Freshmen Carry Ducks Past Portland

Tuesday, May 7

Eugene, Ore.

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

24-22

Portland

23-22

Portland

Oregon

Photo by: Rylee Marron / Eric Evans Photography

05/07/19 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 4, Portland 1

EUGENE, Ore. – Sam Novitske and Gabe Matthews delivered run-scoring hits in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a tie in Oregon's 4-1 win over Portland on Tuesday night at PK Park.

How it Happened: Freshmen A.J. Miller and Kyle Froemke set the table for Novitske and Matthews in the decisive inning. Miller, pinch hitting for catcher James Bell, drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a Froemke bunt single and a throwing error by Portland catcher Dutton Elske.

Novitske, who had doubled and scored in the second inning, drove in both Miller and Froemke with a two-RBI hit to left-center field. After Spencer Steer lined out to third for the second out of the inning, Matthews plated Novitske with a single to center field.

Oregon (24-22) jumped to an early lead against Portland (23-22). Tanner Smith had a two-out single that scored Novitske who reached on a two-out double in the bottom of the third inning.

The Pilots tied it with a run in the top of the fifth inning but a great play by Bell, making his first career start at catcher, helped keep the Portland from taking the lead.

After the Pilots tied the game on a ground out, UP had runners on first and third and attempted a double steal. Bell looked to second and immediately fired to Steer at third catching Cody Hawken off third. Steer tagged him out to end the threat.

The Ducks used six pitchers in the win with starter Brett Walker (3 innings), and relievers Peyton Fuller (0.2 innings), Kolby Somers (0.1 innings) Keaton Chase (1 inning) and Nico Tellache (1 inning) not allowing a run.

Chase (4-1) got the win while Tellache picked up his team-leading sixth save.

Quotable: Head coach George Horton
On shaking up the lineup
"We mixed our lineup a little bit and gave some guys an opportunity to play, and I kind of like the way that looked."

On the pitching…
"Yeah, we had pitch counts on each guy. We want them available for the weekend series and they all did a nice job of passing the baton."

Freshman Sam Novitske
On the win…
"I think this was actually good for us. We needed a win to boost our confidence, especially coming off that tough series against Arizona, so it feels good to get this one."

Box Score Notes: Froemke made his first career start at shortstop after starting a pair of games at third base and two at second base earlier in the season … Bell made his first career start … Vinny Tosti made his fifth career start and first at designated hitter … Steer started his first game of the season at third base where he started 107 games during his freshman and sophomore seasons … Novitske had his 15th multi-hit game which ties Matthews for second on the team … The freshman leadoff hitter has reached base in 42 of 46 games including his 34 games with two or more … In Walker's last two appearances, he has allowed no runs on three in six innings with five Ks and one walk.

On Deck: Oregon and Oregon State meet Friday through Sunday in the Pac-12 Conference Civil War series. The Ducks and Beavers split a pair of nonconference games in Corvallis earlier this season. OSU won 7-6 on March 12, while UO won 12-8 on April 9. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday.