Charles Fischer Administrator No. 1 Share Posted March 8 Game summary is at the bottom of the thread! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USC is 9-3 with a good team that has been in a turnaround since their new coach took over two seasons back. The Trojans have two really-good starting pitchers, and a bunch of ace relievers, thus our hitting is going to be challenged. Their starting pitcher has a very low 1.80 ERA, compared to our starter Grayson Grinsell, who is at 6.40 ERA and is not playing like a Pre-Season All-American thus far. I suspect he will be up for the game, and the question is whether the coaches are going to take a chance on Ryan Featherston as first reliever, since he also is having a tough start. Our other pitchers have been impressive, so I expect to see changes in who we turn to in the bullpen tonight. I wrote last week that we have four freshman pitchers...and you need to make that SIX freshman pitchers, as two more saw action last weekend and threw scoreless innings! Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 2 Share Posted March 8 1-0 Ducks after the first inning, as Grayson Grinsell finished his side through four batters. Mason Neville hit a big homer on the first swing an Oregon batter took, and the Oregon fans in stadium shouted their delight. Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 3 Share Posted March 8 OMIGOSH! 4-0 DUCKS after two innings! Grinsell put them out 1-2-3, and the Oregon batters have shocked the USC pitcher. We got steady base hits from a number of them including true freshman, the Pride of Alaska, Coen Niclai, who they started at catcher and put Anson Aroz in left field. Can't leave Aroz out of the batting lineup, and Niclai got a nice scoring single as one of many from Our Beloved Ducks. Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 4 Share Posted March 8 5-1 Ducks after three innings. Trojans got an unearned run as Jeffrey Heard dropped a fly-ball on the run. Oregon bats still kept a four-run lead! Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 5 Share Posted March 8 6-2 Ducks after four innings. USC has had three errors, and a problem for both teams is the slick field, as it rained earlier and Mason Neville slipped getting to a short fly, and thus dropped in. I believe it is another unearned run for the Trojans, but the slick field has contributed to errors on both sides. Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 6 Share Posted March 8 7-2 Ducks after five innings. Got another and Grayson Grinsell finished five innings with his 100 pitches. Jeffrey Heard threw an unbelievable relay throw to get the runner at third base from right field! 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 7 Share Posted March 8 Still 7-2 Ducks after six innings. Big Jason Reitz, (6'11') walked two, but blew the other Trojan batters away... Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 8 Share Posted March 8 Still 7-2 Ducks after seven innings, as Oregon completed a sweet double play! Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 9 Share Posted March 8 7-2 Ducks after eight innings, as Reitz has kept the Trojans scoreless with an inning to go. Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 10 Share Posted March 8 I guess they did count them as earned runs against Grinsell, and below is his final line... Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 11 Share Posted March 8 Ducks win 7-2, and only used two pitchers? Jason Reitz went four innings in relief, only had 52 pitches and kept them scoreless! 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 12 Share Posted March 8 1 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 13 Share Posted March 8 Ducks Jump on USC Early, Pitching Takes Over Late Irvine, Calif. — No. 10 Oregon scored in each of the first five innings to build an early lead while pitchers Grayson Grinsell and Jason Reitz combined to dominate on the mound in a 7-2 Big Ten Conference win at Great Park on Friday night. The Ducks (12-2, 1-0 Big Ten) earned a win in their first ever Big Ten game. Grinsell surrendered two runs in five innings, but he easily could have allowed none. Both runners who scored reached base on outfield misplays that were credited as hits. The first came in the third inning when right-fielder Jeffery Heard called off second baseman Ryan Cooney on a high pop fly in shallow right but could not make the play. The second came on a routine fly ball to center field that ended up as a double after Mason Neville slipped on moist grass and could not recover to make the play. Despite allowing the bad-luck runs, Grinsell (2-1) dominated striking out eight over five innings including two in each of the first four innings. Reitz, who picked up the save in his first appearance out of the bullpen after starting each of the first three weekends, allowed just three hits and no runs in four innings of work with five Ks and just one walk. How It Happened: Neville wasted no time putting Oregon on top. The Ducks center fielder launched the second pitch of the game over the right-field fence. Oregon added to the lead in the top of the second, scoring three more runs. Back-to-back singles by Maddox Molony and Coen Niclai to lead off the frame set the table for the Ducks. Heard picked up the first RBI with a single to right scoring Molony, before Cooney added a squeeze bunt to score Niclai. Carter Garate moved Heard to third while reaching on an error on a sacrifice bunt. Neville finished the scoring in the inning picking up his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly scoring Heard. The Ducks pushed the lead to five with another run in the third. After Jacob Walsh reached on a single and stole second to get into scoring position, Niclai doubled into the left-field corner to pick up the two-out RBI. After USC (9-4, 0-1 Big Ten) got on the board in their half of the inning, Oregon got the run right back. Garate doubled with one out and came around to score on a throwing error on a Neville hard-hit single off the first baseman’s glove. For the second inning in a row, USC got a run back thanks to a misplay in the outfield by the Ducks. For the second inning in a row, Oregon answered the miscue. Oregon manufactured a run with two outs when freshman pinch hitter Burke-Lee Mabeus walked and Heard reached on a hit-by-pitch allowing Cooney to deliver a clutch two-out RBI single. Box Score Notes: Neville’s home run was his eighth of the season … He has homered in seven of the 13 games he has played in … The home run was the 24th of his career at Oregon, moving him into a tie with Kenyon Yovan (2017-21) for sixth in school history … Grinsell ran his career total for strikeouts to 192, three shy of tying Cullen Kafka (2018-21) for seventh in program history … Walsh scored his 127th career run, tying him for fourth in school history with J.J. Altobelli (2010-13). On Deck: The teams play game two of the series on Saturday with a 2:02 p.m. first pitch. 2 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
