Oregon’s bats come alive to down the Cardinals 13-7
Welcome to Oregon Baseball 2022.
The Ducks needed a couple of two-run homers in order to down Ball State 13-7 and snap a three-game losing streak as Oregon took Game 1 of this four-game weekend series with the Cardinals.
Oregon is now 19-10 overall, while Ball State fell to 17-10.
The Cardinals fell down 3-0 early but was able to bounce back with four runs in the fifth off of Oregon starter RJ Gordon. As they have many times this season, the Ducks answered in the very next half-inning with three runs of their own.
It was tied 4-4 when Jacob Walsh broke out of his slump in a very big way. He crushed a two-run homer off of Cardinal reliever Ryan Brown. It was Walsh’s fifth home run of the season.
Unfortunately, the Ducks couldn’t stand the prosperity as Ball State scored one run in the sixth and one more in the seventh to tie the game at 6-6.
But to no one’s surprise, Anthony Hall belted his sixth homer of the season. It was a two-run shot that landed in the Duck bullpen beyond the right field wall to give Oregon the 8-6 lead and eventual win.
Kolby Somers was primed to come in for his fifth save of the season, but the Duck bats scored five insurance in the eighth and ruined the save situation. Instead, Christian Ciuffetelli came in to finish the game. He made it interesting by giving up a run and Ball State had the bases loaded, but a harmless flyout to center ended the game.
These two teams will take Ernie Banks to heart when he said, “Let’s play two!” The Ducks and Cardinals will begin a doubleheader at 12 p.m. with Game 2 starting around 4 p.m. Neither squad has announced who will start on the mound.
