Ducks Win on Williams' Walk-Off Bomb

Saturday, March 23

Eugene, Ore.

4:00 PM

University of Oregon

12-8, 2-3

Arizona State

21-1, 4-1

Arizona State

Oregon

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

03/23/19 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 5, No. 20 Arizona State 4 (12)

EUGENE, Ore. – A walk-off home run by Evan Williams in the bottom of the 12th gave the Oregon Ducks their third walkoff win of the season, a 5-4 victory over previously unbeaten No. 20 Arizona State at PK Park Saturday evening.

The blast was the first collegiate home run for Williams, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning.

Oregon is now 8-3 in games decided by one run this season.

Left-handed relief pitcher Nico Tellache improved to 3-1 with the win in relief by pitching a scoreless 12th. The victory was the second in the last three games for the Ducks, who improve to 2-3 in Pac-12 play and 12-8 overall on the season. The Sun Devils fell to 21-1 on the season, suffering their first loss of the season in only their third game out of the state of Arizona in 2019.

How it Happened: Williams' walk-off blast happened with one out in the bottom of the 12th inning and gave the Ducks their second extra-inning, walk-off win in conference play after also accomplishing the feat with a 1-0 win over Washington in 10 innings last Sunday at PK Park.

The Ducks scored four runs in the third inning, as Gabe Matthews drove in the first run with a bases-loaded walk. An RBI fielder's choice by Aaron Zavala would then score Jonny DeLuca, and Max Foxcroft capped the inning for the Ducks with a two-run single to right that plated Spencer Steer and Zavala.

Ducks left-handed pitcher Robert Ahlstrom started and was dominant in his best start of the year, pitching six shutout innings while striking out a career-high eight while walking one and scattering five hits. Ahlstrom left with the lead but ended up with a no-decision. The six shutout innings were a career-high for Ahlstrom, who had previously thrown five shutout frames at Hawaii on March 7.

In the seventh, Arizona State's Spencer Torkelson put the Sun Devils on the board with a two-out, two-run single against right-handed pitcher Ryne Nelson on a 3-2 pitch. Nelson then struck out the nation's leading home run hitter, Hunter Bishop, to end the inning and the threat.

Arizona State would complete the comeback from a four-run deficit against Nelson in the eighth. Carter Aldrete would narrow the Oregon lead with an RBI double to right-center with one out, and an RBI single by Gage Workman would tie the score before Nelson picked Workman off first to end the top of the eighth.

In the 10th, Arizona State had a runner on first with two outs, but Campbell threw out pinch-runner Dusty Garcia at second to end the inning. The Ducks had a golden opportunity in the bottom of the 10th, loading the bases with no outs. Taylor Adams walked to lead off the inning, and then Max Foxcroft was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs. Pinch-hitter Evan Williams squared to bunt on a 3-2 pitch, but pulled back and hit a chopper over the mound that was bobbled by ASU second baseman Drew Swift, loading the bases with no outs.

The Sun Devils then brought in a fifth infielder, and reliever Brady Corrigan was able to coax a fly ball to left from Sam Novitske for the first out. Corrigan then struck out Jonny DeLuca and ended the threat by inducing a groundout to third base by Spencer Steer.

Jonny DeLuca, who reached base four times, singled to center to start the bottom of the ninth. Spencer Steer was then hit by a pitch on the bill of his helmet to put runners on first and second with no outs for Gabe Matthews, who hit into a double play. With two outs and Steer on second, Aaron Zavala was intentionally walked, and Cameron Campbell grounded out to end the inning.

Nelson did not allow a run after the eighth and struck out 10 Sun Devil hitters in five innings pitched.

Taylor Adams led off the bottom of the eighth with a ground-rule double to right-center against ASU reliever Erik Tolman, who allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out four in 4.1 innings of work. Tolman was in relief of Sun Devil starter Boyd Vander Kooi, who the Ducks tagged for four runs on five walks and three hits in 2.1 innings. Following a successful sacrifice bunt by Max Foxcroft that moved Adams to third, pinch-hitter Vinny Tosti struck out. Ducks leadoff hitter Sam Novitske grounded out to third to end the inning.

Quotable: Head coach George Horton

On Evan Williams...
"Good for Evan (Williams). Good things happen to good kids. He played a lot at the beginning of last year and then kind of relegated to a secondary role, and it's been mostly a secondary role. He's quite a young man. He stays with it, he's a good teammate. The players are really embracing him because of the kind of kid he is, so good for him. Good for us. It was a roller coaster ride."

On the pitching...
"I thought (Ryne Nelson) got better as he went into it – 102 pitches out of the bullpen. You can do that because he was actually a started, so that was a nice luxury to keep him running out there. For Nico (Tellache) he did a nice job too … Good team win, a lot of things happen."

Box Score Notes: Williams' walk-off home run was the first by an Oregon player since Ryon Healy did it vs. Washington on March 28, 2013 … Despite only managing six hits in the win, the Ducks drew a season-high 11 walks while also being hit by a pitch three times … Oregon pitchers struck out a season-best 18 hitters, including a career-high 10 from Ryne Nelson … Oregon was 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position yet limited ASU hitters to a 1-for-12 mark with two outs.

On Deck: Oregon concludes the series against Arizona State tomorrow at 12 p.m. at PK Park.