The Ducks baseball team had a comeback in the makings in the ninth inning, but it fell short. Oregon scored four runs in the final inning to close the gap on Arizona State, but the Sun Devils (26-21, 14-10 Pac-12) prevailed, winning 8-6. Oregon (36-16, 14-10) and ASU are now tied for third in the conference standings with two weeks left in the regular season.
The Ducks loaded the bases with one out in the ninth and began their comeback on Tyler Baumgartner’s RBI single to cut Arizona State’s lead to 8-3. Shaun Chase walked to push another run across and was followed by Mitchell Tolman, who singled home Aaron Payne.
With the score 8-5, pitcher Ryan Burr was replaced by Eder Erives, who sat down Kyle Garlick and A.J. Balta to end the game with runners on second and third. Garlick’s groundout scored a run to bring the score to 8-6.
Payne went 2-for-3 from the plate with two runs and one RBI, which came on a solo home run in the seventh.
Oregon starter Brando Tessar (4-1) ended his streak of 22.1 scoreless innings early. The Sun Devils scored five runs in the first, breaking the game open.
Jake Peevyhouse opened the scoring by doubling home Johnny Sewald. Peevyhouse scored two batters later when Nate Causey hit an RBI single. Causey and Brian Serven scored when Christopher Beall singled, bringing the first inning run total to five.
Arizona State subsequently scored off Tessar in the second and fourth, prompting George Horton to pull his starter after 3.2 innings.
Tessar allowed seven runs (four earned) on 10 hits with no walks and two strikeouts in his shortest start since April 2.
Arizona State tallied 15 hits in the game, with every starter recording at least one hit and five with multi-hit games.
ASU starting pitcher Darin Gillies (2-4) threw six innings while allowing one run (unearned) on two hits with five walks and three strikeouts.
The Ducks left a total of nine runners on base, six of which were in scoring position.
Arizona State outscored Oregon 21-15 in the three-game series and holds a 15-7 record against the Ducks since their reinstatement in 2009.
Follow Madison Guernsey on Twitter @guernseymd