Ducks fall on senior day

Sunday, May 14

Eugene, Ore.

12:00 PM

University of Oregon

31-19, 14-13

Washington

32-14, 16-10

Washington

Oregon

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

05/14/23 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: Washington 11, #24 Oregon 5 Photo Gallery

EUGENE, Ore. – No. 24 Oregon built an early lead but Washington rallied to take control with a six-run sixth inning en route to an 11-5 Pac-12 Conference win at PK Park on Sunday.

The Ducks dropped to 31-19 (14-13 Pac-12) while the Huskies moved to 32-14 (16-10 Pac-12).

How It Happened: The Huskies' Cam Clayton led off the game with a solo homer of Oregon starter Matthew Grabmann, but the Ducks responded with two runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead.

After Tanner Smith walked to lead off the inning, Jacob Walsh lined an opposite field two-run home run to put the Ducks on top 2-1.

UW tied the game with a run in the third, but Oregon added single runs in both the third and fourth innings for a two-run lead.

Drew Cowley hit a solo home run over the right-field wall to give UO the lead in the third before Drew Smith scored on a wild pitch in the fourth.

After Washington scored the six runs in the sixth, Oregon had opportunities to cut into the lead. The Ducks loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, but managed to score just one run on a Cowley sacrifice fly.

In the eighth, Drew Smith led off the inning with a base hit but was thrown out at the plate with no outs on a Jacob Walsh two-bagger to the left-center field gap.

Box Score Notes: Oregon extended its consecutive games with a home run streak to a program-record 20 games … Cowley (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) moved into a five-way tie for second on the Oregon single-season home run list with Anthony Hall (2022), Shaun Chase (2014), Steve Crum (1981) and Jim Willis (1974) with his 14 homer … He also moved into a tie for fifth with Brennan Milone (2022) on the single-season RBI list … He had his 15th multi-RBI game of the season and the 22nd of his career … Walsh (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI) moved into a tie with teammate Sabin Ceballos for seventh on the single-season home run list with his 13th … Freshman Drew Smith (1-for-3, BB, R) extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the second longest on the team this season (Tanner Smith 13 games).

On Deck: Oregon travels to Salt Lake City too wrap up the regular season with a three-game series with Utah. The Ducks and Utes start the series on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. (PT) before playing Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. (PT) at Smith's Ballpark.

Quotes:

Head Coach Mark Wasikowski

On what you do to get ready for the final weekend of conference play
"Well, you go back to practice is what you do. I mean, you got beat by a better club this weekend, and that's just what it was. They (Washington) executed pitches better, and their two-strike hitting was better, it's just we got outplayed by a team that was just better than us this week, and that's the way it goes. Coach Kelly's team is coming into the weekend was the hottest team in the league, and they showed it, they're really good. So, what do we do? I mean, we get back to basics and we invest in the things that are just good fundamentals, we work on them, and we try to improve the deficiencies that we saw and get back on it for next week."

Thoughts on Matthew Grabbmann's start
"The young pitchers, the young freshmen guys are out there giving you everything they can and have right now. I thought Matthew competed well, and we took him out at about 60 or so pitches and I think it was probably the right time. Grayson (Grinsell) came in and did a nice job."

On Senior Day Pregame Celebration
"You'd have to ask the seniors. I mean, it's, I'm sure it's emotional for seniors at PK Park. They knew that in order, probably for us to be able to continue to play at PK, we probably needed to win three, probably four games. And then coming out on the short end of it today, I'm sure they realized that it's probably not gonna be a deal where they have another game at PK, which is tough, I'm sure. The seniors are great kids, I love these guys. They've put in a lot, invested a lot, and just thrilled to be able to be a part of their lives for as long as I have."