University of Oregon
13-10
Utah Valley
5-19
Ducks Win Slugfest at Utah Valley
03/27/19 | Baseball
How it Happened: Oregon (13-10) struck in the first inning, loading the bases with nobody out before Matthews drove in Sam Novitske with a sacrifice fly. The Ducks had the bases full again with one out but couldn't take advantage. Utah Valley answered with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom half to take a 2-1 lead.
Jonny DeLuca tied the game in the top of the second on a bases-loaded hit by pitch before Steer put Oregon back in front with a two-run single. Matthews followed one batter later with a three-run shot to right field, putting the Ducks up 7-2. The Wolverines answered in the bottom half, however, with three two-out runs, cutting the Oregon lead to 7-5.
Utah Valley (5-19) tied the game at seven in the fifth inning, but the Ducks answered with three in the sixth to reclaim the lead. DeLuca and Matthews each drew walks before Adams crushed a three-run home run – the first of his career – to straight-away center field to make it 10-7, Oregon.
After the Wolverines got within a run after scoring two runs in the seventh, the Ducks got both back to stretch the lead back to three. Tanner Smith drove in Steer with a two-out run-scoring single to make it 11-9 before Kyle Froemke worked a bases-loaded walk to score Aaron Zavala.
Utah Valley loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Ryne Nelson came out of the bullpen and struck out both batters he faced to lock up the win and earn his first save of the year.
Box Score Notes: Steer, Matthews and Adams – Oregon's 3-4-5 hitters – combined to drive in nine of the team's 12 runs while going 6-for-12 with five runs scored … The top five hitters in the Ducks' lineup scored nine of the 12 runs … Steer turned in his second three-hit game in the last three, finishing 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored … It was his 34th career multi-hit game, which moves him into a tie for 10th in the Oregon modern era with Aaron Jones (2011-12) … Steer tied Guy Krause (1971-74) for the eight-most RBI in a career at Oregon with his 83rd … Matthews moved into third place alone in school history for the longest consecutive starts streak, passing Kyle Kasser with his 111th straight start … The home run was the 10th of his career … Matthews' four RBI were a career-high … Adams turned in his first multi-RBI game as a Duck, driving in a career-high three … Novitske has reached base multiple times in 19 of the Ducks' 24 games … Peyton Fuller picked up his first career win, throwing two scoreless innings out of the bullpen … The two teams combined to leave 26 runners on base while totaling 30 free passes (24 walks, six hit-by-pitches) between them.
On Deck: The Ducks have a day off before opening a three-game Pac-12 series at Utah Friday at 5 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fuller, Peyton (1-0)
L: Hostert, Kohl (0-1)
S: Nelson, Ryne (1)
Batting:
2B: Novitske, Sam 1 ; Campbell, Cameron 1
HR: Matthews, Gabe 1 ; Adams, Taylor 1
RBI: DeLuca, Jonny 1 ; Steer, Spencer 2 ; Matthews, Gabe 4 ; Adams, Taylor 3 ; Smith, Tanner 1 ; Froemke, Kyle 1
SF: Matthews, Gabe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Novitske, Sam 2 ; DeLuca, Jonny 2 ; Steer, Spencer 2 ; Matthews, Gabe 2 ; Adams, Taylor 1 ; Zavala, Aaron 1 ; Campbell, Cameron 1 ; Foxcroft, Max 1
SB: Zavala, Aaron 1
CS: Tosti, Vinny 1
HBP: DeLuca, Jonny 2 ; Steer, Spencer 1
Batting:
2B: Hall, Kody 1 ; Plecas, Jake 1
RBI: Marco, Alexander 3 ; Sims, Drew 2 ; Madsen, Mick 3 ; Poulsen, Kade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hall, Kody 2 ; Beltran, Michael 2 ; Eastburn, Ryan 2 ; Marco, Alexander 1 ; Plecas, Jake 1 ; Howell, Trevor 1
HBP: Beltran, Michael 1 ; Sims, Drew 1 ; Poulsen, Kade 1
