Charles Fischer

Ducks Clinch Series With Gutty Win EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon relief pitcher Santiago Garcia inherited a bases-loaded jam in a one-run game when he came out of the bullpen in the top of the eighth inning. Unfazed, Garcia got a weak ground out to third to end the threat before getting a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth to clinch the series for the No. 9 Ducks over Rutgers in a 4-2 win on Sunday at PK Park. After Garcia got out of the eighth inning with the Ducks still leading, Oregon (19-5, 7-2 Big Ten) got the Ducks’ lefty some insurance he would not eventually need. Mason Neville worked a one-out walk on a full count and then swiped second on a delayed steal with two outs. Jacob Walsh took advantage of Neville’s hustle lining an RBI single to right center for a two-run lead. How It Happened: The Ducks drew first blood for the first time in the series scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. After three walks loaded the bases, Chase Meggers ripped a double up the right-field line scoring Parker Stinson and Ryan Cooney. After Rutgers cut the lead in half with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, Oregon got the run back in the fifth when pinch-hitter Burke-Lee Mabeus grounded out with the bases loaded and drove in Anson Aroz. Rutgers (10-14, 2-4) cut the lead back to one in the top of the eighth before Garcia game out of the pen to shut the door. Ducks’ starter Will Sanford (2-1) (above) picked up the win after giving Oregon his second quality start of the season. The freshman allowed just one run on two hits through six innings while striking out five. Box Score Notes: Parker Stinson, who made his Ducks’ debut with a pinch-hit walk-off sacrifice fly on Friday, made his first career Oregon start at designated hitter … Oregon’s 19-5 start to the season is its second-best start in program history, behind the 1963 team’s 20-4 record … Oregon has won all six weekend series it has played this season and has not lost a regular-season weekend series since losing two of three games at Stanford last season (April 19-21). On Deck: The Ducks hit the road for a three-game series at Ohio State starting on Friday. Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On the series and win today… “We won the series and that was the objective today because that’s all we can control. We went 1-0 today and that was good, we won.” On Will Sanford’s performance… “He got more competitive as he went. I think through 4.0 innings he wasn’t perfect, but then in the fifth and sixth he was able to have 1-2-3 innings. I think he had a five and 12-pitch inning. I thought his competitiveness was elevated then and we really needed that. It was great to be able to see Will (Sanford) lock in like that.” On Santiago Garcia’s performance out of the pen… “He was huge. I think he probably got the save or whatever it is scored as. He got the save in the game and he saw four hitters. He pitched in the toughest time of the game and he elevated his game. I don’t know if he threw any balls at all today, he was that good and he was really on point with his stuff.” Will Sanford On the start today… “It felt good. Just some things to work on, but I battled through some tough innings and made pitches when I needed to. Overall, it felt pretty good.” Maddox Molony (No. 9) and Ryan Cooney complete an ALL-Oregon double play! On what was clicking today… “I was just making pitches when I needed to. My defense played well and made a lot of good plays behind me. They probably saved a couple runs for me, but I was really trying to land off speeds when I needed to, get early strikes, and keep it simple.” Santiago Garcia On coming in during a crucial situation... “Yeah, I mean we got a coach out there. He tells us what the situation is and I kind of get mentally ready to go into the game. I just think of the battle that's coming in and I kind of just go out there and just execute in my mind what's rehearsed that's it.” On what was working today... “Fastball felt really good off the hand. I just gave it everything up there.” Chase Meggers On swing adjustments... “Yeah, I got some video after my first series back, and Marder and I had a little meeting about some swings that I had late in the year last year when I was hitting well. Made a few adjustments and then kind of built off of it during practice and then it showed in the game.” On where the team is at now following this weekend... “I mean, we're in first place, we're in a good spot, but we're not playing our best baseball, so that tells us that, you know, we need to start hitting on the details that we're missing on and keep building off what we're doing, we're not playing our best baseball and we're still winning. So, you know, we just need to keep building off of everything we're doing and getting better, every day. Nailing the details, and I think that we will get better from there.”

I am a Happy Cat again...

Wow. The 28-3 start is the best since in eight years...when the Ducks were in the top five. Could this be a magical finish for Our Beloved Ducks this year?

Santiago Garcia comes in, and pitches the third out in the eighth...and ALL of them in the ninth for the save!

4-2 Ducks after eight innings! Jacob Walsh has been so much better this year at not going for the homer every time, but getting us a hit when needed. Oregon was 1-11 today with runners in scoring position until Walsh came to the plate...

3-1 Ducks after seven innings. Oregon got six great innings from Will Sanford, and then big 6'11" Jason Reitz came in and continued the scoreless innings!

Top of the sixth with Will Sanford pitching for Oregon...

3-1 Ducks after five innings. Oregon got one run, but has bases loaded with no outs! Damn.

2-1 Ducks after four innings. Boy we have stranded a ton on base...we need more timely hits!

2-0 Ducks after two innings. So great to have Chase Meggers back from injury and making timely hits again!

Great to see Our Beloved Diamond Ducks bounce back! More at the bottom of the thread later.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a pretty big game in so many ways...how will Oregon respond after yesterday? We are not playing like a No. 9 team right now, and I have to admit that Rutgers has good players, and are well coached. Win the series, DUCKS! Will Sanford on the Hill today...

Too bad. Kelly Graves surprised me this year, and but question is...can he ever return Oregon to glory?

8-0 Rutgers is the final.

We are getting our butts-kicked, 8-0 Rutgers after seven innings.

4-0 Rutgers after six innings, as the Ducks are running out of outs! The Scarlet Knight starting pitcher has been impressive...

Boy, things can turn in a hurry. 3-0 Rutgers at the end of three innings. Just when I was bragging on Clarke...he hits a batter, another gets a lucky infield hit, and then another batter caught a pitch for a three-run homer. Damn.

0-0 after two innings. Like yesterday--both starting pitchers are very, very tough. How do you strike out FOUR in one inning? A third strike slipped through the catcher's mitt to the backstop, and the batter made it to first base. But it did not matter with Clarke...

We don't need to see a game summary of this one. We couldn't hit, and we did not pitch well... ------------------------------------------------------------- Thank goodness the weather report is for clouds, but little or no rain today. The Ducks feature starting pitcher, Collin Clarke, who has an incredible 2.08 ERA vs. the starter for the Scarlet Knights who is at a very good 3.80 ERA. In the end...the ERA is helpful looking at past history, but today could be quite different with how a pitcher is doing. Yesterday the Rutgers starter had an ERA over 9.00, because of early outings, (like two of our pitchers) but yesterday we only got one run off him. He was super, thus ERA in the past meant nothing. Ditto for last Sunday when Oregon's Will Sanford had an ERA of only 2.25, but had a bad day and got shelled. We just have to assume that all opposing pitchers are good, and fortunately for Our Beloved Ducks...we have pitching depth unlike any other year that I've watched Oregon Baseball. Let's win the series today! Stud Collin Clarke on the Hill for OBD...

Started out shooting great, but got to keep it going! The rebounding advantage over the course of the game will be huge... Almost halftime and 39-20, DUCKS.

No. 9 Oregon Baseball Takes Game One in Walk-Off Fashion Over Rutgers EUGENE, Ore. — For the first time in either school's history, Oregon and Rutgers met on the diamond as they began a three-game series on Friday night at PK Park. As the rain continued to fall, seemingly never-ending in the park's confines, the No. 9 ranked Ducks secured a 4-3 victory, as Parker Stinson made his Oregon debut, pinch-hitting in the bottom of the ninth. His sacrifice fly to center field gave the Ducks the win, their 18th of the season and sixth in the conference. "I mean, we're able to get a Friday night win. It's hard to do, and I was proud of the team's resiliency," said head coach Mark Wasikowski. "I thought they continued to play. We got out of a couple of big spots. I thought Stokes got out of a big spot. I thought Santi [Santiago Garcia] got out of a big spot. I thought Grayson threw the ball exceptionally well tonight. Overall, good to have a win on a Friday." Oregon and Rutgers jumped into the ninth inning in a tie ballgame, 3-3, with RHP Jaxon Jordan taking the mound for the Ducks. Jordan retired the first two batters he faced before allowing a hit-by-pitch and walk. Jordan, making only his second conference appearance, was relieved as the Ducks called upon RHP Cole Stokes to get them out of the jam. Stokes, in traditional closer fashion, drilled the first batter he saw to load the bases before inducing a weak pop fly to third base, ending the threat. Jacob Walsh began the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff hit-by-pitch before getting forced out on a bunt attempt by Jack Brooks. With the lead runner gone, Brooks took over at first base before Maddox Molony laced a double down the left field line, putting runners on second and third with one out. Rutgers elected to change pitchers, bringing in sidearmer Quinn Berglin. After originally sending Coen Niclai to face the left-handed throwing Joe Mazza, Wasikowski moved to Stinson, who had not gotten into game action this year for Oregon. Stinson, a transfer from Indiana State who hit .295 with 15 home runs, 15 doubles, and 51 RBIs, stepped in the box and took the first pitch for a strike. After working the count to 2-2, Stinson hit a fly ball out to center field, deep enough for Brooks to come home for the game-winning run. "Man, obviously being on the bench for the first half of the season, coming back from that hamstring, I'm just excited to be back in the game. Thought it was a cool opportunity," said Stinson. "I was going up to it, just excited, like, fun, this is cool. This is cool that my first at-bat as an Oregon Duck is a chance to walk it off. And I think when I viewed it like that, the nerves kind of settled." "I mean, that's why he came here. He's a senior, played a lot, has a lot of ABs under his belt," said Walsh on Stinson's at-bat. "And that's kind of the guy you want to go with there, even if it is his first one here." Before the commotion in the ninth, Friday's matchup between Oregon and Rutgers was predominantly a pitching duel. Left-handed starter Grayson Grinsell squared off against right-handed starter Justin Shadek as the two battled back and forth for the better part of seven innings. Grinsell ran into trouble in the third inning, allowing two runs on back-to-back hits, a single from Peyton Bonds and a double from Ty Doucette. With Rutgers up 2-0 early, Grinsell found his rhythm and worked quickly through the middle innings, fanning three batters and only facing one over the minimum. Grinsell worked a fastball topping out at 90 MPH while mixing in a changeup, slider, curveball, and newfound cutter. "I thought he pitched really well. He was in command of the ball, throwing four pitches for strikes," said Wasikowski on Grinsell's performance. "Had a critical pick off on the run and hit or steal attempt by their guy. And he had a critical pick off in that spot, just in command of the game." For Rutgers, Shadek turned in his best performance of the season, throwing five innings of one-run ball, surrendering the lone run to Mason Neville, who clocked a solo home run in the third inning, landing in the Scarlet Knights bullpen in left field. Trailing 2-1, Oregon struck in the sixth inning as Chase Meggers led off the rally with a single to left field before Anson Aroz roped a ball down the third-base foul line, putting runners at second and third with one out. After falling behind 0-2 against Mazza, Walsh stayed through an outside fastball, shooting it through the 5-6 gap and sending both runners in to take a 3-2 lead. "Old at-bat. All that bats when we needed it, didn't try to do too much," said Wasikowski. "And I was proud of Jacob, you know, in the past, maybe he would have been a different player. And credit to Jacob and the coaches that you know, Coach Marder, getting them ready to hit in that situation, and he executed. He came through for us big." Rutgers, as they had all game, responded quickly toward the end of Grinsell's outing. After recording a groundout to start the seventh inning, JD Jones drew a walk before an error by defensive replacement Brooks gave the Scarlet Knights runners on second and third with one out. Grinsell's day was done after 6.1 innings and eight strikeouts. Oregon and Wasikowski turned to Santiago Garcia out of the bullpen, as the hard-throwing lefty struggled with command early. A wild pitch to Bonds brought home the game-tying run before he buckled down and retired the final two batters of the frame. Garcia worked a scoreless eighth inning before handing the ball to Jordan in the ninth. With the victory, Oregon moves to 18-4 and 6-1 in the Big Ten as the season is nearly halfway through. Game two between RHP Collin Clarke (2-0, 2.08) and RHP Landon Mack (1-2, 3.80) begins tomorrow, Saturday, March 22nd, at 2:05 PM.

From the Daily Emerald on how got runners into scoring position in the ninth inning.... "Jacob Walsh was struck by a pitch to get on to start the bottom of the ninth, but Brooks’ sacrifice bunt attempt failed to bring him into scoring position. But a Maddox Molony one-out double brought the winning run to third as Parker Stinson stepped up as a pinch hitter." (And got the sacrifice fly to score!) Safe!

We cannot ignore the extreme drama in the top of the 9th inning, as the Scarlet Knights had BASES LOADED with two outs....and Oregon's big Cole Stokes came in and closed them out. Whew! Cole Stokes Has a Heater!

In other notes...Oregon's catcher Chase Meggers was the only starter who was NOT hitting .300 as he is getting back to form gradually. He was only hitting .167 this year prior to this game, although he hasn't played much yet. But last year, he was our best batter at .316 and you knew he would get back to old form as the Duck pitchers have done. Today he went 3-4 as his rounding back into it--at the right time!

Ducks WIN 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth! I cannot believe that Coach Waz put Parker Stinson in the game for his first at-bat while at Oregon. He is a big-kid, and had a great batting reputation at Indiana State, and Coach Waz stated in an earlier interview the Stinson was the Ducks' best batter in fall baseball until he got hurt. Well...in his first at-bat he hits a sacrifice fly to center field to score the runner from third!

Nail-biter time! Still 3-3 after eight innings, and Oregon is bringing Jaxon Jordan to the mound, who has had a very good year thus far in a few relief efforts. C'mon Ducks...Let's pull This OUT!