The No.11 Oregon Ducks’ six game winning streak is now over. The Seattle University Redhawks defeated Oregon 3-2, concluding a two game series Wednesday evening in Bellevue, Washington, at Bannerwood Park.
The Ducks had a chance to tie and possibly take the lead in the ninth. Brett Thomas stood at the plate, runners on the corners, and only one out. However, on a 2-1 count, with Redhawks closer Eric Yardley on the mound, Thomas grounded into a game ending 4-6-3 double play. The throw at first was close, but the first base umpire called him out on a bang-bang play. Thomas, a junior, went 2-5 in the game and scored a run in the 3rd. Yardley recorded his tenth save of the year for the Redhawks.
Mitchell Tolman, who was the designated hitter, added two more RBI to increase his total 9 for the series. Tolman now has 21 RBI on the season and has increased his batting average to .344.
Kevin Cline Photography
The Redhawks scored the first run of the game, to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. They then scored again in the 2nd to make it 2-0. Mitchell Tolman’s two run single to left field tied the game in the top of the third, but Seattle U bounced back to score in bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of second basemen Cash McGuire.
In his Oregon debut as a starter, junior right-hander Clayton Crum lasted 3 innings, surrendering 2 earned runs on four hits and no walks. Crum threw 45 pitches in the game.
The loss was recorded to Cole Wiper (1-1), who pitched 2 innings of relief for the Ducks, yielding one earned run on two hits and two walks. The redshirt freshmen was on the mound in his hometown of Bellevue, where he attended Newport High School.
Kevin Cline Photography
Fresh off his “Pac-12 Player of the Week” nomination, the Ducks best hitter, first basemen Ryon Healy, was 0-2 in the game but did walk twice. Healy batted .400 (6-15) in four games last week and is now batting a team high .349 (61-175) in 45 games this year. The honor is the second of the season for Healy, who finished the week with two home runs, a double, and seven runs batted in, leading the team to a 4-0 record. The junior from West Hills, California, currently leads the Ducks in nearly every single offensive category.
The Ducks’ six game winning streak was the second longest of the season (7 is the longest). The Ducks are now 17-2-1 all time vs. Seattle University.
The bats were held to only six hits a night after scoring twelve runs in a 12-7 win Tuesday. Oregon will now travel to Pullman, where they will meet the Cougars of Washington State for a three game series, starting Friday. Washington State is 20-20 on the season (7-11 in Pac-12), and will meet Oregon for the first time. Oregon will play the next six games on the road, before returning home on May 14th vs. Gonzaga.
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