University of Oregon
Nevada
Mistakes Prove Costly for Ducks in 6-5 Loss
03/13/09 | Baseball
RENO, Nev. ? The University of Oregon baseball team played against Nevada and themselves on Thursday, dropping a mistake-plagued game, 6-5, at Peccole Park.
Leading 5-4 going into the last half of the eighth inning, the Ducks (6-7) allowed the tying run to score on a wild pitch and the eventual winning run on an error.
With the bases loaded and one out, Drew Gagnier ? Oregon's fourth pitcher of the inning ? struck out cleanup hitter Tyson Jaquez looking on a 3-2 pitch, preserving UO's 5-4 lead for the moment. But with Michael Turay at the plate, the hard-throwing right-hander bounced a pitch that got by catcher Eddy Rodriguez, allowing Westley Moss to score.
Turay then reached on third baseman John Adamson's miscue, which allowed Matt Bowman to score the go-ahead run.
The Wolf Pack (5-8) overcame its own early defensive issues and got outstanding relief performances from Tyler Graham and Daniel Tinlin, the latter of whom pitched 3.2 innings of two-hit, shutout ball to earn the win.
Oregon had four hits on the board before two were out in the top of the second, but managed only five more hits the rest of the way.
Mitch Karraker had a pair of doubles and two RBIs and Jett Hart recorded two hits and two runs scored in a losing effort.
Jaquez, Turay and Moss led UNR with two hits apiece.
The Ducks received a solid, if not spectacular outing, from starter Tyler Anderson, who allowed four runs ? three earned ? on six hits and four walks in 5.0+ innings of work. The left-hander struck out three and handed a lead over to the bullpen.
Geoff Nichols (1-1) pitched a pair of scoreless innings, but was tagged with the loss as Bowman was his responsibility after reaching on an infield hit in the eighth.
Danny Pulfer put the Ducks ahead, 5-4, in the sixth with a single to right field on a hit and run play to score Andrew Schmidt from second base.
Anderson pitched out of a jam in the fifth, stranding a pair of runners who had reached before there was an out. Josh Hogan, who came into the game in the bottom of the frame to play second base with Pulfer moving to short, picked a screaming liner by Travis Simas out of the air, saving at least one, maybe two runs to keep the score even at 4-4.
Trailing by a run, Oregon took advantage of a throwing error by shortstop Kevin Rodland, which put Jett Hart on base, leading off the fourth. After a balk moved Hart into scoring position, Adamson delivered a run-producing base hit to tie the game at 4-4.
A three-run third inning gave by the Wolf Pack erased a 3-1 Oregon lead and gave the hosts their first lead, keyed by a balk, a pair of errors by starting shortstop KC Serna and a two-run triple by Nick Melino.
Caleb Tommasini put the Ducks ahead 3-1 in the top of the second with an RBI single through the left side, plating Hart. In the process, Oregon chased UNR starter Stephen Bautista after just 1.1 innings of work.
Graham prevented any further damage in the second and ended up pitching 4.0 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits.
The Wolf Pack coaxed a run out of Anderson in the bottom of the first when Hart misplayed a Jaquez line drive to right field into a two-base hit, scoring Shaun Kort, who had reached on a two-out walk.
Karraker put the Ducks on top in their first at bat, driving home two with an opposite-field double down the left field line. Tommasini and Curtis Raulinaitis set the table with a walk and hit by pitch, respectively, executed a double steal and jogged home on the two-bagger.
The two teams resume their four-game series Friday at 1 p.m. Right-hander Erik Stavert (2-1) is scheduled to pitch for the Ducks.
QUACK TRACKS: UO had a runner in scoring position with no outs in each of its first four at bats ... UNR head coach Gary Powers recorded the 800th win of his coaching career ... Oregon's five errors were a season high ... Oregon had batters reach base five times by way of being hit by a pitch ... The Ducks have lost five straight road games.
