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Ducks drop series finale

Mar 14, 2021

Box Score: #17 Oregon State 3, Oregon 1

CORVALLIS, Ore.  – Brett Walker gave Oregon another solid start on the mound but the Ducks could not get the bats going in a 3-1 loss at No. 17 Oregon State on Sunday.
 
Oregon State (11-3) scored all three of its runs in the fifth inning, snapping an Oregon (8-3) streak of 24 innings without allowing a run. The Ducks, who clinched the series win on Saturday, did not allow the Beavers to score a run in 25 of 26 innings where OSU batted in the three-game series.
 
How It Happened: Walker (1-1) made things look easy against the Beavers early retiring the first 12 batters he faced, six on ground balls and two on strikeouts.
 
The Ducks' right-hander ran into trouble in the fifth inning allowing three runs. The first two batters reached on singles and moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt, before the Beavers scored a run on a ground ball to shortstop Josh Kasevich. The next hitter, Wade Meckler, hit a two-run home run to give OSU a 3-0 lead.
 
Oregon came right back scoring a run in the top of the sixth. Aaron Zavala led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a Kasevich ground out and to third on a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Sam Olsson plated Zavala with a RBI ground out.
 
Oregon threatened again in the eighth with the first two hitters, Kenyon Yovan and Gabe Matthews, reaching base with hits. The Ducks did not capitalize stranding Yovan at second and pinch runner Jack Haley at first.
 
Inside the Box Score: Oregon left eight runners on base, including two in the third, two in the fifth and two in the eighth … Yovan went 2-for-3 for his sixth multi-hit game of the season … He has reached base in all seven games he has played … Yovan had his sixth multi-hit game of the season … Zavala reached on a base hit to extend his reached base streak to 11 games in 2021 and 13 when going back to the 2020 season … Olsson picked up his third RBI of the season in just his fifth at-bat … Isaac Ayon retired all four batters he faced, including getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth inning to keep the Ducks within two runs … Walker gave up three runs on five hits in 6.2 innings pitched with three strikeouts and one walk.
 
Outside the Box Score: Oregon's pitching staff's 24-inning scoreless streak, that started in the ninth inning of last Sunday's 10-inning win at UC Santa Barbara and ended when the Beavers scored in the fifth inning of today's game, was the fourth longest in Oregon modern era history … The Ducks' had a 27-inning stretch in 2013 against Ohio State (23) and Gonzaga (4), a 25-inning streak in 2017 against Santa Clara (18) and California (7) and a 25-inning stretch in 2013 against Washington (23) and Arizona State (2) … Oregon's pitching staff has held its opponents to no runs in 33 of the last 35 innings played … Oregon did not commit an error for the fourth straight game, a streak that stretches back to the second batter of game two of the doubleheader at UC Santa Barbara (March 6) when Zavala was charged with an error on a fly ball he lost in the sun … The errorless streak has reached 44 innings, which is two shy of the 46-inning errorless streak the Ducks had to start the season … Overall, Oregon has committed just two errors on 395 chances (297 PO, 98 A) this season for a .995 fielding percentage.
 
Waz Said It: "It was a competitive game. Good pitching on both sides. Brett Walker I thought pitched very well and we couldn't get him the win, which was disappointing. Isaac Ayon out of release was exceptional as well. I am really proud of the way we competed overall on the weekend, but was disappointed that the third game slipped away from us. I think we had our chances and we just didn't come through when we needed to. Overall, a 2-1 weekend was a good weekend; we had a chance to finish it off and couldn't do that. It will stick with us, but I'm proud of how the baseball team played this weekend."
 
On Deck: Oregon opens Pac-12 Conference play next Friday through Sunday against Arizona State at PK Park. The Sun Devils are 11-2 on the season and play a midweek game against UNLV on Tuesday.