Mercer Magnificent in Shutout Win

Saturday, March 25

Eugene, Ore.

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

15-5, 4-1

Washington

13-9, 3-2

Washington

Oregon

Photo by: Gary Breedlove

03/25/17 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Derren Iha

EUGENE, Ore. – Matt Mercer delivered another gem on the mound to lead Oregon to a 1-0 conference win over No. 22 Washington on Saturday night at PK Park.

How it Happened: Mercer (4-1) matched career-highs pitching seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts while allowing six hits with just one walk. Connor Zwetsch pitched a perfect eighth inning, picking up one strikeout.

Kenyon Yovan locked down the win with another clutch performance, getting a strikeout and a fly-out to strand runners at first and second to earn his eighth save.

Gabe Matthews continued his big series, driving in the only run of the game with an RBI double a day after driving in three of Oregon's four runs to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead after one inning.

Box Score Notes: Matthews finished 1-for-4 with an RBI while hitting his third double of the series … Bennett went 1-for-4 with one run scored, extending his hitting streak to six games … Spencer Steer reached base in three of his four plate appearances, going 1-for-2 with two walks … Ducks' pitchers combined to hold Washington hitless in 10 at bats with runners in scoring position.

Notable: Mercer turned in his fifth consecutive quality start and has won his last four decisions … He lowered his season ERA to 1.49 and has combined on shutouts in three of his six starts … Yovan's eight saves leads the Pac-12 and is tied for seventh all-time on the career list at Oregon with Madison Boer and Kellen Moen … Oregon has five shutouts this season, the most since 2013 when it had seven.

On Deck: Oregon (15-5, 4-1) and Washington (13-9, 3-2) finish their three-game series on Sunday at 2 p.m. at PK Park with Zack Noll getting the ball for the Ducks and Joe DeMers scheduled to pitch for the Huskies. The game will be televised live on Pac-12 Network.