The baseball team gave its most consistent starting pitcher a 4-0 lead after the top of the first inning, seemingly setting the Ducks (36-15, 14-9 Pac-12) up for a series victory over Arizona State. But Jeff Gold got lit up, Oregon’s defense made costly errors and the bats went cold, resulting in a 9-4 loss to the Sun Devils (25-21, 13-10).

After Aaron Payne and Tyler Baumgartner walked to lead off the game, Shaun Chase hit a bunt single down the third base line to load the bases. Mitchell Tolman drove in Payne and moved the other two runners up a base with a deep sacrifice fly to right center field. Tolman set the stage for Kyle Garlick (2-for-4), who delivered a three-run home run to center field, putting the Ducks up 4-0 after one inning.

Arizona State answered in the bottom of the first inning. Johnny Sewald led off with a single and was driven home on a double from Drew Stankiewicz. Jake Peevyhouse came up next and singled, driving in Stankiewicz. Gold retired two straight batters but hit a batter to bring up Brian Serven (2-for-5), who hit a single to score Peevyhouse. The score was 4-3 in favor of Oregon after one inning.

Gold’s struggles continued in the second inning. He gave up a single and a walk with one out to bring up Peevyhouse, who reached on an error by shortstop Mark Karaviotis. Gold retired the next batter but Arizona State struck again with two outs. A Nate Causey single drove in two runs and Peevyhouse scored on another Oregon error, this one by Baumgartner. Trevor Allen then singled to drive in Causey from second. The Sun Devils led 7-4 heading into the third inning.

Gold retired the first two batters in the third but Sewald (4-for-4, three runs scored) and Stankiewicz (2-for-4, two runs, two RBIs) again hit a single and a double, respectively, to score Arizona State’s eighth run of the game. Gold was replaced by Trent Paddon following Stankiewicz’s double. Gold pitched 2.2 innings, giving up nine hits, eight runs (four earned) and one walk with one strikeout. He has given up 13 runs (nine earned) over his past two starts.

RJ Ybarra started another Arizona State rally in the fourth with a one-out single. Causey (2-for-5) followed that up with a double to put two runners in scoring position. Allen hit a sacrifice fly to center field in the next at-bat to give Arizona State a 9-4 lead.

Arizona State starting pitcher Ryan Kellog cruised after the rough first inning. He finished the game pitching 8.0 innings, giving up eight hits, four runs (all earned) and two walks while striking out 12.

The rubber match for this series takes place Sunday night at 6:05. Brandon Tessar (2.13 earned-run average) takes the mound for Oregon against Arizona State’s Darin Gillies (5.09 ERA).

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Oregon men’s basketball head coach Dana Altman spoke to the media Friday afternoon about the sexual assault allegations against basketball players Damyean Dotson, Brandon Austin and Dominic Artis. It was Altman’s first appearance since the allegations came to light on May 5.

“I am very disappointed in the three young men,” Altman said.

Altman said he first knew about the investigation on March 17, the day before Oregon’s first game of the NCAA tournament. However, he did not know that it was a rape investigation and did not know the severity of the allegations.

The athletic department announced that it had suspended Austin, Artis and Dotson from the team on May 5.

Altman said that the decision to remove the players from the team was impacted by the pressure that the UO would put on the athletic department to do so.

“I think there would be a lot of pressure here at Oregon if they return and try to play basketball,” Altman said.

Altman said he spoke to the players following their suspensions.

“They were disappointed,” Altman said. “DA and Dot loved the university and loved their time here.”

When asked what he would have done differently, Altman said, “It’s hard to deal in what ifs, especially in a situation like this.”

Altman vouched for Austin’s character when Austin transferred from Providence College in Rhode Island after being suspended from the basketball team for an undisclosed violation of student conduct code. Altman said he discussed the violations with the Providence coaches and that Oregon “felt this was not something of a serious nature.” The Wall Street Journal reported on March 18 that Austin was suspended from Providence due to sexual assault allegations. Altman said he did not know anything about the allegations before the Wall Street Journal’s report.

“(Providence head coach) Ed Cooley said that it was not a legal matter, it was a university matter,” Altman said. “The fact that Providence tried to keep him gave us confidence that it wasn’t a serious matter.”

Altman said he did not know about Austin’s allegations of sexual assault at Providence College until March. When Austin transferred to the University of Oregon, Altman said the Providence coaches were still trying to keep Austin, which made Altman believe the allegations were not serious.

Altman said he spoke to Austin’s family about the suspension when Austin transferred to Oregon in January.

“I had every confidence after speaking with his family and checking his high school background that there was nothing to prevent him from joining our team,” Altman said. “He did not give specifics, so my line of questioning probably didn’t go deep enough there in retrospect.”

The Eugene Police Department released a report on Monday detailing the allegations of sexual assault allegedly committed by the players. The alleged assault occurred on March 9, hours after the Ducks ended their regular season with a 64-57 win against Arizona. According to the report, Dotson, Austin and Artis allegedly raped a woman twice in the bathroom of star point guard Johnathan Loyd’s house and again at an apartment leased to Artis and Dotson.

“There are four people whose lives have been greatly altered here,” Altman said. “I feel very bad for the victim and her family. Moving forward, it’s a tough situation.”

Artis and Dotson competed in both the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments while the investigation was happening in March. Austin isn’t eligible to play until this December because of his transfer status.

The Oregonian reported on Thursday that Altman knew his players were under investigation before he let them participate in the NCAA Tournament. University officials approved the players’ participation.

Altman began his coaching career at Oregon in 2010 after 16 years as the head coach at Creighton. His collegiate coaching career has spanned 24 years and he currently holds a record of 501-288 (.635).

In November, Altman agreed to a three-year extension that kept him in Eugene through the 2019-2020 season. In his initial signing with Oregon, Altman signed a seven-year contract.

Athletic Director Rob Mullens confirmed on Friday morning that Altman will be head coach for the 2014-2015 season.

The players are no longer on campus and are back with their families, Altman said.

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After practices conclude, Oregon football players dispense of their sweaty pads and jerseys and head to the showers. As they walk past the Hatfield-Dowlin complex towards the locker room, many of them must stop to talk with the media.

For several players, these recorder-wielding people seem like foreigners with jobs they’ll never approach. But some players are journalism majors, taking classes about the very concepts reporters and videographers utilize after football practices. In some ways, these players have extra appreciation for the media because they might end up in their shoes.

Studying journalism can also make interviews easier for players.

“It definitely helps me be more comfortable,” linebacker Derrick Malone said. “I know (the media’s) objective, I know their goals and I try to work with them.”

Malone, who’s set to graduate after this term, majors in advertising, but one of his favorite classes — taught by his favorite teacher, Deb Morrison — dealt primarily with journalistic storytelling.

Every summer during “Zero Week” (in between graduation and the first week of summer classes), Morrison teaches a two-week-long sports media workshop with fellow UO journalism professors Mark Blaine, Rebecca Force and Morrison’s husband, Dan. The course pairs student athletes with student journalists, and several media professionals (like USA Today’s George Schroeder) and sports figures (like former Oregon and NFL quarterback Dan Fouts) come in to speak.

Oregon student athletes learn interview techniques and multimedia production skills, but Morrison points out another course outcome.

“What we’ve seen from the student athlete side is discovery,” Morrison said.

A prime example of this, Morrison said, is Craig Loper, currently a sports anchor/reporter for KMTR. Loper walked onto the football team his freshman year (2009-10), but injuries and walk-on inequalities made him question sticking with the sport. The summer after his freshman year, he took the sports media workshop and fell in love with journalism. He quit football later that summer and declared as a journalism major the following school year.

“Being from an athletic background, sports media is something I’d always thought about anyway,” Loper said. “This class kind of just shored things up for me.”

Loper began working for KMTR last year and attended several football media opportunities, which he said were uncomfortable at first due to his close relationships with several Ducks, namely Boseko Lokombo and Brian Jackson.

The discomfort eventually wore off, thanks in large part to Loper’s football experience. He knows what it’s like to play Oregon football, giving him a leg up on other media members when he talks to players like Bralon Addison (WR), Thomas Tyner and Byron Marshall (both RBs), who are all pursuing journalism degrees.

Marshall hosted a radio show in high school and said he would love to host a sports talk show in the future.

Addison — currently nursing a torn ACL — participated in a high school journalism program and wants to be a sports analyst after football.

While the NFL is the ultimate career goal, even the longest-tenured professional players need jobs afterwards. Since their lives revolved around football for decades, sports journalism is an obvious choice.

“You play football all your life and you get to talk about sports for a job,” Addison said. “How fun is that?”

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Oregon head men’s basketball coach Dana Altman reportedly knew about about an investigation into multiple Ducks basketball players a day or two before the NCAA tournament but let the players play because University of Oregon officials said it was OK, according to multiple anonymous Oregonian sources.

The Oregon coaching staff has been placed under a gag order due to the controversy over the past week regarding the investigation into the three players. Brandon Austin, Damyean Dotson and Dominic Artis were allegedly involved in the rape of a woman on March 9.

None of the three players are expected to return next season, according to The Oregonian’s story.

The Ducks’ first game of the NCAA tournament occurred on March 20 against BYU. Sources told The Oregonian that Altman didn’t know about the investigation of his players until after Oregon’s last Pac-12 tournament game against UCLA, which occurred on March 13.

The Oregonian reported on Tuesday that the university knew of the allegations against the three players on the day of the alleged incident.

On Monday, the UO athletic department announced that Austin, Dotson and Artis were not participating in team activities. The athletic department didn’t have an update on the players’ status on Thursday.

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University of Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens and Vice President for Student Affairs Robin Holmes released a statement Tuesday regarding Monday’s police report that alleged Oregon men’s basketball players were involved in a sexual assault. This is the first statement from the athletic department since it was announced Monday morning that the three players — Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin — were no longer participating in team activities.

Mullins and Holmes address criticisms aimed at the university regarding the timeliness of Dotson, Artis and Austin’s suspension. The statement indicates that university administrators began investigating immediately, but that law enforcement agencies often request a delay on action in order to avoid interference in open cases.

Tuesday’s statement reads:

“The University of Oregon takes all student misconduct that threatens the safety of our students very seriously. We have a clear obligation and responsibility to act in a way that protects all members of our campus community, and our first priority is always to ensure the safety and support of our students.

“Questions have arisen regarding the timeliness of the university’s involvement in the matter reported about University of Oregon basketball. Law enforcement agencies often request that the university wait to take action in order to avoid interference with an open criminal investigation. We responded accordingly in this situation. In all cases we begin investigating immediately, and aggressively address situations in accordance with the law, our internal code of conduct, and our commitment and obligation to protect and support our students.”

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University of Oregon President Michael Gottfredson released a statement Tuesday morning regarding a Eugene Police report indicating that three Oregon men’s basketball players — Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin — were allegedly involved in a sexual assault in March.

Gottfredson’s statement reads:

“The report of sexual violence affecting our community is of deep concern to me, as it is to all of us. The University of Oregon takes such reports extremely seriously. As a residential campus, a close community of students, faculty, and staff, supporting our students and protecting their safety is our highest priority.

“I am deeply troubled by the information contained in the police report released yesterday by the Eugene Police Department. The university has rigorous internal conduct processes that we follow when we receive a report such as this, as well as legal processes and a moral commitment to our students. We share a responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for our students, a responsibility I take very seriously.”

Tuesday’s statement follows a preliminary statement published through University spokeswoman Julie Brown Monday evening following the release of the police report.

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Oregon linebacker Rahim Cassell was arrested by Eugene Police Sunday morning around 1 a.m. for driving under the influence, Eugene Police spokeswoman Melinda McLaughlin confirmed Monday morning. McLaughlin said Cassell’s vehicle was impounded and he was likely cited and released.

The arrest occurred on E. 13th Ave. and Hilyard St. A party patrol officer saw Cassell’s car speeding and changing lanes without using its signal, prompting the officer to pull Cassell over and cite him.

Cassell, a redshirt junior from Lakewood, California, played in all 13 games during the 2013 season as a backup linebacker. He finished the year with 32 total tackles, included 13 unassisted, while also forcing and recovering a fumble. His best game so far as a Duck came against Stanford, when he recorded six tackles (two solo) in Oregon’s 26-20 loss.

During the 2014 spring game, Cassell recorded four tackles, including two solo. He made the first defensive play of the game by forcing running back Thomas Tyner out of bounds in the first quarter of play.

He recorded the first sack of his career in the 2013 Civil War against Oregon State while also forcing a fumble. Additionally, he recovered his first fumble against Nicholls State in 2013.

UPDATE: Mark Helfrich’s released a statement regarding the incident:

“We are aware of the situation and continue to gather information. We have a high standard of accepted behavior for our student-athletes that will not be compromised. Once we have a complete determination of the facts, we will take appropriate steps,” Helfrich said in the statement.

Emerald sports reporter Jonathan Hawthorne contributed to the reporting of this story.

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The Oregon baseball team trailed 6-2 and was running low on outs and innings. But with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Ducks rallied against Arizona and tied the game on a Steven Packard home run. The rally propelled the Ducks (33-13, 12-8 Pac-12), who walked off in the bottom of the 10th on a single from Austin Grebeck to take the game and the series over the Wildcats (18-27, 7-16 Pac-12), winning 7-6.

“Probably on the short list of as good of comebacks as we’ve had late in the ballgame,” Oregon head coach George Horton said.

After a pair of strikeouts to lead off the bottom of the seventh, Tyler Baumgartner (3-for-3, two RBIs, one walk) kept the inning alive with an infield single. Then, Mitchell Tolman got hit by a pitch to bring up Kyle Garlick, who smashed a triple into the right center field gap. The hit cut Arizona’s lead in half to bring up Packard. Packard crushed a 2-1 breaking ball into the Oregon bullpen in right field, topping off the improbable comeback.

“I was actually a little bit out in front of that slider, curveball, whatever it was, and I was able to keep it fair,” Packard said.

Horton said he spoke to administrative assistant Mitch Karraker before Packard’s blast.

“I said, ‘I know Packard’s going to get up but I don’t have a feeling for what he’s going to do,’” Horton said. “Maybe that was it because he hit a home run and that’s not a usual thing for Steve Packard.”

Arizona struck shortly after the game began. The second batter of the game, Kevin Newman, smoked a double down the left field line and scored three pitches later on a single to left by Scott Kingery.

Oregon answered in the bottom of the third. Mark Karaviotis led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Aaron Payne. Baumgartner followed the bunt up with a single up the middle, scoring Karaviotis to tie the game 1-1.

A similar scenario occurred in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Arizona starting pitcher Cody Hamlin hit Karaviotis in a 1-2 count. Payne didn’t bunt this time, but he moved Karaviotis to second with a groundout to first. Baumgartner plated Karaviotis with a single – to right field this time – to give Oregon a 2-1 lead.

The lead didn’t last long. In the top of the sixth, Kevin Newman led off with a single to center. After a flyout from Kingery, Trent Gilbert singled to right and Willie Calhoun doubled over Baumgartner’s head in right to score Newman. Tyler Krause then singled to left field to score Gilbert and knock Oregon starter Jeff Gold out of the game. Jordan Spencer came in but couldn’t limit the damage, giving up a single to score Calhoun and put Arizona up 4-2. Riley Moore came up next and laid down a squeeze bunt. A.J. Balta’s glove toss home wasn’t in time, scoring Krause.

Newman sparked another rally in the seventh. After he hit a one-out single off of reliever Stephen Nogosek, Kingery doubled down the left field line, advancing Newman to third. Porter Clayton replaced Nogosek after the double and gave up a sacrifice fly to give Arizona a 6-2 lead.

The Ducks got two runners on in the ninth, but other than that, neither team threatened after Oregon’s four-run seventh inning, so the game went into extra innings.

Shaun Chase (2-for-5) led off the 10th inning with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Desmond Santos, who moved to third on a single from A.J. Balta (3-for-5). Grebeck lined his single past the diving Newman at shortstop to complete the comeback.

“I’ve been trying to work on getting good at-bats earlier in the game but I guess I like the big show,” Grebeck said.

“We can’t win nine in a row but we have a chance to win three in a row,” Horton said.

Noteworthy:

– This was Oregon’s 15th straight win at home, dating back to March 15 against USC.

– Garlick’s triple in the seventh was the 12th of his career, breaking the Oregon career triples record. Going into the game, Garlick was tied with George Shaw, who set the record in 1955. Payne currently has 10 career triples.

– Gold was battling the flu, according to Horton, who didn’t want to make excuses for Gold’s struggles (5.1 innings, eight hits, five runs) even though he said the sickness might have had an effect.

“Just didn’t seem to have his real sharp breaking stuff, and they (the Wildcats) had their hitting shoes on,” Horton said.

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The Oregon baseball team could hardly hit the ball out of the infield the first five innings, much less score. Arizona starter James Farris got ahead of seemingly every hitter, like he did against catcher Shaun Chase in the bottom of the fifth inning. But after taking a first-pitch strike, Chase unloaded on a fastball, hitting it over the center field wall with room to spare.

“I didn’t really see it because I was sprinting,” Chase said. “I didn’t think it would actually get out to center in PK, so I was going for a triple.”

The blast, which gave the Ducks (32-13, 11-8 Pac-12) a 1-0 lead, was one of two home runs on the night for Chase, who scored and drove in three runs during Oregon’s 4-1 win over Arizona (18-26, 7-15) Friday night at PK Park.

The win comes less than a week after Oregon State swept the Ducks out of Corvallis, and the Oregon coaching staff wasn’t happy with the Ducks’ early performance against Arizona. Head coach George Horton said hitters had “giveaway at-bats” early in the game, and hitting coach Mark Wasikowski gave them an earful in the dugout, calling them “soft” and “selfish,” among other things.

“There was just a bad feeling of trying too hard, I don’t know what it was, ‘woe is me’ — kind of a hangover of getting cut up the previous weekend,” Horton said. “I went to Coach Waz and said, ‘We’ve gotta do something.’ Coach Waz got way up underneath them and started yelling and screaming.”

Farris shut down first 14 Oregon batters, striking out five and allowing just one hit (and baserunner). But the game swung Oregon’s way after Chase smashed a fastball well over 400 feet to put the Ducks up 1-0 in the fifth.

“I just saw a spotlight on him,” Oregon starter Tommy Thorpe said of Chase. “I didn’t really call it but I just thought about it and thought he was going to hit a home run, and he did.”

Austin Grebeck came up directly after Chase and laid down a bunt on the first pitch. Third baseman Willie Calhoun barehanded the ball but he threw wide left of first base and down the right field line. Grebeck advanced to third on the error. Mark Karaviotis came up next and singled to center on the first pitch he saw to drive in Grebeck for a 2-0 lead.

Arizona got a run back in the top of the seventh. Tyler Krause led off the inning with a bloop to left field and Kyle Garlick nearly made an impressive running catch, but the ball bounced off his glove, resulting in a double for Krause. The next batter, Calhoun, swung away on the first pitch and lined it past the diving A.J. Balta at first base for a single to drive in Krause.

The Ducks answered immediately. Chase led off the bottom of the seventh with a long double to left over Krause’s head. Balta followed that up with a single to put runners on the corners and Grebeck drove in Chase with a soft groundout to first base. Balta moved to third on a wild pitch and scored a couple of pitches later on a Karaviotis single, putting the Ducks up 4-1.

Thorpe threw into the eighth and got the first two outs of the inning, but two straight singles prompted Horton to replace Thorpe with Garrett Cleavinger. Thorpe pitched 7.2 innings, allowing five hits, two walks and one run (earned) while striking out five.

“I was telling (Horton) I wanted to stay in but, obviously, my pitch count was up,” Thorpe said.

Chase hit his second home run — a towering fly to left field — in the bottom of the eighth to give Oregon its decisive 6-1 lead.

“Chase is a guy who’s basically in scoring position every time he’s up,” Karaviotis said.

The Ducks are back in action Saturday at 3 p.m. Jeff Gold (2.30 ERA) will toe the rubber for Oregon, facing Cody Hamlin (2.94 ERA).

“That was a good victory tonight to build on,” Horton said. “Hopefully, we can get back into balance again and — knock on wood — maybe we can roll off a few in a row.”

Noteworthy:

– Chase now leads the Pac-12 with seven home runs on the season.

– This is also the first time an Oregon player has hit at least two home runs in a game since Ryon Healy blasted two against Stanford on April 27, 2013.

– Cleavinger’s last appearance came on Saturday against Oregon State, when he came in with a lead and left trailing. He gave up four runs (all earned) in the eighth inning during the Ducks’ 4-2 loss and allowed a single to the first batter he faced Friday night, loading the bases. But Cleavinger got pinch-hitter Zach Gibbons (.347 batting average on the season) to flyout and keep the score at 4-1.

“I’m sure he had a little bit of revenge on his mind from the previous week,” Horton said.

Chase went to the mound after the single Friday night and told Cleavinger not to worry about the hit.

“I have the utmost confidence in Cleav,” Chase said. “He’s going to be in the bigs one day.”

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Oregon head coach George Horton talked with the media before Wednesday’s baseball practice, discussing his and his team’s mindset following the three-game sweep to Oregon State over the weekend.

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