SEATTLE, Wash—After splitting games one and two, the No. 24 Oregon Ducks won Sunday's rubber match against the Washington Huskies by a score of 5-3, securing the series victory over their rivals to the north.
Drew Smith led off the game for the Ducks (34-16, 16-11) with a first-pitch single to right, bringing his average in the leadoff spot up to .474 on the season. The Ducks couldn't capitalize on their early baserunner, though, as Mason Neville quickly grounded into a double play, and Jacob Walsh weakly sent the first pitch he saw on the ground to the Husky second baseman.
After Kevin Seitter's quick inning, during which he picked up his first strikeout, the Ducks' offense got to work, loading the bases with a Bennett Thompson double, a Maddox Molony walk, and a Chase Meggers single. Bryce Boettcher brought Thompson home on a towering sacrifice fly before Carter Garate slapped a ball through the left side for a double to score Molony.
"Bennett [was] player of the game today, I think Chase [Meggers] had five RBIs yesterday," head coach, Mark Wasikowski said of his pair of productive backstops. "Both are studs, Coach Marder, catching coach, has done a great job with those guys."
With two down and two runners in scoring position, Smith wasn't able to lay off a slider out of the zone, striking out to end the inning.
Seitter quickly picked up the first two outs of the second with grounders to third and second before allowing a pair of singles and a pair of doubles to bring home three runs, putting the Huskies (19-25-1, 10-17) up one. With Washington's best hitter, Aiza Arquette, at the plate with a runner on second, Seitter got him to chase on a high heater out of the zone to end the Husky rally.
"A lot of these young guys, as soon as they get into some adversity, they kinda run away, and they kinda get embarrassed, and they hide," Wasikowski said of Seitter's ability to bounce back after a three-run second inning. "He didn't, he got better. He's an old guy, he's had a lot of experience, Coach Hawk[sworth] went out, encouraged him to continue to get after it and pitch more even with his fastball at that point and I think that settled him in and he got more aggressive when he needed to."
Neville led off the third with a single to right before stealing second, giving Oregon a runner in scoring position with no outs. After Walsh walked and Justin Cassella flew out to left, Thompson drove a single up the middle to plate Neville and tie the game back up at three runs apiece.
After working a full count, Maddox Molony ripped a ball into left. Walsh thought the ball would drop and was running at the sound of contact. When the Husky outfielder secured the catch, Walsh had nearly made it to third and was doubled up to end the inning.
Following two efficient innings from Seitter, during which he picked up strikeouts three and four—the latter on a nasty curveball in the dirt—the Oregon offense got back to work in the top of the fifth.
"The ability to go in and out with my fastball and then to have breaking balls—one for strikes and one for in two-strike counts—worked for me on the mound," Seitter said. I said it before, I'll say it again. Throwing to guys like Bennett Thompson is huge."
Smith led off the inning with a lineout to left before Neville gave the Ducks one of the best plate appearances I've ever seen in my life.
After going down 0-2, Neville fouled off strike three to stay alive before watching three straight balls whiz by to bring the count to full. He then got to work, refusing to strikeout as he fouled off eight straight pitches before taking ball four and his rightful place on first base.
"I thought that was huge," Wasikowski said of Neville's 16-pitch battle. "That ended up being one of the runs on the board. The game rewarded us for Mason's toughness and grit to will himself through that at-bat, and he won it. That was an incredible at-bat, one of the better ones I've seen in my career."
"It was a battle, hats off to him," Neville said. "I just trusted in myself and went up there trying to not get beat. Trying to put the bat on the ball, start something for my team."
Neville then stole second before coming home to score when Cassella pushed a ball into right field for a single. After Cassella stole second and a pitch hit Thompson, the Ducks executed a perfect double steal to put two runners in scoring position. Oregon liked its matchup with the Husky backstop on Sunday, as they totaled 5 steals on the day, including multi-steal days from Neville and Cassella.
"When coach gives us the steal sign, we're not going to hesitate," Neville said of the Ducks' baserunning. "We work on that kind of stuff, when he calls for it, we're ready to go. I think I'm decently fast, so I'd like to steal more bags."
Despite the chance to add to the Oregon lead, Molony quickly found himself behind 0-2 after two pitches and grounded out to third to end the inning one pitch later.
Things got quiet from there offensively. Seitter added four more strikeouts in the fifth and sixth innings, while the Ducks managed just one base runner, who was erased when Boettcher was picked off.
"His velocity being the best he's had all year," Wasikowsi said of Seitter. "He got out there and he absolutely attacked, I was just impressed, I thought that was really good on his part."
"When you go out on Sundays, and it's a rubber match I want to bring my best stuff," Seitter said. "But it's a great environment, it's a great day. I love competing. I love every opportunity that I get. That stuff is natural; it's not a facade. It's true emotion, and I'm blessed to be able to play in situations like that."
Smith led off the seventh with a double into the right field corner, his second hit of the day, and was pinch run for by Ryan Cooney. Neville followed with his own second hit of the day, a single through the left side of the infield to give the Ducks runners on the corners with no outs. A deep fly ball to center off the bat of Walsh plated Cooney, but Cassella grounded into a close double play to end the inning before the Ducks could add to their 5-3 lead.
After picking up his ninth strikeout, this time looking to begin the seventh, Seitter gave up a double to right that would end his day. Bradley Mullan entered in relief, striking out consecutive batters on fastballs, ending the inning and preserving the Oregon lead.
The Ducks went quietly in the top of the eight with three straight flyouts before Mullan continued his excellent relief work in the bottom of the frame, forcing three groundouts to send the Ducks into the final inning with a two-run lead.
Oregon was retired in order in the top of the ninth, setting up Logan Mercado to record his eighth save of the season. He quickly picked up the first out, getting a swing and a miss on a slider before allowing a single to right field. A grounder to first allowed Walsh to step on the bag for the second out, but the Ducks couldn't convert the double play as the runner advanced to second and then to third on a stolen base.
Despite the runner on third, Mercado was unphased, blowing a 93 mph fastball by Colton Bower to end the game and secure the series win for the Ducks.
Oregon returns home to Eugene next weekend, playing a three-game set against the Washington State Cougars to end the regular season.