Saturday, April 29
Eugene, Ore.
3:05 PM
University of Oregon
30-12, 13-7
16
vs
10
Arizona State
28-15, 13-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Arizona State
1
0
1
1
0
1
3
0
3
10
11
0
Oregon
1
1
6
0
2
1
1
4
X
16
19
0
Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
Ducks outslug Sun Devils to clinch series
04/29/23 | Baseball
EUGENE, Ore. — No. 20 Oregon matched a season high in runs scored while outslugging No. 12 Arizona State 16-10 in a Pac-12 Conference game in front of the ninth largest crowd (3,821) in PK Park history on Saturday night.
The Ducks clinched the series with the win and will look to complete the sweep on Sunday.
Offense came from nearly every player in the lineup, with eight of the Ducks' nine starters recording multiple hits. Six Ducks drove in multiple runs while six also scored multiple times.
The Ducks hit four of the 10 home runs in the game, but Oregon (30-12, 13-7 Pac-12) also accounted for seven of the combined 10 doubles leading to outhitting Arizona State (28-15, 13-6 Pac-12) 19 to 11.
How It Happened: Oregon scored in seven of the eight innings that it batted with six runs coming in the third and four coming in the eighth.
After ASU's Wyatt Crenshaw led off the game with a home run, Oregon took the lead with single runs in the bottom of the first and second. Drew Cowley, who had five RBI on Friday, picked up his sixth in the series singling home Rikuu Nishida, who led off the bottom of the first with a single before moving to second when the first baseman interfered with him on a pickoff attempt.
Gavin Grant put the Ducks on top in the second with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that plated Jacob Walsh, who reached on a one-out double before moving to third on a Drew Smith walk.
The Sun Devils tied the game with a run on Crenshaw's second solo homer of the day in the third, but Oregon responded with six runs to take control
Colby Shade led off the inning with a double and scored on a Tanner Smith RBI single to put the Ducks back on top. Sabin Ceballos, who walked and moved to third on Smith's hit, scored on a Walsh's second double of the game to put Oregon up two.
Josiah Cromwick made it a five-run inning when he lined a ball just over the left-field wall for a three-run home run.
Freshman Drew Smith kept the rally going doubling before scoring on a Grant two-bagger for an 8-2 Oregon lead.
ASU cut the lead to 8-3 with their third solo homer of the game, but Oregon bounced back scoring two runs in the fifth on back-to-back Shade and Cowley home runs.
The teams traded runs in the sixth with Oregon's coming on a leadoff Tanner Smith home run before ASU cut into the lead with three runs in the seventh.
Oregon put the game away scoring one in its half of the seventh and three more in the bottom of the eighth.
Grant led off the seventh with a bunt single, move to second on a Nishida sacrifice bunt and scored on a Shade RBI single for a 12-7 lead.
It ballooned to a nine-run lead in the bottom of the eighth when Oregon sent eight batters to the plate scoring four runs, all coming with two outs.
Drew Smith picked up the first RBI with a two-out single that scored Walsh from second. Grant followed with a RBI double that plated Cromwick before Nishida wrapped up Oregon's scoring with a two-RBI double over the first baseman's head.
Logan Mercado (4-0) picked up win allowing four runs on just six hits in 6.2 innings of work. Matt Dallas got his second save tossing the final three innings.
Notable: Oregon homered in its 12th consecutive game, the second longest streak in program history (17 – 2022) … Oregon's four home runs in the game ties for the third most in the modern era, with one of the nine-other four-home run games coming on Friday night … Oregon has now hit 73 home runs on the season, two shy of the record set last season … Tanner Smith's (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R) home run gives him 29 for his career, just one behind all-time leader Tom Dodd (1977-79) … Cowley (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) has homered in back-to-back games and three of the last four … He has multiple hits in 16 of his last 27 games and has reached base multiple times in 22 of those 27 games … Shade (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R) has homered in two consecutive games and three of the last five … Bryce Boettcher entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth after playing in Oregon's Spring Football Game earlier in the day … Boettcher had three solo tackles and two pass breakups in the football scrimmage.
On Deck: Oregon will look for the series sweep on Sunday. First pitch at PK Park is at 12:05 p.m.
Quotable:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
Thoughts on the series win and runs scored today
"Fantastic. A lot of great at bats and you know winning the first two games of a series is awesome. A great feeling."
Thoughts on Drew Cowley's three homers in two games
"Awesome for Drew (Cowley). He's a great kid and he's playing really well. He's playing a great shortstop and he's killing the baseball. It's so exciting when the guys get going and the offense gets going like it did today."
Thoughts on (Logan) Mercado's performance
"Those guys are good and it's not a team that is in the cellar or something like that. Last I checked when the weekend started they were in first place in the Pac-12 Conference, which is really good. Those guys were really good and for us to be able to answer the way we have with the things that they've put out there, I am really proud of the team I get a chance to be with every day. These guys, all the way through, are just fantastic. I mean great baseball players and fun to be around."
Jacob Walsh
Thoughts on how everything is clicking with the team
"No shock. One through nine and even everyone on our bench just kind of goes out there and naturally plays well. So not really shocked, but it is really good to see everyone just getting after it and clicking together."
Thoughts on getting to Arizona State's starting pitcher
"We just put a good game plan together and we all stuck to our approach and executed the plan and that worked.
Logan Mercado
Thoughts on performance
"I thought it was good. You know, those guys have power. Their approach today was hitting home runs, obviously, they had some, all solo bombs, didn't do much damage. I felt like I did a good job of containing all of the threats. They are a good team and we gotta give them that, they've been having a good season. So, I gotta give credit to them. Thankfully I did well today, I had some main issues, and I think I sort of settled in well alright."
Crenshaw had 2 bombs, was there something specific about him that was tough to deal with?
"His swings, I guess. One executed pitch, one unexecuted pitch. What can you do?"
Importance to give up some home runs but still go six innings, and throw over 100 pitches
Extremely important. I mean, as a baseball player you have to handle this failure. If you just come back after and get the next guy, that's really all I care about. I could care less about the home runs, runs given up, if I can just get the next guy out, that's all I am concerned about."
Josiah Cromwick
Did you think your HR was gone?
"I didn't. I was just hoping that it was gonna be a sacrifice fly, at least."
Approach lately with 2 home runs
"I am just trying to simple things down, trying to swing at good pitches, I've been struggling to do that, so just trying to simple things down to good pitches."
The Ducks clinched the series with the win and will look to complete the sweep on Sunday.
Offense came from nearly every player in the lineup, with eight of the Ducks' nine starters recording multiple hits. Six Ducks drove in multiple runs while six also scored multiple times.
The Ducks hit four of the 10 home runs in the game, but Oregon (30-12, 13-7 Pac-12) also accounted for seven of the combined 10 doubles leading to outhitting Arizona State (28-15, 13-6 Pac-12) 19 to 11.
How It Happened: Oregon scored in seven of the eight innings that it batted with six runs coming in the third and four coming in the eighth.
After ASU's Wyatt Crenshaw led off the game with a home run, Oregon took the lead with single runs in the bottom of the first and second. Drew Cowley, who had five RBI on Friday, picked up his sixth in the series singling home Rikuu Nishida, who led off the bottom of the first with a single before moving to second when the first baseman interfered with him on a pickoff attempt.
Gavin Grant put the Ducks on top in the second with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that plated Jacob Walsh, who reached on a one-out double before moving to third on a Drew Smith walk.
The Sun Devils tied the game with a run on Crenshaw's second solo homer of the day in the third, but Oregon responded with six runs to take control
Colby Shade led off the inning with a double and scored on a Tanner Smith RBI single to put the Ducks back on top. Sabin Ceballos, who walked and moved to third on Smith's hit, scored on a Walsh's second double of the game to put Oregon up two.
Josiah Cromwick made it a five-run inning when he lined a ball just over the left-field wall for a three-run home run.
Freshman Drew Smith kept the rally going doubling before scoring on a Grant two-bagger for an 8-2 Oregon lead.
ASU cut the lead to 8-3 with their third solo homer of the game, but Oregon bounced back scoring two runs in the fifth on back-to-back Shade and Cowley home runs.
The teams traded runs in the sixth with Oregon's coming on a leadoff Tanner Smith home run before ASU cut into the lead with three runs in the seventh.
Oregon put the game away scoring one in its half of the seventh and three more in the bottom of the eighth.
Grant led off the seventh with a bunt single, move to second on a Nishida sacrifice bunt and scored on a Shade RBI single for a 12-7 lead.
It ballooned to a nine-run lead in the bottom of the eighth when Oregon sent eight batters to the plate scoring four runs, all coming with two outs.
Drew Smith picked up the first RBI with a two-out single that scored Walsh from second. Grant followed with a RBI double that plated Cromwick before Nishida wrapped up Oregon's scoring with a two-RBI double over the first baseman's head.
Logan Mercado (4-0) picked up win allowing four runs on just six hits in 6.2 innings of work. Matt Dallas got his second save tossing the final three innings.
Notable: Oregon homered in its 12th consecutive game, the second longest streak in program history (17 – 2022) … Oregon's four home runs in the game ties for the third most in the modern era, with one of the nine-other four-home run games coming on Friday night … Oregon has now hit 73 home runs on the season, two shy of the record set last season … Tanner Smith's (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R) home run gives him 29 for his career, just one behind all-time leader Tom Dodd (1977-79) … Cowley (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) has homered in back-to-back games and three of the last four … He has multiple hits in 16 of his last 27 games and has reached base multiple times in 22 of those 27 games … Shade (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R) has homered in two consecutive games and three of the last five … Bryce Boettcher entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth after playing in Oregon's Spring Football Game earlier in the day … Boettcher had three solo tackles and two pass breakups in the football scrimmage.
On Deck: Oregon will look for the series sweep on Sunday. First pitch at PK Park is at 12:05 p.m.
Quotable:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
Thoughts on the series win and runs scored today
"Fantastic. A lot of great at bats and you know winning the first two games of a series is awesome. A great feeling."
Thoughts on Drew Cowley's three homers in two games
"Awesome for Drew (Cowley). He's a great kid and he's playing really well. He's playing a great shortstop and he's killing the baseball. It's so exciting when the guys get going and the offense gets going like it did today."
Thoughts on (Logan) Mercado's performance
"Those guys are good and it's not a team that is in the cellar or something like that. Last I checked when the weekend started they were in first place in the Pac-12 Conference, which is really good. Those guys were really good and for us to be able to answer the way we have with the things that they've put out there, I am really proud of the team I get a chance to be with every day. These guys, all the way through, are just fantastic. I mean great baseball players and fun to be around."
Jacob Walsh
Thoughts on how everything is clicking with the team
"No shock. One through nine and even everyone on our bench just kind of goes out there and naturally plays well. So not really shocked, but it is really good to see everyone just getting after it and clicking together."
Thoughts on getting to Arizona State's starting pitcher
"We just put a good game plan together and we all stuck to our approach and executed the plan and that worked.
Logan Mercado
Thoughts on performance
"I thought it was good. You know, those guys have power. Their approach today was hitting home runs, obviously, they had some, all solo bombs, didn't do much damage. I felt like I did a good job of containing all of the threats. They are a good team and we gotta give them that, they've been having a good season. So, I gotta give credit to them. Thankfully I did well today, I had some main issues, and I think I sort of settled in well alright."
Crenshaw had 2 bombs, was there something specific about him that was tough to deal with?
"His swings, I guess. One executed pitch, one unexecuted pitch. What can you do?"
Importance to give up some home runs but still go six innings, and throw over 100 pitches
Extremely important. I mean, as a baseball player you have to handle this failure. If you just come back after and get the next guy, that's really all I care about. I could care less about the home runs, runs given up, if I can just get the next guy out, that's all I am concerned about."
Josiah Cromwick
Did you think your HR was gone?
"I didn't. I was just hoping that it was gonna be a sacrifice fly, at least."
Approach lately with 2 home runs
"I am just trying to simple things down, trying to swing at good pitches, I've been struggling to do that, so just trying to simple things down to good pitches."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mercado, Logan (4-0)
L: Curtis, Khristian (4-3)
S: Dallas, Matt (2)
Batting:
2B: Crenshaw, Wyatt 1 ; Keaschall, Luke 1 ; Vu, Kien 1
HR: Crenshaw, Wyatt 2 ; Mclain, Nick 1 ; Keaschall, Luke 2 ; Tobias, Jacob 1
RBI: Crenshaw, Wyatt 2 ; Mclain, Nick 2 ; Keaschall, Luke 3 ; Tobias, Jacob 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Crenshaw, Wyatt 3 ; Mclain, Nick 1 ; Keaschall, Luke 4 ; Tobias, Jacob 1 ; Newman, Trey 1
HBP: Keaschall, Luke 1 ; Newman, Trey 1
Batting:
2B: Nishida, Rikuu 1 ; Shade, Colby 1 ; Walsh, Jacob 2 ; Smith, Drew 1 ; Grant, Gavin 2
HR: Shade, Colby 1 ; Cowley, Drew 1 ; Smith, Tanner 1 ; Cromwick, Josiah 1
RBI: Nishida, Rikuu 2 ; Shade, Colby 2 ; Cowley, Drew 2 ; Smith, Tanner 2 ; Walsh, Jacob 1 ; Cromwick, Josiah 3 ; Smith, Drew 1 ; Grant, Gavin 3
SH: Nishida, Rikuu 1
SF: Grant, Gavin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nishida, Rikuu 1 ; Shade, Colby 2 ; Cowley, Drew 1 ; Ceballos, Sabin 1 ; Smith, Tanner 2 ; Walsh, Jacob 3 ; Cromwick, Josiah 2 ; Smith, Drew 2 ; Grant, Gavin 2
SB: Smith, Drew 1
CS: Shade, Colby 1 ; Garate, Carter 1
HBP: Cowley, Drew 1 ; Garate, Carter 1 ; Cromwick, Josiah 1
PO: Garate, Carter 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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