University of Oregon
9-1
UC Irvine
8-3
Ducks Rally Late But Can't Hold On
02/28/26 | Baseball
Dominic Hellman belted a two-run home run with one out in the eighth to give Oregon (9-1) the lead. Drew Smith added an RBI single later in the inning to push the lead to 5-3.
Oregon's bullpen stumbled in its half of the inning allowing UC Irvine (8-3) to score five runs on just three hits. After back-to-back singles, the first one an infield hit, UCI moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. A hit batter loaded the bases before a two-run single tied the game. Another walk loaded the bases, before three more runs scored on a hit-by-pitch, walk and another hit-by-pitch.
UO added a run in the ninth and had the tying run at the plate, but Hellman popped out to first to end the game.
How It Happened: The Anteaters got on the board in the first with a sacrifice fly after back-to-back base hits. The Ducks got the run right back in the top of the second. Angel Laya picked up his 12th RBI of the year with a ground out scoring Gabe Miranda.
UCI regained the lead with a run in the third, but Oregon starter Collin Clarke was able to minimize the damage leaving the bases loaded. The Anteaters added a run in the fifth to make it a 3-1 game.
It stayed that way until the top of the seventh. Drew Smith lined the first pitch he saw leading off the inning over the left-field wall to cut the lead to one.
Box Score Notes: Oregon had its nine-game winning streak snapped, the second longest in program history to start a season … Freshman Angel Laya extended his streak to 38 plate appearances without a strikeout to start his career before having it snapped when he was called out looking in the eighth inning … Smith went 2-for-2 added a pair of RBI to his team-leading total … Hellman was 2-for-4 with two RBI.
On Deck: The Ducks wrap up the Live Like Lou Las Vegas College Baseball Classic on Sunday against Vanderbilt (11 a.m.).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grack, Tim (1-0)
L: Bell, Devin (0-1)
S: Manning, Hunter (1)
Batting:
HR: Hellman, Dominic 1 ; Smith, Drew 1
RBI: Hellman, Dominic 2 ; Smith, Drew 2 ; Laya, Angel 1
SH: Smith, Drew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gimenez, Jax 1 ; Hellman, Dominic 1 ; Miranda, Gabe 1 ; Molony, Maddox 1 ; Smith, Drew 1 ; Morgan, Owen 1
HBP: Hellman, Dominic 1 ; Molony, Maddox 2
Batting:
2B: Carney, Frankie 1 ; Fjelstad, Zach 1
RBI: Fjelstad, Zach 3 ; Gutierrez, Auggie 2 ; Castagnola, James 1 ; Felsch, Rowan 1 ; Farmer, Tommy 1
SH: Carney, Frankie 1 ; Gutierrez, Auggie 1 ; Alvarez, Noah 1
SF: Gutierrez, Auggie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carney, Frankie 1 ; Fjelstad, Zach 2 ; Reyes, Alonso 1 ; Farmer, Tommy 1 ; Smith, Kai 1 ; Ortega, Efren 1 ; Doyle, Zach 1
HBP: Castagnola, James 1 ; Farmer, Tommy 1 ; Ortega, Efren 1
