Oregon Squeaks Past Rutgers, (And the Rain) 4-3 in the 9th!

[Charles Fischer]

See the game summary at the bottom of the thread!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Beloved Diamond-Ducks play at 3:00 PM PST on B1G+, against Rutgers, who at 9-12 doesn't sound impressive, but apparently they have some good pitchers in their bullpen.

 

As you recall we lost a game to Grand Canyon last week, and Rutgers got beat three out of four games in their series with the 'Lopes. On Tuesday of this week, the Scarlett Knights came to Oregon early to play Beavis in Corvallis and lost 7-3.

 

You might recall how Grayson Grinsell had a couple of tough days in the early part of the season, and his ERA was up to nearly 7, but since then has really improved and got his ERA down to 4.56 of which is in striking distance of his ERA last year of 4.08.

 

We now know that the reason Ryan Featherston did so poorly in his first two outings of the season, is because he came back too soon from an injury over the holiday season. He wanted to play badly, and Coach Waz admitted his admiration for that, and wanted to give him a chance.  But he got beat up, and we lost one game because of it.

 

His ERA was something crazy, like 19.50 for a while, but with many hitless innings...he has brought it down to 10, and perhaps can bring it down to his average last year of 3.76 eventually.  Featherston looks completely different now than the first couple of weekends.

 

I am still amazed at how much Collin Clarke improved between last year, (ERA of 6.41) and this year. (2.08 ERA) There is even talk of him moving up to being a Friday night starter, but I don't know baseball enough to know how important that is, and how much psychological damage that might do to Grinsell?

 

With all the pitchers we have...I forgot about Toby Twist. When recruited two years ago, he was the No. 1 left-handed HS pitcher in California and last year he did well until late in the season when he got a bit injured.  His ERA was decent, (4.60) but he had a TON of upside, and Waz hinted that he is getting close to being ready to play as the injury recovery is nearly complete.

 

This is why pitching coach Blake Hawksworth, (Hawk) can pull pitchers immediately if he sees they don't have control today, as he has a TON of options to turn to!

 

BTW...Oregon Baseball at 17-4 is off to the second best start in the entire history of Oregon Baseball.  Only 1963 at 19-2 was better at this point...

 

Pretty cool today....Baseball from 3:00 to 6:00, and then Mens Basketball at 7:10 PM!  And boy...it is cold in Eugene, with very gray skies...not what I'd expect for the first day of spring!

 

Toby Twist is a Big Guy...

 

[spartan2785]

Being the Friday guy is significant, it means going best against best.  Since the Ducks are almost certainly the class of the B1G, this would be the right move, occasionally you might see a team deliberately withhold their ace in order to try to maximize wins, but the Ducks should be shooting for sweeps instead of 2 out of 3s.  

 

I don't think it should be too much of a psychological impact on Grinsell, it's not like he's been amazing in his career, he should understand the situation.  His stuff is more like a #2 or even a #3 really on a good team.  

 

[Charles Fischer]

2-1 Rutgers after three innings. Grinsell was getting hit, and the pitcher for the Scarlet Knights is throwing 95 mph in the rain.

 

I thought this would be a fly-ball...

 

 

[Charles Fischer]

After five innings, it is 2-1 Rutgers, still.  Gotta get our bats going!

[Charles Fischer]

3-2 Ducks after six innings. Once the Rutgers hard-throwing pitcher left, we got two runs in an inning off their reliever!

 

 

[Charles Fischer]

After seven innings, the score is tied, 3-3 due to wild pitch by Oregon reliever, Santiago Garcia.

 

 

 

[Charles Fischer]

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!

 

[Charles Fischer]

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!

 

 

[Charles Fischer]

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!

 

[Charles Fischer]

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!

 

 

[Charles Fischer]

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!

 

[Charles Fischer]

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.