Ducks fall to ASU in Pac-12 opener

Friday, March 19

Eugene, Ore.

4:00 PM

University of Oregon

8-4, 0-1

Arizona State

12-3, 1-0

Arizona State

Oregon

Photo by: Photo: Deborah Mundorff

03/19/21 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: Arizona State 6, #16 Oregon 3

EUGENE – Oregon jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning but could not hold off Arizona State Friday at PK Park in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams.

ASU (12-3, 1-0 Pac-12) rallied scoring a run in the second, three in the third and two more in the eighth to hand Oregon (8-4, 0-1 Pac-12) the loss.

How It Happened: The Ducks did not waste any time getting to Sun Devil starter Seth Tomczak in the first inning. Kenyon Yovan started the rally with a base hit and came around to score on a Gabe Matthews' double into the right-field corner that right fielder Kai Murphy misplayed allowing Yovan to score and Matthews to move to third.

Aaron Zavala made it 2-0 ripping a double into the left-field corner to score Matthews. Sam Novitske added a RBI single scoring Zavala and the Ducks led by three.

Arizona State got one back in the top of the second on a Sean McLain leadoff triple and a Sam Ferri RBI groundout.

The Sun Devils took the lead for good in the third inning. Drew Swift and Hunter Haas set up the rally with back-to-back singles to start the inning, with both coming around to score on a Hunter Jump double. Ethan Long gave ASU the lead driving in Jump with a single.

ASU added a pair of runs in the eighth on a Long home run.

Inside the Box Score: Zavala went 4-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored … It was Zavala's fifth multi-hit game of the season and the 22nd of his career … The four hits matched his career high … He went 4-for-4 at Washington State on April 13, 2019 … Zavala, who upped his season batting average to .432, extended his reached base streak to 12 games … Yovan's first inning hit extended his hitting streak to seven games … Robert Ahlstrom (1-1) took the loss for Oregon allowing four runs on eight hits in 7.0 innings with a walk and four strikeouts … Jared Glenn (2-0) picked up the win tossing 7.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Record Watch: Matthews continues to move up in a number of career categories in the Oregon record book … His first inning double gave him 44 for his career, moving the Ducks' first baseman past Ryon Healy (2011-13) into sole possession of second … He needs four more to set a new school record … Matthews had four at-bats in the game allowing him to pass Aaron Payne (2011-14) for second all-time with 687 … He also moved into a tie for third with Healy in career hits with 194 … Sophomore Tanner Smith moved into a tie for third all-time in outfield assists with Aaron Jones (2011-12) after throwing out a runner at second base in the top of the ninth inning.

On Deck: Oregon and Arizona State will face off in game two of the series Saturday at 2 p.m. at PK Park. Cullen Kafka (1-0, 0.54) will get the ball for Oregon, while ASU will counter with Tyler Thornton (1-0, 3.98 ERA).