The Oregon baseball team (26-10) clinched the series victory over UC Riverside (14-16) on Saturday afternoon with a 7-4 win. The Ducks nearly surrendered a four-run lead, but a strong performance from the bullpen and some late insurance runs sealed the game on a sunny day at PK Park.
Jeff Gold got his first Saturday start of the season and pitched well, but the Highlanders were able to string some hits together in the third, fifth and sixth innings to tag Gold with four earned runs, the most he’s given up in an appearance this season. He threw 6.1 innings, giving up nine hits and no walks while striking out five.
“It needs to be better,” Gold said postgame.
Oregon head coach George Horton was much happier with Gold’s performance and said Riverside’s hitting was the bigger cause of the four runs than poor pitching. Horton especially liked having an efficient pitcher in the Saturday role, which wasn’t always the case with normal Saturday starter Matt Krook (Horton didn’t have any updates on Krook’s injury status).
“You’d hate to have a blowup on a Saturday because that doesn’t leave you much bullpen on Sunday,” Horton said.
The Ducks didn’t take long to get on the board. After Aaron Payne struck out to lead off the bottom of the first inning, A.J. Balta lined a double to right field. Tyler Baumgartner then came up and hit a sinking line drive to center. Devyn Bolasky’s diving attempt on Baumgartner’s hit failed, allowing Balta to score and Baumgartner to reach third. Mitchell Tolman came up next and delivered a single to left, giving Oregon a 2-0 lead.
Riverside responded in the top of the second with two outs. David Andriese scorched a liner past the diving Baumgartner in right for a double. On the next pitch, Matthew Ellis hit a double down the left field line to score Andriese for the only run of the inning.
Oregon immediately answered in the bottom of the second. Nick Catalano (2-for-3, walk, stolen base) reached first base to lead off the inning on a throwing error from shortstop Nick Vilter and Desmond Santos got on thanks to an error from starting pitcher Zach Varela. Mark Karaviotis moved both of them over with a sacrifice bunt and Payne drove them in with a double to right. Three batters later, Tolman drove Payne home on a single to right center, finishing the second inning scoring for the Ducks, who led 5-1.
The Ducks wouldn’t score again until the seventh. Varela was replaced by senior left-hander Dylan Stuart after the second inning, and Stuart made sure the game didn’t get out of control. He finished with five strikeouts, four hits, one walk and one run (earned) over five innings.
Gold cruised until the fifth inning. After retiring Andriese to start the inning, Gold gave up three straight singles to load the bases. Joe Chavez then hit a sacrifice fly to give the Highlanders their only run in the inning and their second of the game.
Oregon ran into some trouble in the top of the seventh. Drake Zarate hit a one-out double, followed by a single up the middle from Cody Hough to bring Zarate home. Darrell Hunter replaced Gold after Hough’s hit and recorded one out before being replaced by Garrett Cleavinger. With Hough at third, Bolasky hit a short chopper in front of the pitchers’ mound and beat out the throw to first, making the score 5-4. Cleavinger didn’t give up another run in the inning, though, helping preserve Gold’s eighth win in as many starts this season.
Jake Reed closed the game out in the ninth to wrap up a solid performance by a bullpen that has struggled lately.
“I don’t care what people say,” Tolman said. “(Even with) the last couple weekends, they (Oregon’s relievers) are by far the best in the country.”
The Ducks added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh. Tolman (3-for-4, two RBIs) hit a one-out single to bring up Kyle Garlick, who smashed a double into the left center field gap to plate Tolman and give the Ducks a 6-4 lead.
In the eighth, Karaviotis hit a one-out triple and Balta brought him home two batters later on a single up the middle.
“I thought the two runs we got in the seventh and the eighth were critical,” Horton said. “Took a little wind out of their sails.”
Trent Paddon gets the ball for the Ducks on Sunday as they look to sweep the Highlanders. First pitch is scheduled for noon at PK Park.
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415