Ducks fans experienced deja vu Saturday night as Oregon baseball lost to UCLA 1-0 for the second-straight night. The Ducks only managed three hits and consistently struggled with runners in scoring position.
Optimism could be found in the start for Cole Irvin who went a full nine innings for the second time this season. He is the only Ducks pitcher this season to do so.
“Oh yeah, I like having the game in my hands,” Irvin said when asked if he likes staying in for the full game.
It wasn’t his most stat-heavy game, only striking out two, but he allowed just five hits and no earned runs.
“Cole was real sharp tonight,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “That was one of his best outings. He had all four pitches going and certainly gave us every chance to win.”
Many similarities can be found in the two UCLA games, with Horton even referencing “Groundhog Day” in the postgame interview, but perhaps the most glaring was the defensive play of third baseman Mitchell Tolman. Tolman has four errors in the series, two in each game. The lone run scored by UCLA came as a result of a fielding error from Tolman.
“He’s trying too hard,” Horton said of his third baseman. “You can see him shaking his head a little bit. Feeling sorry for yourself and moping around is not going to make the game take it easy on you. He’s showing a little bit of his age I guess in that manner. He’s a lot better than the way he’s played, he just has to stay on his own side.”
It has perhaps been a tough week for Tolman, something echoed by Irvin when asked about his defensive play during the series, but he does not bear all the blame. Oregon, after scoring at least one run in every game this season, now has two consecutive games where they were shut out.
Oregon twice showed warning-track power, both hits that would have been home runs in nearly every park in the country, but both times felt the brunt of their vast ballpark.
“This is a pitchers’ ball park,” Horton said. “It’s turf, it’s big. Healy got into his hit pretty good and backed the right fielder up. We’ve said all along that this is a man’s park. It’s a ball park that’s hard to get a lot of extra base hits in.”
Turning Point. Irvin held the Bruins scoreless for all but the first inning. After giving up a double to his second faced batter, Eric Filia, Irvin got Kevin Kramer to ground out. Filia advanced to third before Pat Valaika hit a grounder toward third base. Tolman fumbled the ball while trying to field it, allowing Filia to score.
On the Horizon. The Ducks will now look to avoid the sweep as they have all season. All-American Jake Reed will take the mound to face south paw Grant Watson. First pitch will be at noon at PK Park.