The Oregon men’s club soccer team emerged from a physical match on Sunday against Western Oregon with a 5-0 win, their first of the season.

Oregon was held to a scoreless draw at Portland State University in Saturday’s season opener, but they struck early on their home turf. In the second minute, senior Joe Jackson drew a foul inside the opposing box, resulting in a penalty kick. Center midfielder Daley Stevens buried the kick in the back of the net to give Oregon a 1-0 lead.

Armed with the early advantage, the Ducks controlled the ball in the early going. In the 20th minute, Oregon got a corner kick following a deflected shot. The cross was punched away by the Western Oregon keeper, but the Ducks regained possession and slotted the ball to defensive back, Zach Donner, who put it away to make it a 2-0 game.

In the 30th minute, Donner was on the receiving end of a hard slide on a 50-50 ball that resulted in a red card for a Western Oregon player. The Wolves played a man down the rest of the game and Donner was shaken up on the play, but he rebounded quickly to make a key defensive stop moments later. In the 33rd minute, a Western Oregon player floated a ball past the defense and into the box. The ensuing scrum left the Ducks with empty net, but Donner was able to stop the shot that followed to keep Western Oregon off the board.

Donner, a senior, played all over the field last season, often switching off between being a striker and playing defense. Through two games, Donner appears to have found his home in the back.

“He was a great forward, but he has the physical presence,” player-coach Alex Riley said. “This year we were lacking center backs and we know that Zach is just dominant back there, so we decided to put him back there. Yesterday we had a game against PSU and he played fantastic and showed that he’s a dominant force back there.”

The Ducks went into halftime with a 2-0 lead and kicked off the second half with another score on a penalty kick. Ian Malony took a pass from a teammate up the left side of the field but a Western Oregon defender was whistled for a foul inside the penalty box. Malony finished what he started, putting away the penalty kick to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead.

Despite playing a man down, the Wolves played the Ducks very physically in the second half. The referee had his work cut out for him throughout the match, with both squads whistled for several fouls. Western Oregon was carded four times (one red) and Oregon received a pair of yellow cards.

“We’re not going to back down, that’s for sure,” center defensive back Andrew Wohl said. “Our game is playing on the ground, playing one-, two-touch and swinging the ball side-to-side with possession. But if we need to, we can be physical—we have a strong back line.”

The Ducks continued to apply pressure throughout the second half and finished the game with a 20-to-6 shot advantage over the Wolves. In the 73rd minute Yutaro Tahara had the opportunity to extend the lead on a breakaway, but was denied on a nice stop by the keeper. Moments later, Stevens nearly added his second goal of the game, but his chip shot rattled off the crossbar.

In the 83rd minute, Tahara got another scoring opportunity and this time, he made the most of it. He dribbled down the right side of the field on a breakaway and fired the ball past the keeper to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead. Oregon added a fifth goal in the 90th minute, when Stevens intercepted a pass at midfield and dished it off to Nick Lynch, who found the back of the net.

Western Oregon had an opportunity to get on the board during extra time when Oregon was caught off guard on a counter-attack. A Western Oregon striker cut back on one of Oregon’s center backs and had a one-on-one with Oregon keeper Mak Lindquist. Lindquist knocked the ball down on the initial save, but the offensive player cut the ball back and it rolled towards the net. Wohl raced in to make a sliding save, clearing the ball to deny the Wolves of the goal.

“I knew if I was able to turn my body and catch the ball as it was coming onto the line and just scoop it out, I would be able to get it,” Wohl said.

The Oregon men’s club team’s next game will be next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when they host Southern Oregon University at the UO Rec Fields. You can find more information about the club team on their Facebook page.

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Both of Oregon’s cross country teams came away with a team victory on Saturday with each squad featuring several impressive individual season debuts.

Racing for the first time in nearly a month, the No. 3 Oregon women headed north to the University of Washington to participate in Saturday’s 6,000-meter race that featured No. 4 Stanford, No. 13 Villanova and No. 15 Washington. Led by senior Lindsay Crevoiserat, the Ducks overcame a first-place individual finish by Stanford’s Elise Cranny and edged out the Cardinal by a final score of 48-55.

Crevoiserat built on her seventh-place finish at last month’s Bill Dellinger Invitational by placing fourth in Washington with a time of 20:29. Freshman Frida Berge impressed in her Oregon debut by stopping the clock at 20:40, good for an eight-place finish. Junior Molly Grabill made her season debut for the Ducks and finished just a second behind Berge to give Oregon three runners in the top nine.

A trio of Stanford runners finished immediately after Grabill, but sophomores Maggie Schmaedick (20:48) and Alli Cash (20:49) rounded out Oregon’s top five with 13th and 14th-place finishes. Junior transfer Brianna Nerud finished seconds later (20:51) to secure 15th place and Abbey Leonardi notched a 20th-place finish with her 20:56 time.

Also making their season debut for the Ducks were Annie Leblanc (33rd) and Megan Patrignelli (34th). Both runners were members of last year’s Oregon NCAA team and figure to be integral parts of this year’s squad. Full results of the women’s race can be found here.

Meanwhile, the Oregon men took the team title at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, OR behind a fourth-place finish by Cole Watson. Most of Oregon’s top runners took this week off from racing after last week’s win at the Battle in Beantown, but the Ducks boasted their depth on Saturday and come away with the win.

Watson, a senior from Rogue River, OR, navigated the 8,000-meter course in a time of 24:08, while Tanguy Pepiot finished fifth in 24:21. Pepiot, a senior who transferred to Oregon last year from France, finished 58th at last year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships and is Oregon’s second-highest returnee. It was the first race of the season for both Cole and Pepiot.

Jeramy Elkaim locked down a sixth-place finish (24:23), while junior Matt Jablonski’s seventh-place finish (24:27) and freshman Bryan Fernandez’s ninth-place finish (24:30) rounded out Oregon’s top five. The Ducks won the meet with 16 points, finishing a far cry ahead of NCAA Division II Chico State, who scored 40 points.

They didn’t score any points for the Ducks on Saturday, but a pair of Oregon runners came away with a 1-2 finish in Salem. John Gregorek, an Oregon senior who ran the race unattached, took home the win in 23:53, while freshman Blake Haney finished runner-up with a 23:54 time. Full results of the men’s race can be found here.

Both the Oregon men and women will take next weekend off before heading to Terre Haute, IN for the Pre National Invitational on Oct. 18.

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Day one of the NCAA Indoor Championships went about as well as the Oregon men’s track and field team could have imagined, as the Ducks finished Friday in the team lead with 24 points.

Edward Cheserek furthered his amazing freshman year as a Duck with an individual NCAA championship in the 5,000 meter run and Parker Stinson put forward a third place finish in the same event. Capping off day one for the men was the distance medley team, which finished runner-up to Stanford.

For the majority of the 5,000 meter race, Cheserek sat on the shoulder of Arizona senior Lawi Lalang, who was considered the favorite to not only win on Friday, but to perhaps pull off an unprecedented triple in the 5,000, 3,000 and mile. Lalang and Cheserek separated from the rest of the pack with approximately a mile to go with Lalang looking to sap any potential kick from the legs of the Oregon freshman.

But Cheserek threw down a relentless kick with about 300 meters to go and Lalang was unable to respond — an unfamiliar position for the man that Oregon coach Robert Johnson described as a “beast” and “monster” during the pre-meet press conference. Cheserek’s turnover was phenomenal as he was able to rattle off a 25.9 second last lap to finish with a time of 13:46.67, over six seconds ahead of Lalang.

From a team standpoint, the most significant finish in the race for Oregon was arguably the third place finish of Parker Stinson. The Oregon junior ran with a five-person chase pack during the final mile and was able to edge out BYU’s Jared Ward and pick up a crucial six points for the Ducks.

The Oregon men also got a stellar performance from its distance medley team of Brett Johnson, Marcus Chambers, Boru Guyota and Trevor Dunbar. During the pre-meet press conference, Johnson said that he and the rest of the coaching staff had to look at the “best way possible to maximize your point potential,” which the coaching staff evidently decided was to keep Mac Fleet fresh for the finals of the mile on Saturday.

Coach Johnson and his staff were rewarded nicely by the decision, as Dunbar, who started the anchor mile leg in sixth place, ran strongly and the distance medley team finished second and picked up eight points.

On Saturday, Fleet will compete in the mile while Cheserek, Stinson and Dunbar will all run the 3,000 meter run. Also making the finals for the Oregon men was Johnathan Cabral in the 60 meter hurdles and Mike Berry in the 400 meter dash. Dakotah Keys heads into day two of the heptathalon in sixth place after a first-day personal record of 3,266 points.

While the battle for the NCAA championship is still likely to be between Texas A&M and Florida, the Oregon men are poised for a high finish on the podium after Friday’s performance.

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– After UCLA ousted the Ducks in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday, the Ducks could be destined for an early date with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. CBS’ Jerry Palm, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and USA Today all project Oregon to be a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which would set them up against a regional No. 1 seed should the Ducks make it to the second round. You can watch Selection Sunday at 3 p.m. PST on CBS.

– After an unexceptional time of 4.50 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, former Oregon running back De’Anthony Thomas helped his draft stock out Thursday by clocking in at 4.34 seconds at Oregon’s pro day, according to the hand-held times of scouts that were at the event. After the event, Thomas told reporters that he had run 4.50 in the 40-yard dash when he was in the ninth grade, which had surprised him and that he used for motivation to train harder in preparation for the NFL draft.

– The NCAA Indoor Track and Field championships are already underway today, as the Oregon women look to bring home their fifth consecutive indoor title. The women enter the competition ranked No. 2 and the Oregon men rank No. 6. Leading the way for the women are Laura Roesler, Phyllis Francis and Jasmine Todd. Roesler and Francis enter the meet with the No. 1 times in the nation in the 800 meter and 400 meter events, respectively, while Todd is ranked No. 2 in both the 60-meter dash and the long jump.

– The Oregon baseball teams kicks off conference play tonight at PK Park, as the Ducks will host USC in the first of a three-game weekend series. Oregon enters the series No. 11 and is coming off a 2-1 series win against Ohio State in which it erupted for 20 runs in the final game of the series. The Ducks will pitch Tommy Thorpe on Friday, Matt Krook on Saturday and Jeff Gold on Sunday.

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A warm and sunny day greeted International Association of Athletics Federations General Secretary Essar Gabriel and IAAF Council member Abby Hoffman on their visit to Hayward Field on Thursday in advance of the IAAF World Junior Championships, which will be held at Eugene’s prestigious track and field venue from July 22-27. TrackTown USA president Vin Lananna and Eugene mayor Kitty Piercy hosted Gabriel and Hoffman, and all four spoke at The Powell Plaza entrance to Hayward Field in addition to Springfield mayor Christine Lundberg.

“This summer is going to be really an exciting time, some might say the best year ever for track and field at Hayward Field,” Lananna said in his opening statement. “As you’re standing below these gates here, you might kind of unceremoniously walk through, but this is actually really a great place. So many great things have happened here and this summer is going to be no exception.”

July’s IAAF Junior World Championships will be the first time that the event has ever been held in the United States and Piercy was extremely excited for Eugene to be the host of such a momentous occasion.

“I am very proud to call myself mayor of TrackTown USA,” Piercy said. “We’re looking forward to welcoming the world to our friendly community. I’ve already been boasting to them that not only do we have a lot of talent here, but we’re a very friendly community that will embrace them and make everyone feel welcome in our area.”

Approximately 170 countries from around the globe will be represented at the six-day competition, which will feature the world’s best track and field athletes, age 19 and under. Since its inception in 1986, 17 world record-holders have participated at the IAAF World Junior Championships, including Usain Bolt, David Rudisha and Allyson Felix.

“These are the athletes who will be the stars of tomorrow,” Hoffman said. “Many of them — and you’ll see this when they are performing here this summer — are already very, very outstanding athletes in their own right. So it’s very critical for us that this event be staged in a place that acknowledges the level of performance of these junior athletes and also provides them with the conditions to perform at their best. As I stand here at the gates to Hayward Field, I think it’s fair to say that the iconic and inspiring nature of this venue is going to add a real flavor and extra significance to this particular edition of the World Junior Championships and Athletics.”

Hoffman indicated after opening statements that one of the benefits of Eugene hosting the event was that the athletes would have minimal transportation issues given that they will be housed on the University of Oregon campus.

“Everybody can basically walk from their dorm room to the facility for both training and competition,” Hoffman said. “From that standpoint, it’s really ideal in terms of athletes being able to focus on their competition and not having to worry about logistical impediments like taking buses to travel across the big city.”

“This is history in the making,” Gabriel said. “TrackTown is going to meet the IAAF and I think it’s a proud moment of which we —the representatives of the IAAF— are looking forward to. With 180 nations competing here in the good spirit and taking the baton from Barcelona, Spain of the previous edition. We will be seeing 2,500 team officials and athletes gracing this place and looking to indeed add a page in the history of this great city of Eugene and Springfield. So TrackTown, here we come!”

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The summer after Porter Clayton’s junior year of high school, a Baltimore Orioles scout posed a hypothetical question. If given the choice between a $3 million signing bonus and serving a mission for your church, which are you picking?

“Without hesitation he says, ‘A mission,’” recalls his father, Troy Clayton.

Since he was a young boy, Clayton has told everyone that his two dreams are to play professional baseball and serve a mission for his church. His passion for baseball is exceeded only by his devotion to his faith. That was exhibited after his freshman season at the University of Oregon when he chose to spend two years in Houston, Texas serving his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“The conversation that we had was, ‘You need to understand that by making this decision to serve a mission, you may never throw another pitch competitively,’” Troy said. “Because guys come off missions and sometimes they change physically, sometimes they change emotionally and sometimes their goals change. So he made the decision knowing he may never play baseball again, but I think that was reflective of his commitment to serve a mission.”

During the next two years, Clayton was allotted just 30 minutes per day to work out. He typically woke up at 6:30 a.m. to go for a run and eventually incorporated plyometrics into his routine during the final six months. He had just one opportunity each week to play catch and even that depended on whether or not he was traveling with another missionary who played baseball.

When Clayton left for his mission, he stood at 6-foot-4 and weighed 215 pounds, but during his time in Houston, he dropped down to as low as 185 pounds and came back in July of 2013 just short of 190 pounds. As a result, Clayton spent most of the fall trying to catch up to his teammates in the weight room.

“First week of weights, I showed up and guys were squatting and lifting weights that I could do two years ago,” Clayton said. “But I definitely couldn’t get on and do them right then, otherwise, I’d tear a hamstring.”

Despite lacking the physical strength that he had prior to serving his mission, Clayton was determined to accomplish his second lifelong dream. His passion for baseball burned stronger than ever and after a few months he made it back to his previous weight (and is now up to 220 pounds).

“I can remember fielding the call in July when he got back from his mission,” head coach George Horton said. “He was breaking down with me what he needed to do and from that moment forward, he’s just invested as much as any man can invest.”

Horton was not the only person to notice Clayton’s diligence in the weight room, as pitching coach Dean Stiles and several teammates echoed the head coach’s praise.

“He came back with the right attitude and he’s worked his tail off to get back into this program,” catcher Shaun Chase said. “It was pretty awesome to watch him all fall. He was always the first one here and last one to leave.”

The road back has been a challenge, as Clayton struggled to move up the depth chart during the fall. Being away from baseball for two years meant that it would take time to get back to previous levels of performance, but Clayton rebounded upon his return from Christmas break and impressed the coaches enough to earn a Sunday start two weekends ago against Cal State Fullerton.

Ultimately, the deck was stacked against Clayton that day. There was a rain delay of just over an hour after the first inning and he lasted just 3.2 innings against Fullerton, the No. 5 team in the country at that time. Clayton lacked command of the strike zone and allowed three runs on four hits and five walks as the Ducks lost to the Titans by a final of 5-4. As a result, Jeff Gold got the nod to start Sunday’s game over Clayton.

“You’d love a storybook (ending) where he would have come out against Cal State Fullerton and been successful,” Troy said. “But the reality is that’s not typically life.”

Aside from Porter’s superior resolve, Troy stressed that the biggest difference he’s seen in his son since he served his mission has been his ability to face hardships and work through them. Troy is confident that his son has the determination to overcome this latest bump in the road.

“When you’re a missionary, you face a lot of adversity and a lot of rejection and you learn to deal with that,” Troy said.

Despite the obstacles Clayton has had to overcome, it’s moments such as when he took the mound for the Ducks for the first time in nearly three years that preserve his dream of making it as a professional baseball player.

“Walking off the mound, it was awesome knowing that not only was our team successful, but knowing that it’s been a long journey and that there are many more moments to come,” Clayton said. “You get those bitter feelings but definitely those sweet moments are what keep you going. Having the background of my mission and understanding the eternal perspective of things definitely gives me chills when things like that happen.”

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The Oregon baseball Sunday starter role has been a revolving door this season, but Jeff Gold made a strong case  for himself on Sunday, as the Ducks’ bats broke out in a 20-4 drubbing of Ohio State.

After scoring seven runs in the fourth inning of Friday’s game, the Ducks went 15 innings without scoring a run before putting a four spot up on the scoreboard in the second inning on Sunday.

Down 1-0, Oregon chased starting pitcher Zach Farmer from the game in the second inning. Farmer walked four Ducks and allowed a bunt single to A.J. Balta to give Oregon a 2-1 lead with Tyler Baumgartner up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs. Farmer threw a 1-1 curveball to Baumgartner, who sat back on the offering and laced it down the right field line for a two-run double. That would be the end of the day for Farmer, who was charged with four earned runs on three hits and four walks.

The Ducks busted the game open the next inning, scoring seven runs in the frame to extend the lead to 11-1. Oregon had the bases loaded with one out, and this time it was Mark Karaviotis who came through, singling home the first run of the inning. Ohio State reliever Tanner Tully hit Aaron Payne (his seventh HBP of the season) and struck out Austin Grebeck before plunking Baumgartner in the head with a fastball. Ducks players and fans were able to breathe a sigh of relief as Baumgartner stayed in the game and was able to avoid any major injury.

The next batter, Mitchell Tolman, cleared the bases with a fly ball that landed just beyond the reach of the center fielder, Troy Montgomery, for a three-run double. Kyle Garlick would follow suit with a double down the left field line that plated Tolman to give the Ducks their seventh run of the inning.

Oregon tacked on four more runs in the sixth inning, as Tolman capped off the scoring with a two-run single with the bases loaded. The Oregon corner infielder recorded his sixth RBI of the game with another bases-loaded single in the eighth inning, which set the stage for Oregon’s final exclamation point on its offensive barrage.

Balta belted a 3-1 fastball from reliever Trace Dempsey into the right field bullpen, which ran up Oregon’s run total to 20 — the most runs scored in a game by Oregon since the program was reinstated in 2009.

“It was nice to square up and get some revenge for the Fullerton almost-walk-off,” Balta said.

When a team has a double-digit run advantage, a starting pitcher usually gets pulled from the game after five or six innings, but Gold was extremely efficient with his pitch count, which allowed head coach George Horton to leave him in the game. Gold needed just 90 pitches to get through eight innings and allowed seven hits and three runs but didn’t issue any walks and struck out eight batters.

“I thought he was spectacular,” Horton said. “Again, it was a case of a couple of the hits were a result of throwing too many strikes — a little fat in the strike zone with count leverage. But that was one of his sharpest outings.”

Gold’s performance was almost completely opposite of Matt Krook’s outing on Saturday, as the freshman left-hander struggled with pitch efficiency and needed 109 pitches to get through 5.1 innings. On Sunday, Gold threw 66 of his 90 pitches for strikes and only went to a three-ball count once.

“I threw four pitches for strikes in the first inning and I was like, ‘Everything looks good today,’” Gold said. “Coach Horton called a great game and we were able to mix speeds well. I gave up some hits but that happens.”

As the Ducks head into Pac-12 competition next weekend against USC, Horton was pleased with his club’s ability to bounce back after being shut out on Saturday. While the wheels certainly fell off for Ohio State on Sunday, Horton emphasized that the series win came against a quality opponent.

“I think Ohio State’s personnel is pretty good,” Horton said. “I think they’ll be a contender in the Big Ten. But last year we didn’t win two out of three from anybody that was significant and we ended up being a nationally (ranked) eight seed. So we reminded our guys of that and certainly if we’re going to do anything in the Pac, we’re going to have to beat a lot of teams that are significant.”

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Oregon baseball’s bats came alive during Friday’s 8-2 win over Ohio State, but that offensive production disappeared on Saturday as the Ducks (11-4) fell to the Buckeyes (8-4) by a final of 5-0.

Starting pitcher Ryan Riga was masterful for the Buckeyes, scattering just five hits in a complete game shutout of the Ducks. The left-hander struck out 10 batters and allowed just one walk and a hit batsman.

Oregon’s best opportunity to get on the board came in the bottom of the first when leadoff man Aaron Payne made it to third base with no outs. Payne reached on a bunt single and made it to third after an errant pickoff throw by Riga was recovered by Ohio State first baseman Ryan Leffel and promptly airmailed into left field.

The next batter, Austin Grebeck, attempted a safety squeeze, but was ruled out and the play was called dead after Grebeck ran into the ball outside the batter’s box. Tyler Baumgartner would then hit a comebacker to the pitcher and Payne was caught in a rundown after making the questionable decision to break for home. Tolman would ground out to first base to end the inning.

“Looking back, it was real important,” Payne said about failing to score in the first inning. “You get up early, especially after Friday night, and it just keeps that momentum going. It didn’t work out and I don’t think that’s why we lost, but it’s always helpful to get up early.”

Freshman left-hander Matt Krook didn’t have the best command of the strike zone on Saturday for Oregon, but he was able to limit Ohio State to one run by missing plenty of bats. Krook allowed a lone single in the fourth inning and struck out 10 batters, but was unable to make it out of the sixth inning due to his inefficiency. He walked six Buckeyes (he entered the game with five walks) and threw at least five pitches to 17 of the 23 batters he faced.

After inducing a groundout to lead off the sixth, Krook walked Ronnie Dawson, which brought head coach George Horton to the mound to end Krook’s night after 109 pitches.

“He wants to stay in there longer,” Horton said. “But as I told him, you’ve got to throw the ball over the plate more. He’s trying to do that but sometimes when your breaking ball breaks like that and your fastball moves like that, it’s hard to control.”

Krook had trouble getting a good feel for his slider last weekend against Cal State Fullerton, but his punchout pitch was on point on Saturday. He generated eight swing-and-misses with his slider (16 total) and threw it for a strike nearly 60 percent of the time.

“It was there,” Krook said about his slider. “The only difference was my fastball wasn’t as good as it was against Fullerton. I just couldn’t locate it. It’s frustrating.”

Right-hander Trent Paddon relieved Krook and allowed a double down the left field line off the bat of the first batter he faced, Leffel. Dawson came around from first to score to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead.

Ohio State would add four runs in the ninth inning, two of them charged to Oregon southpaw Garrett Cleavinger and the other two charged to closer Jake Reed, who allowed three hits and a walk in an inning of work.

After the game, Horton acknowledged missed offensive opportunities and a few defensive miscues, but pointed to the 10 walks issued by the pitching staff as the biggest downfall for Oregon on Saturday.

“Most of the areas of concern — tonight it was walks — our guys address like real men and they’ll figure it out,” Horton said. “It’s harder to play catch when there are a lot of swing-and-misses and a lot of walks. It’s hard to stay on your toes. We didn’t have that same defensive orchestration that I bragged about last night. The tempo was not nearly as good because we weren’t throwing strikes.”

Horton admitted that failing to score in the first was a huge missed opportunity for the Ducks in a game that was within reach until the ninth inning.

“It eliminated the momentum right there, but we weren’t able to get much going,” Horton said. “Who knows? Had (Riga) gotten off to a little poorer start, maybe he doesn’t pitch with quite as much conviction and confidence. From that point forward, he really pitched well. So you tip your cap to him.”

Sunday’s rubber match is scheduled to start at noon, with Jeff Gold taking the mound for Oregon against Ohio State’s Zach Farmer.

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Before Wednesday’s practice, Oregon head baseball coach George Horton talked to the media about the club’s upcoming series against Ohio State and how he plans to manage the Sunday starter role going forward. Horton indicated that right-hander Jeff Gold is expected to start Sunday’s game against Ohio State.

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After being swept over the weekend by Cal State Fullerton at PK Park, Oregon bounced back strong on Tuesday with a doubleheader sweep of Seattle University. The performance of the day came from senior right fielder Tyler Baumgartner, who went 3-for-5 in each game and drove in the game-winning hit in the eighth inning of the nightcap.

“It was huge,” Baumgartner said of Tuesday’s sweep. “Especially after a weekend like last weekend – getting swept at home is something you never want to do. It feels real good to get this one done.”

Baumgartner set the pace from the onset, hustling out an infield single in the first inning of the opener that gave Oregon a 1-0 lead. He would reach on an error in the fourth inning (and score later in the frame) and lined an RBI ground rule double into the right field bullpen in the fifth inning that gave Oregon a 4-1 lead.

The Ducks would blow the game open with a six-run seventh inning, which started with a triple to right field off the bat of Baumgartner. Oregon would bat around in the frame with Baumgartner flying out his second time at bat – finishing a home run short of hitting for the cycle.

Oregon took the first game by a final score of 10-2, but the nightcap was a much tighter contest. The Ducks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, fueled by a Mitchell Tolman triple that drove in Austin Grebeck and Baumgartner. However, the Redhawks would score a pair of runs in the second inning and knotted things up in the fifth. The game remained tied at 3-3 until the bottom of the eighth.

With Mark Karaviotis on second base and two outs, Baumgartner came to the plate against Seattle’s Will Dennis, a left-handed submarine pitcher.

“I’ve never seen a lefty submarine guy in my life before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect,” Baumgartner said. “He started me a first-pitch slider and I just swung through it. I saw him really well and then he came with the fastball and I was just able to stay short and poke it through the middle.”

Karaviotis came around to score and give the Ducks a 4-3 lead, which closer Jake Reed was able to preserve in the ninth inning.

For Baumgartner, the six-hit day is the most recent highlight in his breakout season for the Ducks. Last season, he managed a sub-par .272/.316/.420 slash line and didn’t become a full-time regular for Oregon until a few months into the season.

This year, he’s thrived in the three-hole and has made several highlight-reel defensive plays in right field. After Tuesday’s pair of games, he boasts a .378/.421/.528 line.

“I think a lot of it has to do with confidence,” Baumgartner said. “It’s kind of nice not having to worry about coming off the bench and just always being in the game. As much as you try to be in the game, it’s hard to come off the bench, especially during this time of the year and in the clutch for your team.”

While much of Oregon’s offense has been predicated on small ball, Baumgartner has been one of the few Oregon hitters that have demonstrated gap-to-gap power.

“Tyler has a lot of different weapons,” head coach George Horton said after Tuesday’s games. “He uses the whole field and he’s not a one-dimensional hitter … With Tyler’s skill set, he can adjust on the fly better than anybody we have and he’s a tremendous hitter. He’s our third hitter for a reason.”

After losing Ryon Healy and Brett Thomas to the draft, it was unclear how the Ducks would fill the void left by arguably their two best hitters. With Kyle Garlick tearing the cover off the ball and Baumgartner enjoying a breakout season in his senior year, it appears that the Ducks have found their middle-of-the-order bats.

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