Ducks' comeback lifts Oregon over Oral Roberts in Super Regional Game 1 win
Shortstop Drew Cowley described the Oregon baseball team as a “resilient bunch,” earlier this week.
But there’s resiliency, and there’s what the Ducks accomplished Friday night.
Down 8-0 early, Oregon rallied to beat Oral Roberts 9-8 in the opening game of the Eugene Super Regional at PK Park.
Cowley had the game-winning hit as he ripped a line-drive walk-off single to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Rikuu Nishida from second base, setting off wild celebration on the field as well as in the stands where a sell-out crowd of 4,476 witnessed the Ducks getting to within one win of making the College World Series.
“Surreal moment obviously,” Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski said. “You know, this team won't quit. This team's got a toughness to it that I've never seen before.”
Oregon (41-20) hit four home runs, including two from catcher Bennett Thompson, as it won its 10th straight game. It was the third time the Ducks overcame a seven-run deficit this season and also the first time in 97 games, according to ESPN, a team had been down by at least eight runs in an NCAA Super Regional and rallied to win.
The victory also snapped the Golden Eagles’ NCAA-leading 21-game winning streak.
The two teams will play again at 6 p.m. Saturday. If the Ducks win, they’ll make their first College World Series since 1954. If they lose, there will be a decisive Game 3 on Sunday.
The score was 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth when Gavin Grant and Nishida opened the inning with back-to-back four-pitch walks.
Grant was out at third on a bunt by Bryce Boettcher, and then up came Cowley with two on and a chance to be the hero. The senior delivered.
“Not trying to do too much," Cowley said. "Being in control of myself is what we talk about as hitters or pitching, and just slowing the game down, looking for something up and putting a good swing on it. I was able to get a slider and put a good swing on it.”
The Golden Eagles (49-12) went up big in the third inning when they scored eight runs off four hits, four walks and a hit batter as it took three Oregon pitchers to get the Ducks out of the inning.
Blaze Brothers led off with a walk, stole second then moved to third on a single by Jake McMurray before scoring the first run of the game on a fielder’s choice groundout by Justin Quinn.
One of the two big hits in the inning came from clean-up hitter Matt Hogan, who blasted a no-doubt three-run homer over the fence in right field to put the Golden Eagles up 4-0.
After Mac McCroskey scored on a wild pitch by reliever Dylan McShane to make 5-0, McMurray, up for a second time in the inning with the bases loaded, dropped a full-count, two-out bloop single into shallow right that cleared the bases to make it 8-0.
Then Oregon started chipping away.
Jacob Walsh and Thompson opened the bottom of the third with back-to-back home runs and then Thompson hit a three-run shot in the fourth as the Ducks cut their deficit to 8-5.
Drew Smith lined a solo shot into the Oral Roberts’ bullpen in left field in the sixth to make it a two-run game.
Oregon took care of that one inning later when RBI singles by Cowley and Tanner Smith tied the score at 8-8 to set up the dramatic conclusion.
After the eight-run third, Oregon’s pitchers settled in as relievers Ian Umlandt, Logan Mercado, Matt Dallas and Josh Mollerus allowed just four hits and no runs over the next six innings.
"We do not play the score, we play each inning, and that is what you saw tonight," Cowley said. "All I can say is, it does not matter what the score is, we are always in the game.”
And now they're one victory away from heading to Omaha, Neb., next week for the CWS.
"These guys are locked in," Wasikowski said. "They want this thing badly and maybe the hardest job we’re going to have is backing them off, maybe just a click to where they can execute and do the things that they need to be able to win one more game to get us to the Midwest.”
Up next
Eugene Super Regional Game 2
6 p.m., Saturday at PK Park. TV: ESPNU. Radio: KUGN-AM (590)
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon baseball one win away from College World Series
