Sweep complete, Ducks win at Arizona

Sunday, April 2

Tucson, Ariz.

1:00 PM

University of Oregon

18-7, 6-3

Arizona

14-12, 3-9

Oregon

Arizona

Photo by: Hudson Downard

04/02/23 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 8, Arizona 5 Photo Gallery

TUCSON, Ariz. – Drew Cowley homered twice and drove in five runs to lead Oregon to an 8-5 Pac-12 Conference win over Arizona at Hi Corbett Field on Sunday afternoon.

The win clinched a series sweep over the Wildcats (14-12, 3-9 Pac-12), the first for a visiting team at Arizona since the 2018 season. Oregon (18-7, 6-3) picked up its ninth straight win with five of those coming in Pac-12 play.

How It Happened: Oregon jumped to an early lead scoring a run in the top of the first. Rikuu Nishida reached base in his sixth consecutive plate appearance before scoring on a two-out Sabin Ceballos RBI single.

Jacob Walsh made it a 2-0 game on the first pitch of the second inning when he launched a solo shot over the right-center field wall. The homer was Walsh's third of the series after he hit a pair of long balls on Friday.

Arizona got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but Oregon responded with two of its own in the third. After Colby Shade drew a one-out walk, Cowley hit a line drive over the center-field wall for a 4-1 lead.

After not scoring in the fourth, Oregon got back on the board in the fifth. Gavin Grant led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a passed ball before scoring on a Colby Shade sacrifice fly that was dropped by the center fielder.

Oregon added some much needed insurance runs in the top of the seventh. After Nishida led off the inning with a bunt single before moving to third on a balk and Colby Shade fly ball, Cowley deposited his second two-run home run of the game over the center-field wall.

Arizona cut into Oregon's lead scoring three runs in the seventh and another in the eight, with all four runs coming on home runs.

Oregon answered with another insurance run in the ninth, again thanks partly to Cowley. Shade led off the inning with a double into the left-center field gap and Cowley followed with a double of his own for an 8-5 lead.

Oregon closer Josh Mollerus, who entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and got out of a first and third jam with a strikeout to end the inning, took care of business in the ninth. The Ducks' righty retired thee of the four batters he faced in the bottom half of the inning to secure his second save in as many days.

Box Score Notes: Oregon's sweep was the first ever by a Ducks team in Tucson … UO picked up its first conference three-game sweep since beating Arizona in three straight games to end last season in Eugene … The win was Oregon's seventh regular-season win in a row over the Wildcats (Arizona did beat Oregon in last year's Pac-12 Tournament) … Oregon's last three-game road sweep came at Washington last season (April 14-16) … Walsh's second-inning home run was his team-leading eighth of the season … He hit six in 2022 as a freshman … Cowley's two home run game was the first of his career and ran his season total to five homers … Tanner Smith had his 57th career double, one shy of tying the school record.

Series Notes: Oregon batted .420 as a team outscoring the Wildcats 36-19 while finishing with a 55-32 advantage in hits … Nishida led the Ducks batting .643 (9-for-14) with two doubles, five RBI and six runs scored … Walsh batted .533 (8-for-15) with three home runs, a double, four RBI and five runs scored while slugging 1.200 … Dominic Hellman, who did not play on Sunday, hit .444 (4-for-9) with two RBI and four runs scored … Cowley batted .438 (7-for-16) with two homers, a triple, a double, nine RBI and five runs scored while slugging 1.000 … Gavin Grant batted .429, Shade hit .417 with six RBI, Smith batted .400 and Ceballos hit .375 with seven RBI … Mollerus picked up two saves while tossing 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

On Deck: Oregon steps out of conference play for a midweek game against Portland on Tuesday before hosting the rivalry series against Oregon State (Thursday-Saturday). First pitch vs. the Pilots is 5:05 p.m. at PK Park.