David Peterson has been — without question — one of the top pitchers in the nation during the 2017 season. However, Peterson wasn’t quite good enough in the Ducks 4-3 loss to Stanford.

“Tip your cap to the Cardinal,” said head coach George Horton. “It’s up to us to pick ourselves up off the deck and get a series at home.”

After a sub-par start from Peterson that put the Ducks behind 4-1, his teammates nearly bailed him out in bottom of the seventh inning. After back-to-back RBI singles from Jake Bennett and Spencer Steer, the stage was set for freshman Matthew Dyer. With two outs and runners on second and third, Dyer smoked a sharp grounder to the right side. In what looked to be a hit that would give Oregon a 5-4 lead, Stanford’s second basemen Duke Kinamon sprawled out and made an acrobatic diving stop and throw to get Dyer out at first and end the threat.

“That was a tremendous play by [Kinamon],” said Horton. “Our best at bats were late. Our guys had the will to win.”

The Ducks (23-11, 6-7 Pac-12) put together another rally in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t come away with the win against Stanford (21-12, 6-7), who held on to take the series opener on a beautiful night at PK Park.

Peterson, who entered the game sporting an 8-1 record, could never find a real groove in the series opener. Peterson had a tough first two innings, putting the Ducks in an early hole which they’d never be able to dig themselves out of.

In the top of the first, Daniel Bakst’s line drive to center field fell just out of the diving reach of the Ducks Jake Bennett, bringing home Matt Winaker to give the Cardinal an early 1-0 lead.

Stanford went right back to work in the second inning, scoring two more times off Peterson thanks to RBI knocks from Brandon Wulff and Maverick Handley to take an early 3-0 lead. The Cardinal snapped an impressive streak from Peterson, who hadn’t allowed more than one earned run in a start since February 24 against UC Irvine. In the top of the sixth, Jack Klein’s RBI single gave Stanford their fourth run of the game — a run that turned out to be pivotal.

For just the second start in his Oregon career, the junior allowed 10 or more hits. Peterson went seven innings and gave up four runs.

“They took advantage of pitches I didn’t execute,” said Peterson. “That was the difference in the game.”

The Ducks’ ace came into the night battling a bit of a flu throughout the week, but let Horton know that he was good to go.

“We were tossing the coin whether to let him pitch or not,” said Horton. “He was probably a little bit out of his weekly routine. He’d be the last guy to say that or use it as an excuse.”

Kris Bubic had a strong performance on the mound for Stanford, neutralizing the Ducks for the most part. He threw 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and striking out seven.

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Kavell Bigby-Williams has requested — and been granted — a release from Oregon, a team spokesman said Thursday afternoon.

His request doesn’t necessarily mean he will depart. The spokesman said he “has permission to explore the opportunity.”

Bigby-Williams is set to meet with head coach Dana Altman on Monday.

“One of the core elements of our program is that we encourage players to do what they feel is in their best interest, and if Kavell feels he needs to explore other opportunities, we would certainly support that,” UO spokesman Greg Walker wrote in an email. “Coach Altman is out of the office recruiting this week, but he and Kavell will be meeting on Monday, and we will move forward from there.”

Bigby-Williams, a junior, averaged 3.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game last season for the Ducks. A junior college transfer, Bigby-Williams took on a larger role at Oregon last season following Chris Boucher’s season-ending knee injury.

Should Bigby-Williams depart, he would be yet another player to move on from Oregon’s program this offseason. Tyler Dorsey, Dillon Brooks and Jordan Bell all declared for the NBA Draft. Earlier this month, guard Casey Benson announced he’ll graduate and transfer.

Follow Cole Kundich on Twitter @ckundich 

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The Ducks couldn’t win the rubber match of their three-game series again No. 7 Arizona, dropping the finale 18-4 to close out a trip to Tucson.

The Wildcats jumped on Isaiah Carranza from the start. JJ Matijevic brought home the first run of the game with an RBI single, which turned out to be the start of an offensive onslaught from Arizona.

Carranza — who has earned a spot in the rotation after a string of impressive starts — did not have anything working on Saturday. The sophomore lasted only 1 2/3 innings, allowing seven earned runs.

Following an RBI single from Daniel Platzaff in the top half of the second inning, the Ducks offense brought home three more runs in the seventh. Tim Susnara cleared the bases for a two-run home run, and Kyle Kasser added an RBI.

However, it wasn’t nearly enough against a Wildcats team that had scored 12 runs of their own before the Ducks three-run rally in the seventh. For good measure, they tacked on six more in the bottom of the seventh to squash any chance of a late inning comeback.

The loss drops the Ducks (23-10) to .500 in Pac-12 play. They will travel to Portland on Wednesday to face the Pilots before welcoming in Stanford for a three-game series at PK Park starting Friday.

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In a match that came down to the wire, Oregon (16-5, 2-3) was edged out 4-3 by No. 15 Cal in the Ducks’ first home match of Pac-12 play on Friday afternoon.

Tied 3-3, the match came down to a battle of the No. 1 singles court between Oregon’s Thomas Laurent and California’s Florian Lakat. In a match that featured two of the top players in the country, it was Lakat that came away with the 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win to give the Golden Bears (15-6, 3-1) the hard-earned victory.

“When you have two good teams, it comes down to a couple of shots,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of the stick.”

The Ducks had a tough start to the match after letting the doubles point slip away from them.

Making their debut together, Simon Stevens and Armando Soemarno were a bit out of sync, losing 6-3. Shortly after, Laurent and Cormac Clissold came away with a 6-3 victory of their own over Cal’s Andre Goransson and Billy Griffith to set the stage for Oregon’s No. 1 pair of Jayson Amos and Ty Gentry to get the match’s opening point.

The Golden Bears’ Lakat and Filip Berguel blew an early 3-1 lead. Amos and Gentry fought their way to a 5-4 lead. They wouldn’t be able to close the deal, however, losing 7-5 to allow Cal to clinch the doubles point.

“Ty has been playing great doubles. He’s returning well and serving well,” said Schyllander of his decision to insert the freshmen Gentry into the No. 1 pair alongside Amos. “He’s earned it.”

Oregon, ranked No. 23 nationally, had its work cut out from there. The Ducks had to win four out of the six singles matches to claim the victory. On Courts 4 through 6, Akihiro Tanaka, Clissold and Gentry made quick work of their opponents to put the Ducks up 3-1. Oregon needed just one win from either Laurent, Stevens or Amos.

Amos — in his first match after setting the Oregon record for most singles wins in program history — fell in straight sets to Berguel. Minutes later, Cal evened the match at 3-3 when Stevens fell to Goransson.

All eyes in a crowded Oregon Student Tennis Center were then treated to a back and forth match between two of the best players in the country. After dropping the first set 6-4, No. 26 Laurent evened things up with a 7-5 win in the second set over No. 15 Lakat. Both players held serve to bring the third set to 4-4 before Lakat eventually broke Laurent’s serve and broke through to win the final set 6-4.

“Hats off to [Florian Lakat],” said Schyllander. “It came down to shot making. … I thought Thomas [Laurent] played great.”

A win would have been extra sweet for Laurent. It would have given him an Oregon record 28th singles win of the season.

It won’t get any easier for the Ducks, who host No. 12 Stanford on Sunday afternoon.

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Jayson Amos now stands alone.

The senior earned his 91st career singles win — good for the most in program history — in the Ducks’ 4-1 victory at Arizona on Sunday.

The win was a big one for the Ducks. They cap their road conference schedule with a 2-2 record. Their final three games against Pac-12 opponents will be at the Oregon Student Tennis Center, where the Ducks (16-4, 2-2 Pac-12) have yet to lose this season.

However, the match will forever be remembered as the one in which Amos made history.

Coming into the day, Amos was tied with Robin Cambier for the most singles wins in program history with 90. He previously had a chance to break the record in a three-set duel against No. 10 UCLA, but came out on the losing end.

After Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent started the match off with a 6-3 win, Amos and Ty Gentry came away with a 6-3 win of their own over Will Kneale and Oliver Plaskett.

After helping clinch the doubles point, Amos had the opportunity to get win No. 91 against Arizona’s Shoki Kasahara. He seized it, defeating Kasahara 7-5, 6-3 to complete his chase for history.

Thomas Laurent, who could very well top Amos’ record one day, took down Shoti Meparidze 6-4, 6-3 to put the Ducks up 2-1 before Amos’ win. The sophomore secured a record of his own. His singles win — No. 27 of the season — puts him in a tie for the most in Oregon single-season history.

Simon Stevens wrapped up the win for the Ducks with his straight-set victory over Kneale.

Amos will go for win No. 92 of his career and Laurent will go for a record No. 28 of the season when the Ducks welcome Cal on April 14.

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The Ducks ran into some trouble in the sixth inning, but were able to weather the storm on their way to a 6-3 win over UC Irvine on Saturday at PK Park.

“It looked easy, but I was a bit disappointed,” head coach George Horton said. “I thought we had them on the ropes to extend [the lead].”

Through five innings of work, Matt Mercer was rolling. The sophomore had shut down the Anteaters, allowing no runs on just two hits.

With the Ducks up 4-0, Mercer’s outing soon came to an end in the top half of the sixth inning. Heavy rain showers hit PK Park following a lead off single from Devin Pettergil. The screws then came loose for Mercer, who allowed the next four batters to reach base on three walks and an RBI single.

The rain was no joke, either. With hail coming down, play was halted temporarily for the grounds crew to come out and fix the mound.

“It was very difficult in my opinion for Mercer to pitch in that inning with the hail,” said Horton. “I don’t think [Mercer] will use it as an excuse — he’s from Washington.”

Horton pulled Mercer after a bases-loaded walk, and called on Connor Zwetsch to come in and stop the bleeding. The Portland native delivered, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings to put a halt to UC Irvine’s momentum.

“Zwetsch did a wonderful job coming into a tough spot and keeping it to just one more [of Mercer’s runners to score],” said Horton.

With the Ducks up 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Tim Susnara provided some insurance with a two-run home run to put the Ducks up 6-3.

“I knew they were throwing me inside during the game,” Susnara said of his home run. “My approach was that if he starts me [on the inside half], I’m going to turn on it. … Sure enough, he went in.”

Matthew Dyer, who scored on Susnara’s second home run of the season, appeared in his first game after missing some time with an injured back. Playing as the DH, Dyer finished 2 for 4 with one RBI and a run scored.

“I’ve been grinding a bit,” said Dyer. “It felt good to be back. It’s been a while.”

Zwetsch gave way to Kenyon Yovan, who recorded his 11th save of the season. The freshman retired all five batters he faced to give the Ducks (20-8) the series win over the Anteaters (12-15).

Yovan entered with a three-run lead, thanks to Oregon’s four runs in the games opening innings. Dyer knocked in Kyle Kasser in the bottom of the first to give the Ducks the early 1-0 lead. Following an error by the Anteaters’ Pettergil in the bottom of the second, the Ducks tacked on three runs, punctuated by a two-RBI triple off the bat of Spencer Steer.

“We have full confidence in our pitching staff,” said Dyer. “They pick us up, we pick them up.”

Oregon finishes off its series with UC Irvine with a 12 p.m. game on Sunday. Isaiah Carranza will start. Carranza had a pair of strong starts against Portland and BYU in the Ducks’ recent five-game road trip.

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The Ducks are in the Pac-12 win column.

After dropping their first two conference matches, the No. 25 Ducks (15-4) swept Utah 4-0 to earn their first Pac-12 win.

Unlike their losses at No. 5 USC and No. 10 UCLA, the Ducks claimed the doubles point to jump out to the early 1-0 lead. Jayson Amos and Ty Gentry edged out Egbert Weverink and David Micevski 7-5 to clinch the point, after Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold earned a 7-5 win themselves.

The Ducks’ top three singles players — Laurent, Simon Stevens, and Akihiro Tanaka — brought home the victory, winning in straight sets.

After losing his doubles match playing alongside Tanaka, Stevens put the Ducks up 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dan Little.

Laurent put the Ducks on the brink of victory with his 6-2, 6-4 win over Micevski, whom he earlier beat in doubles. The sophomore is arguably having the greatest single season in program history. With a 26-3 singles record, Laurent is one win shy of tying the single season record in Oregon history, all while playing in the No. 1 spot.

Much attention remains on Jayson Amos, who came into the match one win shy of becoming the winningest singles player in Oregon history. The senior, however, didn’t get win No. 91 before Tanaka closed out the match with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Santiago Sierra.

The Ducks’ last road match in Pac-12 play will come on Sunday at Arizona. With a win, the Ducks will finish .500 on the road before returning to the Oregon Student Tennis Center, where they have yet to lose a match this season.

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When former Duck Robin Cambier broke the record for most singles wins in Oregon men’s tennis history in 2014, he was already thinking about which of his successors might top his mark one day.

“When I got recognized, I said that I hoped one of my teammates would get the record,” said Cambier.

Jayson Amos appears to be that teammate. A freshman on Cambier’s 2014 team, Amos is now on track to finish his career with the most singles wins in Oregon tennis history. He tied Cambier’s record 90 wins on March 18 against Tulane with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep.

“I had the privilege of being [Cambier’s] teammate,” said Amos. “He really helped me develop into somebody that knows how to work extremely hard like he did.”

Amos’ next shot to grab sole possession of first place in the record books will come in a Friday match at Utah.

“I saw the work that it took for [Cambier] to set the record. I saw that if I want to beat it, that’s the work I have to do.”

Amos’ first season as a Duck was the team’s first season following the loss of star player Alex Rovello, who passed away in a diving accident in May 2013. Playing in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots, Amos compiled a 19-3 record to help lead the Ducks to the NCAA Tournament in an emotional season.

“[Jayson] came into a tough situation,” said Cambier. “He was so mature as a freshman.”

Amos, now the only senior on the 2016-17 team, has seen the rise of the program over the course of his career. The Ducks recently cracked the Top 25 of the ITA rankings for the first time since the beginning of his freshman season.

His path to the top of the Oregon record books hasn’t been flashy or filled with national rankings or accolades. Amos has played only two career matches at the No. 2 spot and never played a match at the top spot. He began the current season at the No. 3 spot in singles, but following two straight losses, moved to the No. 4 spot in place of Akihiro Tanaka. It was no issue for Amos, who ripped off six straight wins from the No. 4 spot, including the clinching point in the Ducks’ March 5 win at UCSB.

“At the end of the day, someone else will tally up wins and losses and tell me how I’m doing,” Amos said.

Amos has been as durable as they come, not missing any extended time on the court over the course of his career.

“Jayson is a very diligent young man,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “If you see how he practices, and see how he takes care of his body, [his success] is not surprising at all.”

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With the game tied at five in the eighth inning, Morgan McCullough crossed home plate on a bases loaded walk in to give the Ducks a lead they would not relinquish.

The run was just a small part of a big night for the freshman, who paced the Ducks (18-8) to a 9-6 win over BYU (14-12).

The Ducks jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in Provo. In the top half of the second inning, two doubles from McCullough and Braden Stuzman — paired with two BYU errors — put the Ducks up 2-0. In the fourth, it would be McCullough again with an RBI single, followed by another RBI single from Kyle Kasser to tack on two more runs.

Isaiah Carranza threw five shutout innings in the Ducks 1-0 win over Portland on Tuesday. The sophomore got the ball again in the final game of the Ducks five game road swing, and delivered another solid outing to help pave the way for the win. Carranza threw five innings and allowed two earned runs before exiting.

The bullpen couldn’t protect the lead for Carranza. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Parker Kelly walked the first two batters before Cooper Stiles allowed a three-run home run off the bat of Nate Favaro to make it a 5-5 tie.

That is as close as BYU got to taking the lead, however. Following the bases loaded walk to score McCullough in the bottom of the eighth, two more Ducks scored after a failed pickoff at first base.

McCullough provided some insurance with his third RBI in the top of the ninth to give the Ducks a 9-5 lead. The Seattle native has had a difficult start to the season, coming into Sunday’s game hitting at .200. Time will tell if Monday’s game will be a turning point for McCullough, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Kenyon Yovan sealed the deal for the Ducks, recording the final six outs to give the Ducks the win. After going 3-2 on the road trip, the Ducks will welcome in UC Irvine for a three-game series starting on April 7.

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The Oregon men’s tennis team is a confident group right now. They should be. The team wrapped up its nonconference schedule winning the San Diego Invite to improve to 14-2 in 2017. After starting the season outside the ITA rankings, the Ducks now find themselves No. 24 in the nation.

The Ducks are well aware of what lies ahead in Pac-12 competition. Three schools — USC, UCLA and Cal — are above the Ducks in the ITA rankings. It will take a near perfect stretch of tennis to come out atop the Pac-12. It’ll be a test right from the start. The Ducks open conference play with back-to-back matches against No. 5 USC and No. 10 UCLA on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Looking Back

The Ducks finished in fifth place in Pac-12 play last season (out of eight teams) with a 3-4 conference record. They had wins over Washington, Utah and Arizona.

2016 standings — UCLA (7-0), USC (5-2), Cal (5-2), Stanford (4-3), Oregon (3-4), Washington (3-4), Utah (1-6), Arizona (0-7)

Ducks’ keys to success

Doubles Domination — The Ducks can get off to a fast start in conference matches in doubles play. The team has won the doubles point in 13 of its 16 matches played so far, highlighted by the play of Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold, who went 12-2 and rose to to the No. 1 pair.

Laurent at the top of his game — Laurent is having a season to remember. The sophomore is 14-1 in dual singles matches and is coming off an Oregon record for consecutive wins with 19. To make things more impressive, Laurent is doing this from the No. 1 spot.

Upperclassman play — Simon Stevens, a junior, is going to have a lot of work on his hands from the No. 2 spot and will have to remain competitive to give the Ducks their best shot at success. Jayson Amos is one win away from the Oregon record for all-time singles wins. He will be expected to provide a consistent level of play for the Ducks.

No. 6 spot — You can’t overlook the No. 6 spot, which could swing the outcome of the match either way. Ethan Young-Smith and Ty Gentry have spent much of the season switching off in this spot. Will either seize control of the spot?

Survive on the road — The Ducks’ first four matches will be on the road, before closing out Pac-12 play with three straight matches at home, where they have yet to lose this season. If the Ducks go 3-1 on the road, they have a shot to win the conference.

Pac-12 rundown

USC:

• 17-3 overall record (No. 5 in ITA rankings)
• March 31, 1:30 p.m. at Marks Stadium
• Top players – Brandon Holt (singles), Holt/Riley Smith (doubles)

UCLA:

• 11-4 overall record (No. 10)
• April 1, 3:00 p.m. at Sunset Canyon Tennis courts
• Top players – Gage Brymer (singles), Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu (doubles)

Utah:

• 13-4 overall record
• April 7, 3:00 p.m. at George S. Eccles tennis center
• Top players – Nick Borchenko (singles), Borchenko/Gabriel Diaz Friere in doubles

Arizona:

• 9-9 overall record
• April 9, 11:00 a.m. at Lanelle Robson tennis center
• Top players – Shoti Meparidze (singles), Trent Botha/Oliver Plaskett (doubles)

California:

• 13-5 overall record (No. 9)
• April 14, 3:00 p.m. at Oregon student tennis center
• Top players – Florian Lakat (singles), Lakat/Filip Bergevi (doubles, ranked No.2)

Stanford:

• 10-4 overall record
• April 16, 12:00 p.m. at Oregon student tennis center
• Top players – Tom Fawcett (singles), Genender/Kumar (double)

Washington:

• 11-4 overall record
• April 22. 2:00 p.m. at Oregon student tennis center
• Top players – Mitch Stewart (singles), Piers Foley/Wendell Watanabe (doubles)

Pac-12 Championships

April 26-29 in Ojai, California.

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