University of Oregon
7-1
UC Santa Barbara
8-2
All Three Phases Contribute As Ducks Beat Gauchos, 13-1
03/05/16 | Baseball, @GoDucksMoseley
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Photo: Eric Larriva
EUGENE, Ore. — In its most complete performance of the young season, the No. 11 Oregon baseball team dominated UC Santa Barbara on Friday, winning 13-1 behind another stellar outing from Cole Irvin and production from throughout the lineup.
How It Happened: The Ducks (7-1) took a 4-1 lead through five innings thanks to strong defense, good situational hitting and a mammoth home run by Phil Craig-St. Louis in the fourth. Then they blew the game open in the later innings, batting around in both the seventh and eighth to tack on nine more in support of Irvin (2-0).
Matt Kroon kicked off a three-hit day in the third with a leadoff single, and took second on an error. Travis Moniot did his job by moving up Kroon with a groundball to the right side, and Daniel Patzlaff plated Kroon on a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Patzlaff also flashed some early leather, ranging toward short right field on a groundball in the first, fielding another grounder up the middle in the fourth, then stepping on second before throwing to first to complete a double play in the sixth.
It was another double play that really got the Ducks going. Irvin was cruising until the fourth inning, when he allowed a one-out double followed by a single. But A.J. Balta threw the runner from second out at the plate, and catcher Tim Susnara then threw down to second to get the batter out trying to extend his single, ending the inning.
Craig-St. Louis followed with his monster home run in the bottom of the fourth, and the Ducks tacked on two more in the sixth. Kroon scored Susnara with an RBI double, and Patzlaff again drove home Kroon on a sacrifice fly for a 4-1 lead.
UCSB starter Shane Bieber (2-1) almost wriggled out of a jam in the seventh. But with two out and the bases loaded, Balta hit a groundball that the second baseman couldn't handle, driving in two. Three batters later, Steven Packard cleared the bases with a three-run double, and the rout was on.
“That was the first time everyone's seen our team do everything together,” Irvin said. “When it's all in one, it's pretty special and pretty fun to watch. Hopefully that's Duck baseball continuing on for the rest of the year and getting us to Omaha. But we need to focus on tomorrow, because they're going to come back and want to fight.”
Production Top to Bottom: Eight of the nine hitters in the starting lineup scored and/or drove in a run, with Kroon scoring three times and Packard driving in three. As a team the Ducks went 12-for-34 at the plate, raising their collective average for the season from .211 to .230.
UO hitters were aggressive at the plate early. Leadoff batter Austin Grebeck popped up a flyball on the first pitch Bieber threw, and Kroon's third-inning single also was on the first pitch of the at-bat.
“We were fastball hunting,” said Kroon, who fouled off the first pitch of his second at-bat before driving an RBI double to the wall in left-center. “We knew he was going to come in and throw fastballs, with his best pitch. We were able to put some good swings on it today.”
Another Impressive Start: Irvin threw eight innings and allowed five hits with one walk and six strikeouts. The only run, in the fifth, was unearned after a one-out double to left field was mishandled. The runner took third, then scored on a sacrifice fly before Irvin ended the inning with a strikeout.
Irvin said he didn't feel focused until around the fifth inning. UO coach George Horton, who calls pitches from the dugout, said Irvin requested that pitches be signaled in quicker so that Irvin could establish a better rhythm. Horton was happy to oblige.
“I didn't feel like it was a normal start today,” Irvin said. “But my defense saved me a lot. They made me more efficient on the mound in terms of pitches thrown. That's all I can ask for.”
Oregon's weekend starters in four home starts this season have now allowed just three earned runs in 30 combined innings, with 35 strikeouts.
Notable: Freshman relief pitcher Matt Mercer was not to be overlooked in making his UO debut in the ninth inning. The right-hander from Lacey, Wash., retired the side in order, striking out the second batter he faced on a 93 mph fastball. “How about that?” Horton said. “We had a Tuesday scrimmage that was a little bit competitive, and he was our best guy, no question. … I don't know what role he's going to pitch in, but he's going to pitch a lot, because he's got good stuff.” … Kroon enjoyed the second three-hit game of the season by a UO hitter, after Jakob Goldfarb had one last week. … Irvin went out to throw in the bullpen in order to stay loose as the Ducks batted around in the seventh. … Nick Catalano, Kyle Kasser, Jake Bennett, Carson Breshears, Mark Karaviotis and Matt Eureste each made his first PK Park plate appearance of the season, as defensive replacements in the top of the eighth and then at the plate in the bottom of the inning. The sextet combined to go 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs and three RBIs during the Ducks' three-run eighth inning.
On Deck: The Ducks and Gauchos play game two of the series Saturday at an adjusted start time of noon, with Oregon's Matt Krook (0-0, 2.45) scheduled to face right-hander Noah Davis (1-0, 7.27).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Irvin, Cole (2-0)
L: Bieber, S (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Muno, J 1 ; McAdoo, M 1
RBI: Rowan, T 1
SF: Rowan, T 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McAdoo, M 1
Batting:
2B: Craig-St. Louis, Phil 1 ; Packard, Steven 1 ; Kroon, Matt 1
HR: Craig-St. Louis, Phil 1
RBI: Balta, A.J. 2 ; Catalano, Nick 1 ; Craig-St. Louis, Phil 2 ; Packard, Steven 3 ; Karaviotis, Mark 2 ; Kroon, Matt 1 ; Patzlaff, Daniel 2
SF: Patzlaff, Daniel 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Grebeck, Austin 2 ; Balta, A.J. 1 ; Bennett, Jake 1 ; Goldfarb, Jakob 1 ; Craig-St. Louis, Phil 2 ; Susnara, Tim 2 ; Kroon, Matt 3 ; Breshears, Carson 1
HBP: Eureste, Matt 1
