Wednesday, April 12
Eugene, Ore.
12:05 PM
University of Oregon
22-9
16
vs
6
San Francisco
13-15
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
San Francisco
1
0
3
0
1
0
1
0
0
6
6
5
Oregon
3
3
1
5
0
2
1
1
X
16
14
3
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Several Ducks Seize Opportunities In Win
04/12/23 | Baseball
Oregon saw two players collect their first collegiate hit Wednesday, and another hit the first homer of his career in a 16-6 win over San Francisco.
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon scored in all but one inning Wednesday and saw several players enjoy career firsts as the Ducks capped a midweek sweep of San Francisco with a 16-6 victory at PK Park.
Drew Cowley had three hits and drove in four runs, Sabin Ceballos hit his seventh homer of the season and four pitchers limited the strong-hitting Dons to just one extra-base hit. The Ducks (22-9) have consecutive wins again after seeing their 11-game winning streak snapped over the weekend, and will take positive momentum into a series this upcoming weekend against No. 7 Stanford.
"There's always things in any game that you look at and think you can improve on and so forth, and this is no exception," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "But, excited to be able to win two midweek games; that was the objective and that happened this week. And so it was good — good progress."
Wednesday's win also included the first career home run for junior Bryce Boettcher, who reached base in all six plate appearances and scored three times. Anson Aroz singled for his first collegiate hit in the sixth inning, and Drew Smith followed with the first hit of his career in the seventh.
"Thrilled for the kids — when they get their first hits in college uniforms, and guys get out there and get a chance to compete and play and develop, it's awesome," Wasikowski said. "That's what it's all about. Winning is number one, and seeing these guys be able to have success. They all work their tails off, and there's some talent that you saw today that hasn't gotten a ton of opportunities. To see them succeed is really a lot of fun for us."
How It Happened: After USF scored once in the top of the first, Rikuu Nishida walked to lead off the bottom of the first and scored the first of his four runs on the day when Drew Cowley drilled a one-out double. Ceballos followed with a home run, and Oregon had a 3-1 lead.
Nishida reached to lead off the second inning as well, and came home on an RBI single by Cowley. That sparked what ended up being another three-run inning for the Ducks, who led 6-1 at that point. The Dons put up a three-spot of their own in the third, but doubles by Boettcher and Gavin Grant to open the bottom of the third made it 7-4.
UO starter Turner Spoljaric pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning to cap the longest outing of his career so far. The Ducks broke the game open in the bottom of the inning, as Grant doubled in two runs and scored on a passed ball, before Cowley drove in two more with his second double of the day.
Logan Olson bounced back from allowing a run in the fifth by pitching a clean sixth inning. Colby Shade was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the sixth before coming around to score on a wild pitch, and three batters later Aroz drove a single through the right side for his first collegiate hit and RBI.
"I think the coolest part of that experience was, as soon as I hit the ball, just hearing the dugout blow up," Aroz said. "We've got a group of 40 guys that are a lot of my closest friends and it was really cool to hear that support."
After the Dons got within 14-6 with a run in the seventh, the Ducks immediately answered as Smith drove in Nishida with his first collegiate hit and RBI. Austin Anderson (3-0) struck out the side in the top of the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning Boettcher capped his day with a home run to left field.
The home run was just reward after Boettcher had been hit by pitches three times earlier in the game, becoming the third Duck of the modern era and the first since Aaron Jones in 2012 to be hit three times in the same game. The home run ball was safely tucked in Boettcher's back pocket after the game.
"I'll probably give it to my pops," Boettcher said. "He's somebody that helped me a lot in my life and my number one role model when it comes to baseball, so I'll probably give it to him."
Notable: Ceballos and Cowley each enjoyed his team-best ninth multi-RBI game. … Cowley had his 10th multi-hit games in his last 16. … It was Cowley's fourth career multi-double game. … Tanner Smith made his first start as the designated hitter since April 2, 2021, after a streak of 126 consecutive games started in left field. … Grant had his eighth multi-hit game and second multi-RBI game of the season, the 34th and 11th of his career, respectively. … Grant doubled twice in the same game for the first time in his career.
Quotable:
Freshman infielder Drew Smith on collecting his first collegiate hit
"It was pretty special. … Just a really special moment for me and my teammates. You know, everybody's on the top rail for me and I just really appreciate it and love my guys. So it was just a really special moment."
Junior outfielder Bryce Boettcher on juggling baseball and football this spring
"It's challenging. Obviously growing up here it's always been a dream to do both. So that's in the back of my mind, and I'm doing it for my family and all the kids in Eugene, to give them hope that they could do the same thing one day. The challenge is more mental than anything, just constantly trying to improve my craft while I'm out there versus just going through the motions. But I'm loving it and it's going good."
Redshirt freshman Anson Aroz on staying ready for a moment like Wednesday
"It's just every day the same routine, you know. Show up here, and your prep work doesn't really change based on whether you're playing or not. You should be preparing to win a baseball game no matter whether you're playing or not. So I think that's a big part of it for me."
On Deck: The Ducks open a three-game series against Stanford at PK Park on Friday at 5 p.m.
Drew Cowley had three hits and drove in four runs, Sabin Ceballos hit his seventh homer of the season and four pitchers limited the strong-hitting Dons to just one extra-base hit. The Ducks (22-9) have consecutive wins again after seeing their 11-game winning streak snapped over the weekend, and will take positive momentum into a series this upcoming weekend against No. 7 Stanford.
"There's always things in any game that you look at and think you can improve on and so forth, and this is no exception," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "But, excited to be able to win two midweek games; that was the objective and that happened this week. And so it was good — good progress."
Wednesday's win also included the first career home run for junior Bryce Boettcher, who reached base in all six plate appearances and scored three times. Anson Aroz singled for his first collegiate hit in the sixth inning, and Drew Smith followed with the first hit of his career in the seventh.
"Thrilled for the kids — when they get their first hits in college uniforms, and guys get out there and get a chance to compete and play and develop, it's awesome," Wasikowski said. "That's what it's all about. Winning is number one, and seeing these guys be able to have success. They all work their tails off, and there's some talent that you saw today that hasn't gotten a ton of opportunities. To see them succeed is really a lot of fun for us."
How It Happened: After USF scored once in the top of the first, Rikuu Nishida walked to lead off the bottom of the first and scored the first of his four runs on the day when Drew Cowley drilled a one-out double. Ceballos followed with a home run, and Oregon had a 3-1 lead.
Nishida reached to lead off the second inning as well, and came home on an RBI single by Cowley. That sparked what ended up being another three-run inning for the Ducks, who led 6-1 at that point. The Dons put up a three-spot of their own in the third, but doubles by Boettcher and Gavin Grant to open the bottom of the third made it 7-4.
UO starter Turner Spoljaric pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning to cap the longest outing of his career so far. The Ducks broke the game open in the bottom of the inning, as Grant doubled in two runs and scored on a passed ball, before Cowley drove in two more with his second double of the day.
Logan Olson bounced back from allowing a run in the fifth by pitching a clean sixth inning. Colby Shade was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the sixth before coming around to score on a wild pitch, and three batters later Aroz drove a single through the right side for his first collegiate hit and RBI.
"I think the coolest part of that experience was, as soon as I hit the ball, just hearing the dugout blow up," Aroz said. "We've got a group of 40 guys that are a lot of my closest friends and it was really cool to hear that support."
After the Dons got within 14-6 with a run in the seventh, the Ducks immediately answered as Smith drove in Nishida with his first collegiate hit and RBI. Austin Anderson (3-0) struck out the side in the top of the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning Boettcher capped his day with a home run to left field.
The home run was just reward after Boettcher had been hit by pitches three times earlier in the game, becoming the third Duck of the modern era and the first since Aaron Jones in 2012 to be hit three times in the same game. The home run ball was safely tucked in Boettcher's back pocket after the game.
"I'll probably give it to my pops," Boettcher said. "He's somebody that helped me a lot in my life and my number one role model when it comes to baseball, so I'll probably give it to him."
Notable: Ceballos and Cowley each enjoyed his team-best ninth multi-RBI game. … Cowley had his 10th multi-hit games in his last 16. … It was Cowley's fourth career multi-double game. … Tanner Smith made his first start as the designated hitter since April 2, 2021, after a streak of 126 consecutive games started in left field. … Grant had his eighth multi-hit game and second multi-RBI game of the season, the 34th and 11th of his career, respectively. … Grant doubled twice in the same game for the first time in his career.
Quotable:
Freshman infielder Drew Smith on collecting his first collegiate hit
"It was pretty special. … Just a really special moment for me and my teammates. You know, everybody's on the top rail for me and I just really appreciate it and love my guys. So it was just a really special moment."
Junior outfielder Bryce Boettcher on juggling baseball and football this spring
"It's challenging. Obviously growing up here it's always been a dream to do both. So that's in the back of my mind, and I'm doing it for my family and all the kids in Eugene, to give them hope that they could do the same thing one day. The challenge is more mental than anything, just constantly trying to improve my craft while I'm out there versus just going through the motions. But I'm loving it and it's going good."
Redshirt freshman Anson Aroz on staying ready for a moment like Wednesday
"It's just every day the same routine, you know. Show up here, and your prep work doesn't really change based on whether you're playing or not. You should be preparing to win a baseball game no matter whether you're playing or not. So I think that's a big part of it for me."
On Deck: The Ducks open a three-game series against Stanford at PK Park on Friday at 5 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Anderson, Austin (3-0)
L: MCCONNELL, Matt (1-1)
Batting:
2B: FOSTER, Darius 1
RBI: ATKINS, Blake 1 ; ASBY, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DEMERA, Mario 2 ; KEIGHRAN, Patrick 1 ; FOSTER, Darius 3
HBP: CAMPAGNA, Michael 1 ; KEIGHRAN, Patrick 1 ; FOSTER, Darius 1
Batting:
2B: Cowley, Drew 2 ; Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Grant, Gavin 2
HR: Ceballos, Sabin 1 ; Boettcher, Bryce 1
RBI: Cowley, Drew 4 ; Ceballos, Sabin 3 ; Smith, Drew 1 ; Aroz, Anson 1 ; Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Grant, Gavin 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Nishida, Rikuu 4 ; Shade, Colby 3 ; Cowley, Drew 2 ; Ceballos, Sabin 1 ; Smith, Tanner 1 ; Cromwick, Josiah 1 ; Boettcher, Bryce 3 ; Grant, Gavin 1
SB: Nishida, Rikuu 1 ; Grant, Gavin 1
CS: Nishida, Rikuu 1
HBP: Nishida, Rikuu 1 ; Shade, Colby 1 ; Ceballos, Sabin 1 ; Cromwick, Josiah 1 ; Boettcher, Bryce 3
PO: Nishida, Rikuu 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
4
H
2
RBI
0
lf/rf
AB
2
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
6
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
RHP
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INF/C
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INF
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LHP
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INF
/ Baseball
OF
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RHP
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