The Oregon baseball team didn’t need extra innings, a spectacular catch, an eight-run eighth inning or any other late-game heroics to beat Portland (2-6) tonight. All they needed was the first inning to seal the victory in their first home game of the season.
“Anytime you put up six in the first inning, that’s a good feeling,” right fielder Tyler Baumgartner said after the 8-2 win.
For a team that’s 8-0, the Ducks’ previous seven games were surprisingly close going into the final three innings. The aforementioned eight-run eighth inning turned an otherwise tight battle against Loyola Marymount into a blowout. Oregon scored six runs in the eighth inning of George Horton’s 900th win, turning a three-run lead into an eight-run romp over Hawaii. Two days earlier, the Ducks beat the Rainbow Warriors 10-5, but Oregon was tied 5-5 going into the seventh and ahead by three heading into the next inning.
It’s hard to know what to make of those first seven games. Maybe the Ducks aren’t as good as their record and they were lucky to win some of those close ones. Maybe the small leads in the late innings masked Oregon’s true ability as the far superior team. The truth might be in the middle or somewhere else entirely. But the Ducks are hardly complaining how they got to their 8-0 record and they sounded more than happy with their wire-to-wire dominance tonight.
“It felt good to be out in front for a change,” Horton said.
Junior catcher Shaun Chase, who hit a three-run home run in the first inning to give the Ducks a 6-0 lead, said he can’t remember his team ever putting up that many runs in the first during his career. Any pressure Chase or his teammates — especially starting pitcher Jeff Gold — felt before that inning was immediately lowered.
“Just knowing that and giving the ball to Jeff,” Chase said, “it was really comforting.”
Horton said it’s especially nice to get a six-run lead at PK Park, which has a reputation as a run-depressor. Still, Horton said, his players can’t afford to lose focus with eight innings ahead of them. They certainly didn’t show signs of complacency, increasing their lead to 8-0 through three innings and only giving up two runs the rest of the way.
“We’ve been accused of not being aggressive enough at home and not put up enough numbers,” Baumgartner said. “So we wanted to come in and show people that this is a new season and we can hit top to bottom.”
Oregon’s first true home test will come this upcoming weekend against Cal State Fullerton. Despite their 4-3 start, the Titans are still ranked in the top 10 in several national polls and were widely considered one of the best in the nation heading into the season. The Ducks could easily lose two-out-of-three or get swept off their home turf.
But with this blowout win tonight, the Ducks will likely have some extra confidence going into Friday. The win also helped silence any doubters who looked at their seven close wins as concerning. Plus, that close game experience could come in handy against Fullterton.
“Really good sign going into Cal State Fullerton,” Chase said of tonight’s performance. “It’s going to be a good matchup this weekend, our staff against their staff, and we’re going to grind.”
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415