Advertisement

Around the horn: Duck bats stay hot with easy win over Utah in series opener

don smalley
·3 min read

The Oregon Ducks baseball team is still looking for a reliable Friday night starter. But what has been more than reliable has been the bats and those aluminum sticks didn’t let Oregon down tonight.

Powered by three home runs, the Ducks overcame an early 3-0 deficit and defeated Utah 11-4 at PK Park in the opener of a three-game weekend series.

Brennan Milone, Anthony Hall and Gavin Grant all crushed homers. Milone’s third-inning clout would have easily left the yard before the renovations of Oregon’s home stadium. It also erased Utah’s lead.

While the bats stayed hot, Oregon is still looking for a pitcher to put on the mound on a regular basis on Fridays. RJ Gordon got the start this time around and unfortunately, he didn’t make it out of the fourth inning.

The Ducks bullpen backed Gordon up, however. The combination of Dylan Sabia, Logan Mercado, Jacob Hughes and Scott Ellis went 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run and just one hit.

Final Score: Oregon 11, Utah 4

Chris Pietsch, The Register-Guard

Keys to the game

Chris Pietsch, The Register-Guard

  • The “RJ Gordon as the Friday night starter” experiment didn’t quite get off on the right foot, but he settled down and pitched a good game. After a perfect first inning, Utah managed to score three runs in the second. The highlight of the frame was TJ Clarkson’s deep home run to right.

  • With this Oregon offense, a three-run deficit is nothing and the Ducks cut into the Utah lead immediately in the bottom of the second. Josh Kasevich got the rally going with a single and then Anthony Hall laced a double into right-center. The Ducks were able to play fundamental baseball with a fielder’s choice to score one and Jack Scanlon’s sacrifice fly scored another.

  • It only took an inning to take the lead from the Utes when Brennan Milone crushed a two-run home run to left-center for the 4-3 advantage.

  • Utah found itself with the bases loaded with just one out in the fourth but in comes Dylan Sabia to the rescue. He struck out Kai Roberts and coaxed Chase Anderson to end the threat and to preserve the slim 4-3 lead.

  • Milone’s big night continued as he singled home Tanner Smith in the fourth and Oregon led 5-3.

  • Utah scored one in the fifth and the Ducks must have taken that quite personally for some reason. Oregon answered with six runs thanks to a couple of two-run homers off of the bats of Anthony Hall and Gavin Grant.

  • The Duck bullpen was dominant tonight as they retired the last 13 Utes to end the game.

It was over when ...

Brian Hayes, The Statesman-Journal

Although it wasn’t officially the game-winning run, Brennan Milone’s bomb over the left-center wall in the third inning erased an early 3-0 Utah lead. Oregon’s offense cruised from there.

Inside the box score

Chris Pietsch, The Register-Guard

  • Brennan Milone: 3-for-4, home run, 3 RBIs

  • Anthony Hall: 3-for-4, home run, double, 2 RBIs

  • Gavin Grant: 1-for-4, home run, 2 RBIs

  • Oregon bullpen: 5.2 IP, 1 run, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts

What's next?

Chris Pietsch, The Register-Guard

Oregon and Utah will meet up for Game 2 of the three-game weekend series at PK Park. The Ducks will send out Isaac Ayon (2-0, 6.52 ERA) to the mound while the Utes will counter with Randon Hostert (2-0, 4.91 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and is will be televised on Pac-12 Oregon.

1

1