Ducks Complete Sweep

Sunday, March 1

Eugene, Ore.

12:00 PM

University of Oregon

7-4

Milwaukee

1-11

Milwaukee

Oregon

Photo by: Deborah Mundorff

03/01/20 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 6, Milwaukee 1 Stats For Milwaukee Series

By: Michael Abbott

Eugene, Ore. – Aaron Zavala went 3-for-3 with two RBI and a walk, while Brett Walker threw six shutout innings to lead the Ducks to a series sweep of Milwaukee 6-1 Sunday afternoon at PK Park.

How it Happened: Oregon (7-4) struck for two in the first. Zavala continued his hot stretch with a RBI single, scoring Kenyon Yovan, who had doubled in his at-bat. Sam Olsson then scored Gabe Matthews from third with a RBI single to short, giving the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

That was all the run support Walker would need. He threw a career-high six innings of scoreless ball, on just three hits while striking out five.

After Milwaukee (1-11) cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the seventh, Oregon immediately responded in the bottom half. Evan Williams roped a two-out RBI single to right-field, scoring Tanner Smith who had doubled in his at-bat. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Zavala drew a walk, scoring Williams increasing the Ducks lead to 4-1.

The Ducks tacked on two more in the eighth. Gavin Grant smashed a triple to left for his third hit of the day, scoring Sam Novitske. Grant then scored on a Williams sacrifice fly to give the Ducks a 6-1 lead.

Kolby Somers pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Hunter Breault pitched the ninth without allowing a run to secure the win for the Ducks.

Zavala Notes: Zavala went 11-for-16, good for a .688 batting average … He ended the series with seven RBI, three runs scored, two stolen bases and two walks … He had four multiple-hit games, including three 3-hit games … In game one of the series he went 3-for-5 with a RBI, one run scored and a stolen base ... He also went 3-for-5 in game two with two RBI and a run scored … In game three he had two hits, two RBI, a walk and a run scored … In the series finale he was 3-for-3 with two RBI, a stolen base and a walk.

Pitching Notes: Over 38 innings vs. Milwaukee the pitching staff allowed six earned runs …. Ahlstrom, Fuller and Walker all recorded quality starts … The trio combined for 17 strikeouts and gave up just 12 hits over 19 innings … In 11 innings this weekend, Somers, Breault, Keaton Chase and Andrew Mosiello did not give up a run, and only surrendered five hits while striking out six.

Box Score Notes: The Ducks have won seven straight and completed their second consecutive series sweep … Walker recorded the first quality start of his career … Grant recorded his first three-hit game as a Duck … Grant also hit his first career triple.

Series Notes: Grant went 6-for-13 with a triple, a RBI, two runs scored and three walks … Yovan was 6-for-13 with a double, RBI, five walks, two HBP and six runs scored … Matthews finished with a walk-off home run, four hits, three RBI, five walks and five runs scored.

On deck: The Ducks head to Hawaii for a four-game series that starts Thursday at 8:35 p.m.

Quotable:
Brett Walker
On what went right for him on the mound:
"Just trying to execute my fastball at the beginning of the game, and work off of that."

On the run support:
"Our offense has been good this weekend, and we hope to continue it throughout the season. It is fun pitching for our coaches, and fun pitching with our offense scoring runs."

On the team's mentality during the winning streak:
"I think and our team chemistry is really good and shows just how close we work together. We work very hard for these wins."

Coach Mark Wasikowski
On Brett Walker:
"We may have under-pitched him today. He wanted to go out there to continue to pitch. Just because he wasn't built up to that level, we decided to go the bullpen. We don't believe in overthrowing guys, but he did great. I am really happy for Brett."

Aaron Zavala
On his big weekend at the plate:
"I am just seeing the ball really well, and when I get pitches that I can hit I just try to stay simple and do what I can with the pitches."

On the upcoming trip to Hawaii:
"It's defiantly nice to get rolling a little bit before a road trip like this. I think the guys are going to be ready for a tough Hawaii team."

On the winning streak:
"I think it is good for us because we can kind of see what we are capable of as a team, and just build off of that game by game. We can just keep the momentum rolling into each and every opportunity that we get."