s been a tough stretch for Oregon baseball lately. But the Ducks finished the regular season on a positive note, bouncing back from a Game 1 loss against Utah to take the series with a dominant 15-3 victory on Saturday at Smith’s Ballpark. It was the type of win Oregon needed to wash out the ugly taste of the sweep to Washington and regain some momentum headed into the Pac-12 tournament.
Like on Friday, the Ducks got out to a quick lead and never looked back. They rallied for three runs in the first inning, all with two outs. Rikuu Nishida and Colby Shade both struck out looking to kick off the morning, but Drew Cowley was hit by a pitch, Sabin Ceballos singled and Tanner Smith got things started with an RBI double.
Drew Smith followed up his fellow Smith with another double, this time driving in two runs. D. Smith wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 15, which is tied for the second-longest at Oregon in the modern era of the program.
Oregon added a couple more in the second inning on a two-run homer that was absolutely crushed by Cowley. It was his 15th of the season, three times as many as he had through his first four years of college baseball. It also set the Oregon single-season RBI record, with his total climbing to 59.
On the mound, Matthew Grabmann got his regularly scheduled Game 3 start, following up his fellow Canadian Turner Spoljaric’s strong Friday start. The first two baserunners of the day reached against Grabmann, but some poor Utah baserunning helped him get out of it.
The Utes struck against Grabmann in the second, scoring on a rundown after Grabmann issued his second walk. It got them on the board, with Oregon still leading 5-1.
The Ducks responded by scoring once again in the third, this time with the help of some shoddy Utah defense. T. Smith walked, advanced to second on an error and scored on another error, an errant throw that sailed into left field. Jacob Walsh and Bennett Thompson singled, but Walsh was thrown out on an overaggressive bid for third, helping Utah get out of the inning quicker.
TJ Clarkson led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer off Grabmann, cutting Oregon’s lead to 6-2. Jayden Kiernan nearly went back-to-back, but it bounced off the top of the wall for a double. Grabmann was able to settle down, issuing his third walk but stranding Kiernan at third.
The Ducks, after not scoring for the first time in the fourth, came back with two more in the fifth. Ceballos and T. Smith each collected their second hit of the game, and Thompson smashed a two-run triple that nearly left for a three-run homer. Oregon’s 10 hits through the first five innings propelled it to an 8-2 lead.
Nishida led off the sixth with a triple, then scored on Cowley’s 60th RBI of the season. It had been a quiet series for Nishida through the first two games, but he bounced back in a big way.
Grabmann worked through quick fifth and sixth innings, settling in to give Oregon a really nice performance. It was the first time this year he’s completed more than four innings. He gave up just two runs in six solid innings of work, throwing 83 pitches. He and Spoljaric both picked a good time to have their best performance of the year, helping make the series win over Utah much less stressful.
Speaking of much less stressful, the Ducks added six more in the seventh to extend their cushion to 15-2. Thompson collected his third hit of the game, and Gavin Grant drove in two with a double. Nishida then smacked his third hit of the day, and scored not long after on a wild pitch. Ceballos dug the bleeding deeper with a two-run single, his third hit and fourth time on base in the game.
Thompson collected yet another hit in the eighth inning, his fourth of the day to raise his average to .352 with an OPS over .900.
The Utes got a run against Dylan McShane in the eighth, but they forgot how many outs there were and ran themselves out of the inning. Closer Josh Mollerus got his first action of the series in the ninth, throwing a clean frame to cap the 12-run victory.
Oregon finishes the regular season with a 33-20 record, 16-14 in Pac-12 play. The Ducks will either be the No. 5 or 6 seed in the Pac-12 tournament, depending on whether Arizona State wins its Saturday matchup with UCLA. In either case, Oregon will travel to Scottsdale for its first game of the Pac-12 tournament on Tuesday.