Oregon baseball drops first Pac-12 conference series to Stanford Cardinal: How it happened
After rattling off five straight conference series wins, the No. 16 Oregon baseball team dropped its first Pac-12 series of the year to Stanford over the weekend, winning just one of three games on the road.
After some stout pitching performances last weekend against USC at home, the Ducks' (27-12, 11-7 Pac-12) defense sputtered in Friday's 19-7 loss and Sunday's 10-7 loss. Oregon did pick up a 17-5 win on Saturday in between losses.
How Oregon baseball lost Pac-12 series to Stanford
In Game 1 Friday the Cardinal (17-20, 9-9 Pac-12) scored 15 of their 19 total runs in the fourth and eighth innings to win 19-7. Stanford's Malcolm Moore hit three home runs to lead the Cardinal effort as Oregon starter RJ Gordon and bullpen arms Ryan Featherston and Turner Spoljaric struggled to get outs. Gordon went five innings and allowed nine runs on seven hits and four walks, and Spoljaric only lasted five batters before getting yanked without recording an out.
The Ducks got vengeance in Game 2 Saturday, blasting Stanford 17-5 to even the series. Oregon peppered 16 hits across the field led by Chase Meggers four-hit day with six RBIs. Jacob Walsh continued his hot streak, going 3 for 5 with two RBIs and a home run. Starter Grayson Grinsell went six innings and allowed four runs on eight hits with two strikeouts.
In the rubber match Sunday Oregon took a 5-1 lead after a five-run fourth, before allowing Stanford to score six runs in the bottom of that same inning. The Cardinal held on to that lead throughout to take the series, 2-1 and the third game, 10-7.
Walsh went 2 for 4 and Dominic Hellman, Justin Cassella, Mason Neville and Bryce Boettcher each hit home runs in the loss. Starter Kevin Seitter went four innings and allowed seven runs with six earned on seven hits and three walks. Bullpen arm Logan Mercado pitched the final four innings and allowed three more runs on six hits with three punchouts.
What's next for the Ducks?
The Ducks play non-conference opponent San Francisco in the Bay Area at noon on Monday before heading back to Oregon and taking on Oregon State in Corvallis for a three-game series starting at 6 p.m. Friday.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon baseball drops first Pac-12 series to Stanford Cardinal
