Baseball: Oregon Loses Another Tough One, 4-3

[30Duck]

 

[Guest Axel]

Over the years, the UCLA Bruins--founded in 1919--have been vilified for copying the bear mascot of the first University of California (at Berkeley), established in 1868.

 

The initial UCLA mascot was the Cubs, followed by the Grizzlies, and sadly, the third and final bearish name is the lowly Bruins.

 

Having thusly established that the dopey clods at UCLA have the collective imagination of your garden variety mayfly, we’ve compiled a list of way more suitable nicknames.

 

Top 9 New Nicknames for the UCLA Bruins

 

(The number 9 is in deference to baseball season, but mostly we just didn’t feel like coming up with even one more.)

 

9.   Beavers (No, no, no. There could never be a school stupid enough to be the Beavers.)

 

8.   That Less Obnoxious But Still Hateworthy Dump in the Southland

 

7.    Sons and Daughters of Worstwood   

 

6.    Periwinkle Plagiarists

 

5.    Duck Hunters (This one got shot down.){Ba-da-boom!]

 

4.    Powder Blue Pansies  

 

3.   Bear Chips/Bear Pooh (tie)

 

2.   Trojan Killers (This was our intern’s idea. Yes, we fired him.)

 

1.   Pastel Pudenda

Edited April 2, 2022 by Axel

[Badwater]

Jokes aside - the Ducks will have to figure out the Bruins starting pitching, or it will be a long weekend.

[30Duck]

As far as sports go the Bruins are most recognized as, "The team in: LA that isn't USC"

[ICamel]

Ducks go down in order in the top of the 1^st inning;

Tanner Smith fouled out to first base

Colby Shade flied out to center field

Brennan Milone grounded out to third base

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

Isaac Ayon will pitch against the Bruins

 

Ayon walked the leadoff batter, but retired the next two hitters. The third out came via the runner thrown out trying to steal second base on a nice throw by Jack Scanlon.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB for UCLA.

[ICamel]

Oregon strikes first in the top of the 2^nd inning!

Jacob Walsh struck out swinging, out at first base catcher to first base on the dropped ball.

Josh Kasevich singled up the middle.

Anthony Hall homered down the right field line, 2 RBI.

 

 

 

 

Sam Novitske grounded out to pitcher.

Jack Scanlon grounded out to second base.

Oregon 2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

 

Ayon got into trouble in the bottom of the inning, allowing a leadoff single, and hitting the next batter to put runners on first and second with nobody out. A timely double play by our Ducks, second – shortstop – first base, and a fly out to left field gets Oregon out of a jam!

UCLA 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

Edited April 2, 2022 by ICamel

[ICamel]

Top of the 3^rd - Ducks Batting

Gavin Grant grounded out to shortstop.

Tanner Smith struck out swinging.

Colby Shade singled to left field.

Brennan Milone ground out to third base.

Oregon 3^rd inning Summary: 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

 

Bottom of the 3^rd - UCLA Batting

Ayon still on the mound for Oregon.

A strike out, single, and walk puts a runner in scoring position with one out. Isaac Ayon records his second strike out of the inning. The next batter punches a single through the right side of the infield, scoring the runner from second base.

A three pitch strike out ends the 3^rd inning.

UCLA 3^rd inning Summary: 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB

 

Oregon 2 – UCLA 1 after three innings.

Edited April 2, 2022 by ICamel

[ICamel]

Top of the 4^th - Ducks Batting

Jacob Walsh struck out swinging.

Josh Kasevich lined out to center field.

Anthony Hall struck out swinging.

Oregon Inning Summary: 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

 

Bottom of the 4th - UCLA Batting

Coach Wasikowski continues with Isaac Ayon pitching.

A strike out, single, fielders choice with the runner moving to second, and a fly out sets the Bruins down.

UCLA Inning Summary: 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

 

Ducks still lead 2-1

Edited April 2, 2022 by ICamel

[ICamel]

Top of the 5th - Ducks Batting

Sam Novitske flied out to center field.

Jack Scanlon grounded out to second base.

Gavin Grant struck out looking.

Ducks Inning Summary: 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

 

Bottom of the 5th - Bruins Batting

Ayon continues on the mound for Oregon.

A leadoff double puts the tying run at second base with no outs. The next hitter singles to center. UCLA has runners at the corners. Another double brings home a run and puts runners at second and third with nobody out. I’m surprised Coach Waz hasn’t gone to the bullpen! A ground out to first base scores the third Bruin run of the game, with the runner at second advancing to third. Still only one out for UCLA. Fly ball to deep left scores the runner from third base. Next hitter singles to right field. Coach brings in Christian Ciuffetelli in relief of Ayon to try and end the inning. Ciuffetelli strikes out his only faced batter to end the inning, but the Bruins put up a crooked number on the scoreboard to lead 4-2.

UCLA Inning Summary: 3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

 

Oregon 2 – UCLA 4 after the 5^th inning.

[ICamel]

Top of the 6th - Ducks Batting

Tanner Smith flied out to center field.

Colby Shade fouled out to the catcher.

Brennan Milone doubled to right center.

Jacob Walsh struck out swinging.

Oregon inning Summary: 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB.

 

Bottom of the 6th - Bruins Batting

Ciuffetelli allows a leadoff single to center field, and the runner advances to second on a wild pitch. A foul pop up to third base yields out number one. Next batter flies out to left field for the second out. Coach Waz elects to bring in Stone Churby in place of Ciuffetelli to throw against UCLA. Churby promptly walks the batter on four pitches. Runners at second and first for the Bruins with two outs. Churby gets the next batter to strike and end the UCLA threat in the sixth.

 

Bruins Inning Summary: 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB

 

Score remains Ducks 2 – UCLA 4

[ICamel]

Top of the 7th - Oregon Batting

Bruins bring in Flanagan to face our Ducks for their starter Rajcic.

Oregon goes out meekly in the inning.                                  

Josh Kasevich lined out to left field.

Anthony Hall flied out to center field.

Sam Novitske lined out to shortstop.

Oregon inning Summary: 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

 

Bottom of the 7th - UCLA Batting

A strikeout and fly out ends Churby’s night on the mound and Rio Britton comes on in relief. Britton walks his first Bruin faced today, but gets the inning closed out with a swinging strike out.

7^th inning UCLA Summary: 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

 

Oregon 2 – UCLA 4 after seven innings.

[Badwater]

Bottom of the 8th - I'm not smelling an Oregon win today. UCLA has some great pitching on display.

[ICamel]

Top of the 8th - Ducks Batting

Tyler Ganus pinch hit for Jack Scanlon, and singles up the middle.                         

Gavin Grant fouled out to the first baseman.

Tanner Smith hit a deep shot to center left that is caught at the warning track.

Colby Shade grounded out to third base.      

Ducks 8^th inning summary: 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

 

Bottom of the 8th - UCLA Batting

Josiah Cromwick replaces Tyler Ganus at catcher for Oregon.

Rio Britton continues on the mound for our Ducks.

After issuing a walk to UCLA’s leadoff batter, Logan Mercado replaces Britton at pitcher. Mercado walks his first hitter faced to put runners at second and first with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt moves the runners to third and second with one out. A fly out and a strike out ends the Bruins in the 8^th.

 

UCLA 8th inning summary: 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB

 

Still Oregon 2 – UCLA 4 heading to the 9^th inning.

[ICamel]

Top of the 9th - Ducks Batting

Brennan Milone grounded out to shortstop.

Jacob Walsh popped up to shortstop.

Josh Kasevich singled through the left side.

Anthony Hall singled up the middle; Kasevich advanced to third.

Bryce Boettcher pinch ran for Hall.                                       

Sam Novitske singled to left field; Kasevich scored, Boettcher advanced to second.

Josiah Cromwick struck out swinging, out at first catcher to first base on the dropped ball.           

Oregon Inning Summary: 1 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB

 

Final Score = Oregon 3 – Bruins 4

Edited April 3, 2022 by ICamel

[Charles Fischer]

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Hall hit a two-run homer in the second and Oregon rallied for another run in the ninth, but that late surge came up just short in a 4-3 loss to UCLA on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

 

Oregon (18-9, 7-4 Pac-12) rallied with two out in the ninth to make it a one-run game. Josh Kasevich, Hall and Sam Novitske all singled, with Novitske driving in Kasevich for his third RBI of the weekend. The rally ended with the potential game-tying run in scoring position.

 

“That was a tough one, but nevertheless it’s baseball,” UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. “It’s against a very, very good pitching staff and a very good program. Tomorrow’s a must-win game; tomorrow’s a game that, we need to come out with a real fire and salvage a game here on this trip.”

 

The Ducks and Bruins played a one-run game for the second day in a row and the fourth straight game in the series, going back to last season. In the five games the two teams have played since 2021, and entering Sunday’s finale of this weekend’s series, each team has scored 19 total runs.

 

How It Happened: For the second game in a row, a two-run homer gave Oregon the early lead. A day after Novitske got the Ducks on the board first, Hall did the honors Saturday with a soaring shot down the right-field line to drive in Kasevich.

 

UO starter Isaac Ayon (2-1) put another zero on the board in the bottom of the second, allowing the first two batters to reach before retiring the side. The Bruins broke through in the third, with a two-out, two-strike base hit to get within 2-1.

 

UCLA opened the fifth with a double, a single and another double to tie it, 2-2, and put runners on second and third with nobody out. Ayon retired the next two hitters, but each out brought home another run as the Bruins took a 4-2 lead.

 

The Ducks continued to battle — consecutive outs by Kasevich, Hall and Novitske in the seventh were all line drives right at Bruins, and in the eighth Tanner Smith drove a flyball to the wall in dead center, after Tyler Ganus had reached on an infield single.

 

“We did sting some balls, and our bullpen pitched exceptionally well again — put zeros on the board throughout,” Wasikowski said. “… We squared five balls up off a reliever, and it didn’t end up happening for us.”

 

At the Plate: Kasevich had two hits, giving him a streak of five straight games with a base hit. … Hall’s home run was his fourth of the season. … Novitske has driven in at least one run in three of the last four games. … Brennan Milone’s two-out double in the sixth got him back on track after his nine-game hitting streak ended Friday.

 

On The Mound: Oregon’s bullpen pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, with Christian Ciuffetelli getting the Ducks out of the fifth-inning jam and pitching into the sixth. Stone Churby followed by striking out two in a scoreless inning, Rio Britton ended the seventh with a strikeout and Logan Mercado pitched a scoreless eighth despite putting runners on second and third with one out.

 

On Deck: The Ducks and Bruins meet in the series finale Sunday at noon.

 

[Just Ducky]

Baseball is a game of inches. Things will turn around we hope.