Ducks roll past Utah to clinch series
OGDEN, Utah – Kenyon Yovan and Anthony Hall both set school records at the plate while Cullen Kafka gave Oregon another quality start in the Ducks' 16-3 Pac-12 Conference win over Utah on Saturday at Lindquist Field.
Yovan went 6-for-6, the most hits by a Duck in the modern era and just one shy of the Pac-12 Conference record, while Hall doubled three times to match the school record last reached in 2014 by Tyler Baumgartner at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 21, 2014.
Kafka (5-2) allowed just one run in six innings while scattering seven hits with four strikeouts in his third quality start of the season. It was the 15th quality start for Oregon's pitching staff in 2021 and helped clinch the series with Utah.
How It Happened: Oregon (32-11, 16-7 Pac-12) broke the game open early scoring in the first five innings, including two where the Ducks scored five runs.
Yovan put the Ducks on top in the first inning when he scored on a two-out wild pitch. Sam Novitske made it 2-0 in the second hitting his first career-home run.
The Ducks broke it open with five runs in the third when they sent nine batters to the plate. Josh Kasevich delivered a one-out, two-RBI single after Yovan (single), Aaron Zavala (walk) and Gabe Matthews (single) loaded the bases. Hall followed with his first two-bagger of the game, driving in Matthews for a 5-0 lead.
Novitske made it a six-run game with a sacrifice fly scoring Kasevich, before Scanlon picked up his third RBI of the series with a base hit scoring Hall for a 7-0 lead.
The Ducks loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but could only manage one run when Matthews hit into a double play allowing Tanner Smith to score.
Oregon added five more in the fifth while sending nine more Ducks to the plate. The first two runs scored on Utah (14-28, 5-18) wild pitches, before Yovan drove in Gavin Grant with an infield single. The final two runs in the inning scored when Utes second baseman Chase Fernlund misplayed a ball in shallow right field on a flare off Matthews' bat.
Utah put a run on the board in the bottom of the fifth, but Oregon answered with two more in the top of the seventh. Yovan doubled and came around to score on a Zavala single. Hall knocked Zavala in with his third double of the day.
The Utes made it 15-3 with two runs in the seventh, before Oregon finished the scoring when Yovan drove in Tristan Hanoian after he reached on a pinch-hit double to lead off the eighth.
Box Score Notes: Oregon had a season-best 23 hits … Seven Ducks had multiple hits, while four Ducks drove in multiple runs and four Ducks scored more than once … Yovan's six hits were one more than the previous team high of five set by both Hall (at Arizona, 3/28) and Kasevich (at Portland (4/14) … His four runs scored matched the season high previously set by Smith (at Arizona, 3/28), Zavala (at Arizona, 3/28) and Kasevich (at Portland, 4/14) … Yovan had his team-best 12th multi-RBI game of the season and the 19th of his career … It was also his 12th multi-hit game of the year and the 25th of his career … Zavala (3-for-3, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB) pushed his batting average back over .400 (.401), while upping his OBP to .526 after reaching base in all five at-bats … Zavala also had his team-best 19th multi-hit game and the 37th of his career … Matthews (2-for-4, R, BB) added to his career school record tallying his 62nd career multi-hit game and the 17th of the season … Novitske (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, SF, HBP) hit his first career home run in his 418th career at-bat … He finished with his 30th career multi-hit game and his ninth of the season, while collecting his 10th career multi-RBI game and the sixth of 2021 … Kasevich (2-for-6, 2 RBI, 2 R) had his 17th career multi-hit game and his 15th of the season … He also had his 12th career multiple-RBI game and his 11th in 2021 … Hall (3-for-6, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3 2B) has five doubles in the first two games of the series, doubling his season total to 10 … He finished with his 12th career multi-hit game and the ninth of 2021 … He also had his ninth career multiple-RBI game and his sixth this year … Scanlon (2-for-4, RBI) totaled his sixth career multi-hit game and his third this season.
On Deck: Oregon will go for the sweep with a 10:05 a.m. PT first pitch on Sunday. Brett Walker (5-2, 3-81) will make the start for Oregon, while David Watson (2-6, 5.59) will pitch for Utah.