EUGENE, Ore. – The Washington bats came alive Friday night against Oregon at PK Park in Eugene, Ore., as the Huskies pounded out 13 hits and beat the Ducks 10-4 in the opening game of the three-game series.
Junior designated hitter Austin Rei was 4 for 5 with 2 RBI and freshman second baseman Levi Jordan was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI to lead the Huskies (23-16, 8-11 Pac-12).
Senior Alex Schmidt was 2 for 5 with a pair of RBI singles.
Oregon (23-19, 5-11) drew first blood off Husky starter Noah Bremer (5-2) in the second inning to take the 1-0 lead. Left fielder Phil Craig-St. Louis led off the inning with a single, and after a sacrifice bunt, came around to score on a double to left by first baseman Brandon Cuddy.
Washington responded in the third, scoring twice to take the 2-1 lead. Ducks' starter Cole Irvin (1-4) loaded the bases before getting an out. He walked Jordan and Braden Bishop to start the inning and Jack Meggs reached on a bunt single. Rei grounded into a force out at the plate for the first out followed by a Branden Berry fielder's choice at second that scored the first run for the Huskies. Schmidt added the second run, lacing a RBI single to right field.
The Huskies tacked on two more runs in the fifth, thanks to some sloppy Oregon defense and some good Washington hitting.
Bishop led off the inning with a single up the middle and before the first pitch to the next batter Meggs could be thrown, the junior centerfielder came around to score. Irvin tried to pick off Bishop from first, but his throw went wildly down the line for a two-base error. The mistake was compounded when third baseman Mitchell Tolman had the ball fly out of his glove trying to tag Bishop out at third, allowing him to score.
UW tacked on another run when Schmidt drove in his second run of the night with a single, scoring Rei, who previously doubled.
The Huskies expanded their lead to 5-1 in the sixth on a RBI single from the freshman Jordan. Jordan went the other way off reliever Cooper Stiles to score pinch-runner Kyle London from second.
In the bottom half of the sixth, Bremer gave up a lead-off single to Daniel Patzlaff, snapping a string of retiring 11-straight Ducks. The hit also marked the end of the night for the freshman from Berkeley.
Bremer scattered four hits and allowed two runs in five innings. He threw 59 pitches, but also took a line drive off his left thigh in the fourth inning that left him grimacing through the rest of his outing.
Patzlaff eventually came around to score on a two-run double by Tolman off reliever Spencer Jones. They would tack on another run to make it 5-4 heading to the seventh.
The Huskies answered back with three runs of their own in the seventh to go back up four runs, 8-4. London walked with the bases loaded to force in one run, and one out later Jordan hit a 3-2 pitch back up the middle for a two-out single that scored two more.
Rei hit a two-run, bloop single in the ninth that capped the scoring for the Huskies.
Jones gave up five hits and allowed two earned runs in holding the win for Bremer. Troy Rallings pitched the ninth inning giving up a hit and striking out two.
The Huskies and Ducks continue the series Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.
Washington (23-16, 8-11) 10, Oregon (23-19, 5-11) 4
UW 002 021 302 –- 10 10 0
UO 010 003 000 –- 4 10 3
LOB: UW 12, UO 7. Noah Bremer, Spencer Jones (6) and Joey Morgan; Cole Irvin, Cooper Stiles (6), Stephen Nogosek (7), Brac Warren (7) and Tim Susnara. W – Bremer (5-2). L – Irvin (1-4). Sv – none. HR – none. 3B – none. 2B – UW, Austin Rei; UO, Brandon Cuddy, Mitchell Tolman. Time – 3:20. Attendance – 1,514.
