Pitching and power clinch sweep

Sunday, February 19

Eugene, Ore.

12:05 PM

University of Oregon

4-0

Xavier

0-4

Xavier

Oregon

Photo by: Deborah Mundorff

02/19/23 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: #20 Oregon 3, Xavier 1

EUGENE – Four Oregon pitchers combined to hold Xavier to just four hits and Josiah Cromwick and Gavin Grant both hit late-inning solo home runs to give No. 20 Oregon a 3-1 win and a series sweep at PK Park on Sunday.

Freshman Jackson Pace gave Oregon its first official quality start of the season allowing just one run on four hits with four strikeouts before fellow freshmen Logan Olson and Dylan McShane each tossed one scoreless inning. McShane (1-0) picked up his first career win after fanning two in the top of the eighth before giving way to senior closer Josh Mollerus who wrapped up his first save as a Duck.

How It Happened: It was a pitcher's duel between Pace and Xavier's Nick Boyle early with neither team scoring in the first four innings while combining for just three hits.

Xavier (0-4) finally drew first blood in the top of the fifth. After Teddy Deters drew a one-out walk, Carter Hendrickson drove him home from first with a double just inside the third-base bag.

Both teams threatened to score loading the bases in the middle innings. The Ducks (4-0) loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth but Xavier got out of the inning when Rikuu Nishida lined out to the shortstop.

The Musketeers loaded the bases in the seventh and nearly pushed their lead to five runs but Tanner Smith robbed what would have been a grand slam to end the threat.

Oregon took advantage. Josiah Cromwick crushed a solo home run in the seventh to tie the game and then Gavin Grant led off the bottom of the eighth with his first home run of the season to give Oregon its first lead of the day.

Smith gave Oregon some cushion with a RBI single later in the eighth, after Rikuu Nishida singled and stole second before moving to third on a Drew Cowley fly ball to center field.

Box Score Notes: Oregon had just one hit, an infield single, before Cromwick blasted his home run in the seventh … The Ducks got three of their hits in the decisive eighth inning … Grant (2-for-2) had his first two hits of the season in the game … It was the 27th career multiple hit game of his career … Grant's homer was the ninth of his career … Cromwick's home run was his third of the season and the seventh of his career … It was his first career solo home run … Nishida stole his second base of the season … In addition to robbing Xavier of a grand slam, Smith also made a diving catch earlier in the same inning … In addition to Pace, Olson and McShane, Bryce Boettcher and Mason Lytle (Ducks debut) made their season debuts getting starts in the outfield.

Series Notes: Oregon swept a four-game series for the first time since week two of last season (Feb. 25-28, 2022) when they took four game from St. John's … Oregon ran its record against Big East teams to 16-0, including 5-0 vs. Xavier … The Ducks' pitching staff finished the series with a 1.32 ERA and held Xavier hitters to a .184 combined batting average … The Ducks slugged six home runs in the series with Cromwick hitting three of those … Sabin Ceballos, Cowley and Grant each had one … Cromwick led Oregon batting .444 (4-for-9) with three home runs, a double, a stolen base, four runs scored and six RBI … He had a 1.556 slugging percentage and reached base at a .500 clip … Junior college transfers Rikuu Nishida and Sabin Ceballos combined for seven hits … Ceballos hit .400 (2-for-5) while making two starts and Nishida batted .357 (5-fo-14) with five RBI, five runs scored and two stolen bases … Sixteen players made their Ducks debut in the series with only five players starting all four games.

On Deck: Oregon heads to Goleta, Calif., where the Ducks will face UC Santa Barbara in a four-game series. The Ducks and Gauchos play single games on Friday and Sunday with a doubleheader on Saturday sandwiched in between.

Quotes:

Coach Mark Wasikowski
Q: What do you look to improve on after this 4-0 weekend series?
A: "Well we are 4-0 so you can't get grumbly about a lot of things, but the things I think we could improve upon are, you know, we didn't hit this weekend. We slugged and we got enough to win, which was great. We hit in the clutch, which was great. Overall, I thought our approach just needs to get more refined to be able to be more consistent and have a sustained offense which would be one thing we didn't have this weekend. So, that would be one area we could improve on."
Q: A lot of freshman arms this weekend, three more today. How important have those guys been?
A: "Well the freshman arms threw very very well and it was impressive to watch them. Coach (Jake) Angier invested the amount of time that he has in those freshman arms and those guys being able to slow the game down and just execute their pitches. Jackson Pace again today, (Dylan) McShane as well. They made it look easy and it's not easy and I was very happy and pleased with what we saw this weekend pitching wise."

Gavin Grant
Q: Gavin, that home run half way up the scoreboard, how awesome did that feel?
A: "It's nice to feel that come off the bat. It's nice to see something fall for the weekend. The team did great. Pitchers pitched well and we're going to keep it going."
Q: For a while there you had the only hit of the game for you guys. What's your confidence level in this lineup? Guys behind you, guys in front of you.
A: "We're arguably one of the best offenses in the west coast and we have the confidence like that. Hitting comes and goes, so we just have to keep that confidence going into next weekend."
Q: Your bat had been kind of quiet this weekend. That home run, did it get a weight off your shoulders?
A: "You could say that. Hitting it hard, day-to-day, but keep the same confidence and attitude going in and eventually they will fall."

Josiah Cromwick
Q: Two home runs yesterday, another big one today. What are you seeing well? What is working?
A: "I think I was just relaxed. I was able to see the ball well today and yesterday. Just trying to get a good pitch to hit and continue."
Q: Which of the three home runs was your favorite?
A: "The second one. Actually today probably. I felt that it got us started a bit."

Jackson Pace
Q: Four game sweep this weekend, how do you feel coming off?
A: "Great, we were clutch when we needed it and I thought everyone played to the best of their ability. We really came together as a team this weekend."

Q: Eighteen first pitch strikes today, just how important was that for you to get out there and get ahead of the hitters?
A: "We kind of knew that when you get ahead, they had a really tough time hitting you, so for me coming in there and coming from behind was going to be really hard so I needed to get ahead to do that. It was big."

Q: Coach Wasikowski talked about the talent of the team this year; how do you feel this has helped your team grow into what we saw this weekend?
A: "I think from a pitching standpoint, it was facing the best, I mean at least for me, the best lineup I've ever faced. All Fall taught me how to become a good pitcher at this level."

Josh Mollerus
Q: Josh, you get hold on Friday, a save for today, what is it like pitching at PK Park and overall thoughts of the environment?
A: "It was great this opening weekend. A lot of fans out for the opening weekend, a lot of support from everyone around us. Overall, just a very exciting environment to pitch in."

Q: Waz said he didn't feel like you were at maybe your '100% best', how did you feel out there?
A: "I mean he is pretty accurate; I'd go that as well. I would say I was probably at what he said was like a 'B' of what I'm truly capable of. So, just build on it this week at practice and take it into our next series."