University of Oregon
24-23, 8-14
Oregon State
32-14-1, 18-4
Steer Spectacular In Civil War Opener
05/10/19 | Baseball
Oregon's junior infielder shined back at third base and was a bright spot for the Ducks offensively in their 4-1 loss to Oregon State.
The Beavers led off the game with a home run, and tacked on two in the second thanks to a couple of seeing-eye singles. Steer helped mitigate the damage by starting two double plays on defense and driving in Oregon's only run, but the Ducks dropped to 24-23 on the season, 8-14 in Pac-12 Play.
How It Happened: Ahlstrom went 8 1/3 innings, allowing four runs — three earned — on seven hits and two walks, with six strikeouts. The Eugene native had the longest outing by any UO starter this season, pitching in a Civil War rivalry he used to watch from the stands as a kid.
"The adrenaline was pumping," Ahlstrom said. "It was an amazing opportunity. I think I let nerves get to me (on the leadoff home run), but I settled in."
The Ducks had a chance to answer in the first when Steer's one-out double moved Sam Novitske to third. But in a sign of things to come, Oregon was held scoreless in the inning; the Ducks ended up leaving eight runners on, and hitting 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The Beavers were much more opportunistic, despite less opportunities. OSU had just five at-bats with runners in scoring position but had three hits, including back-to-back RBI knocks in the second with two outs. They got another in the third, after Ahlstrom's error put the leadoff runner on second; a timely single moved the runner to third, allowing him to score on a double-play ball.
"They were finding holes and getting the clutch hits, and we weren't," Steer said. "That was the difference."
The Ducks created chances late, beginning in the sixth when Steer singled with runners on the corners to drive in a run. But the next three hitters were retired, ending the rally. In the ninth, Evan Williams and Jakob Goldfarb singled with one out, but they too were stranded.
Steer's Big Night: Oregon's junior third baseman had three of the Ducks' eight hits, and the lone RBI. He also played highlight-reel defense at the hot corner, where he started in 2017 and 2018 before moving to shortstop for the first 45 games of this season.
Back like he never left.
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) May 11, 2019
In his second game back at third this year, @spenc__er had four #SCTop10 plays, and oh by they way, he went 3-for-4 with an RBI too. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/Zmbb4enSDR
"I don't know if you can do it any better," UO coach George Horton said. "He's an unbelievable third baseman, and an unbelievable player."
On Deck: The Ducks and Beavers continue their series at PK Park on Saturday (2 p.m., Pac-12).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fehmel, Bryce (7-1)
L: Ahlstrom, Robert (5-5)
Batting:
2B: Jones, Preston 1 ; McMahan, Kyler 1
HR: Philip, Beau 1
RBI: Philip, Beau 1 ; McMahan, Kyler 1 ; Armstrong, Andy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Philip, Beau 1 ; Harvey, Jake 1 ; Jones, Preston 1 ; McMahan, Kyler 1
SB: Zalesky, Zack 1
CS: Rutschman, Adley 1
Batting:
2B: Steer, Spencer 1
RBI: Steer, Spencer 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Novitske, Sam 1
HBP: Novitske, Sam 1
