Live updates: Oregon baseball vs. No. 25 Arizona series finale
Over the past 48 hours, the Oregon baseball program has boosted its resume in a major way.
The Ducks trounced No. 25 Arizona 10-4 on Friday behind Tanner Smith’s two-homer evening. On Saturday, Isaac Ayon delivered a stellar outing to notch a second win over the Wildcats and clinch the series.
Now, on Saturday, Oregon will look to complete a sweep against one of the top teams in the conference.
The Ducks and Wildcats are already guaranteed to face off in Scottsdale, Ariz., next week for the Pac-12 tournament as Oregon has secured the No. 4 seed in the conference and Arizona has locked up the No. 5 seed.
But there will still be plenty on the line this afternoon. Oregon is still looking to bolster its RPI and still has hopes of hosting a regional — something that might be possible if the Ducks run the table in Scottsdale.
Jace Stoffal will get the starting nod for the Ducks (34-21, 17-12 Pac-12), while Anthony Susac is set to start for the Wildcats (35-20, 16-13).
Follow along with the action here and join the discussion in the ScoopDuck forums.
First inning
T1 — Oregon starter Jace Stoffal worked around a two-out single from Tanner O’Tremba to finish the first inning scoreless. He touched 91 miles-per-hour on the radar gun with his fastball in the first.
B1 — Brennan Milone ripped a two-out single but was left stranded.
Second inning
T2 — Jace Stoffal surrendered a walk to Garen Caulfield and a single to Tommy Splaine, but he got Arizona No. 9 hitter Tyler Casagrande to fly out to end the inning and escape the jam.
B2 — Oregon freshman catcher Bennett Thompson ripped a one-out single to plate Anthony Hall and give the Ducks an early 1-0 lead.
Tanner Smith followed two batters later by lining a two-run double to the right-field gap, pushing the lead to 3-0.
Third inning
T3 — Jace Stoffal retired Arizona’s 1-2-3 hitters in order on just seven pitches.
B3 — Oregon’s 3-4-5 hitters were retired in order.
Fourth inning
T4 — Jace Stoffal retired the Wildcats’ 4-5-6 hitters in order. He has now retired the last seven batters he has faced.
B4 — Bennett Thompson ran out an infield single for the Ducks with two outs, but they couldn’t take advantage and were held scoreless in the inning.
Fifth inning
T5 — Jace Stoffall retired the Wildcats in order and once again needed just seven pitches to do so. He has now retired the last 10 batters he’s faced.
B5 — Colby Shade reached with a one-out single, but the Wildcats got out of a potential jam by turning a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play to end the frame.
Sixth inning
T6 — Jace Stoffall got Arizona’s 1-2-3 hitters to all hit balls in the air that resulted in outs. He has now retired 13 straight batters.
B6 — Jacob Walsh hit a laser of a single up the middle to score Drew Cowley from second and extend Oregon’s lead to 4-0.
Seventh inning
T7 — Jace Stoffal staged a six-pitch battle with Arizona cleanup hitter Chase Davis before striking him out for the third time on the day.
Stoffal delivered another clean inning and has now retired 16 straight batters.
B7 — The Ducks were retired in order.
Eighth inning
B7 — Jace Stoffall allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach base and was replaced by Rio Britton with Arizona’s 9-1-2 batters due up.
Britton proceeded to strike out Blake Paugh looking, then was replaced by Logan Mercado, who surrendered an RBI single to Daniel Susac that cut the Oregon lead to 4-1.
After that, though Mercado struck out Arizona No. 3 hitter Tanner O’Trembo swinging to escape the jam.
B8 — Sam Novitske came on as a pinch hitter for Brennan Milone and drilled a leadoff single. Drew Cowely followed with a line-drive double to right to put two runners in scoring position.
Anthony Hall was then intentionally walked to load the bases, and Jacob Walsh flew out for the second out. Benett Thompson stepped to the plate and drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home a run and extend Oregon’s lead to 5-1.
Ninth inning
T9 — Oregon closer Kolby Somers came on in relief and surrendered two runs but still recorded his 10th save of the season.
