Ducks Capitalize on Mistakes in Win

Tuesday, May 14

Eugene, Ore.

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

26-24

Gonzaga

28-21

Gonzaga

Oregon

Photo by: Rylee Marron / Eric Evans Photography

05/14/19 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 10, Gonzaga 3

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the first three innings and then poured it on in the middle innings to beat Gonzaga 10-3 Tuesday night at PK Park in nonconference action.

How it Happened: Evan Williams gave Oregon (26-24) the early lead. The Ducks' designated hitter doubled with two outs in the bottom of the first scoring Spencer Steer and Jonny DeLuca for a 2-0 lead.

Jakob Goldfarb made it 3-0 in the third inning with a two-out single that scored DeLuca before Gonzaga answered with two in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2.

The Ducks added four unearned runs to the lead in the bottom of the fifth. After the Ducks loaded the bases with two outs, Goldfarb scored on a fielding error by shortstop Ernie Yake. Gonzaga relief pitcher Trent Schulte then hit Spencer Steer, and walked DeLuca and Williams back-to-back to allow the next three runs for a 7-2 Oregon lead.

After GU (28-21) got a run back in the top of the sixth, Oregon scored three more in their half of the inning. Tanner Smith picked up a two-out RBI scoring A.J. Miller before getting caught in run down between first and second. Sam Novitske broke for home, also got caught in a rundown, but scored along with Smith on a throwing error by Gonzaga catcher Austin Pinorini.

Hunter Breault (1-0) picked up the win for Oregon tossing a scoreless fifth inning with a pair of strikeouts. Gonzaga starter Mason Wells (2-4) took the loss.

Quotable: Head coach George Horton
On consistency of pitchers…
"Nico looked really good, he looked real crisp tonight and I thought Kolby said, 'Hey look at me'. Kolby has had some ups and downs, but that was real Kolby-like. He was finding the strike zone and he did a good job of making them hit so I thought that was a real positive outing for Kolby"

On bouncing back and building momentum…
"Yeah, maybe they can build some momentum. We need to do something really special here down the stretch and you can't do that without good relief pitching or the depth of the pitching staff so hopefully they can build on that and continue to get some zeroes and ones and give our offense a chance to win"

Box Score Notes: Junior first baseman Gabe Matthews had his school-record 137 games start streak snapped … The last time Matthews was not in the starting lineup was March 28, 2017 vs. Portland … The last time he did not start at first base was April 3, 2017 at BYU … DeLuca now has the longest games started streak on the team … He has started 82 straight games, the sixth longest streak in school history … Matthews did enter the game in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement and extend his games played streak to 138 … Freshman A.J. Miller made his first start of the season at first base after starting one game earlier this season at DH … Freshman Sam Novitske made his first start of the season at shortstop … He has started 43 games at third base and six at second base … Williams finished with a career-high three RBI … DeLuca had his 13th multi-hit game of the season and finished the two-game season series against Gonzaga 5-for-7 … Novitske had his 17th multi-hit game, second on the team and just three behind Steer.

On Deck: Oregon heads to Southern California for four games. The Ducks open a three-game series at USC on Friday and then play a single game at UC Riverside on Monday.