Seasoned baseball fans have probably seen some wacky things happen on the diamond. From deflected outs, to runners passing each other on the bases, the random feel to baseball is something that most fans treasure. Today’s game had one of the weirdest final box scores I’ve ever seen. Oregon (5-1) beat LMU (3-3) on Saturday afternoon by a score of 6-1. But, the Ducks scored their six runs on just two hits.
LMU starter Trevor Megill (1-1) had a very strange second outing indeed. Megill allowed just one hit in his six innings pitched, but plunked a whopping six Oregon batters, forcing Megill to extend innings far past their intended length.
Tommy Thorpe waxes another LMU batter.
In the third inning, Megill seemed to be really hitting his stride as he quickly sent down the first two Oregon batters (7th and 8th hitters in the lineup) to greet him in the inning. But, Oregon’s “back end” of the lineup only lasts through eight hitters as the ever efficient J.J. Altobelli came to the plate in the ninth spot.
Megill promptly hit Altobelli with a pitch, extending the inning, and bringing the top of the lineup up to bat. Leadoff man Aaron Payne waited Megill out and worked a two out walk. After two additional at bats in the inning, Megill hit both Scott Heineman and Brett Thomas to push home Oregon’s first run of the game. Ryon Healy capped the rally off with a two run RBI single to give Oregon a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third.
Steven Packard for the out!
Oregon would add three more runs off of some more miscues by Megill. A wild pitch and a throwing error compounded the Oregon lead to 6-0.
After being dominated by Colin Welmon on opening night, the runs came in the most untraditional fashion possible on Saturday. I’m sure Coach Horton is wishing that those runs had come when they actually needed them, though.
Those regrets come courtesy of Tommy Thorpe (2-0), who was nearly untouchable in his second start of the season. Thorpe was mowing down LMU batters, allowing just four hits in a career high seven innings pitched. The Lions didn’t even move a runner past second base while Thorpe was on the mound.
Ryon Healy stealing second base.
Last weekend, there seemed to be a clear order to the rotation; Jake Reed looked like the obvious ace in his first outing, while Tommy Thorpe looked solid, but not nearly as dominant as Reed did. Cole Irvin was very impressive in his debut appearance, but was a step behind the first two starters.
Now, it seems as if the rotation has flipped a bit. Hopefully Irvin (1-0, 3.86 ERA) will continue the trend on Sunday afternoon in the rubber match of the Ducks’ first series at PK Park. Irvin will face another LMU righty in Aaron Griffin (1-0, 1.12 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 12:00pm.
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Josh is a College Football enthusiast from sunny Southern California. He has written for several self-operated prep sports blogs, as well as multiple SB Nation sites. In High School, Josh played football for four years, and helped create and operate the team’s no-huddle system. Most of Josh’s football knowledge branches from watching College Football his entire life, and is backed up by his first hand experience in both option and spread offenses. Above all, though, he is a proud student at the University of Oregon.
@joshschlichter