Following a sweet victory over Portland on Tuesday in their home opener, the ninth-ranked Oregon Ducks were shut out in their first game of a three-game series versus the fifth-ranked Cal State Fullerton Titans and were handed a 9-2 defeat. The Titans were able to get their bats hot in the third inning and rode that momentum for four-straight innings of scoring runs on the Ducks, with Oregon unable to get their bats going until the bottom of ninth when it was too little too late.
“We won the 7th, 8th, and 9th inning if there’s a silver lining,” said coach George Horton post-game. Horton also put the loss on the fact that they “kicked our butts” rather than Thorpe throwing poorly.
Tommy Thorpe, who came into today leading the Ducks with a 1.38 ERA in 13 IP, had a disappointing start for Oregon. In 5 1/3 IP, Thorpe gave up 7 runs (6 earned runs) off of 8 hits and 3 walks. Thorpe struck out 3 Titans batters.
On the flip side, Cal State Fullerton’s Thomas Eshelman had an excellent start for the Titans. In 8 IP, Eshelman gave up 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and struck out 7 batters.
Cal State Fullerton broke the deadlock in the top of the third inning when Tanner Pinkston reached first base on a fielder’s choice, leading to an errant throw over to second to try and throw out Austin Diemer (2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI) which led to Keegan Dale (3-5, 2 R) scoring an unearned run from third.
The Titans continued to score into the fourth inning. A passed ball with the bases loaded started things off for Cal State Fullerton, allowing Jared Deacon (1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB) to score from third, and the rest of the base-runners to move up a base. Then, Diemer hit a slow roller up the first-base line letting Jake Jefferies score from third as a result of Thorpe not getting there in time.
Cal State Fullerton finished things off in the top of the fourth with third baseman Matt Chapman (2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI) hitting a three-run homer over the left field wall to give the Titans a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth.
During their next at-bat, Oregon and Thorpe was able to hold the Titans to just one run. That run came courtesy of a single from Deacon leading to Greg Velazquez scoring from third.
After one out in the top of the sixth, Oregon relieved Thorpe of his duties on the mound and brought in Darrell Hunter. A new pitcher didn’t stop the Titans however, with JD Davis hitting a two-run RBI into right field to put Cal State Fullerton up 9-0 over Oregon.
Following the sixth inning, Ducks brought in reliever Brando Tessar for Hunter who lasted only 2/3of an inning. Tessar finished Cal State Fullerton’s scoring for the night, shutting out the Titans in the final three innings and giving up only 2 hits.
The Ducks didn’t escape the game without a bright spot however, as Oregon scored two runs off of a double by Kyle Garlick (1-4, 2 RBI) into left-center field.
Oregon will return to PK Park tomorrow afternoon to take on Cal State Fullerton with first pitch being just after 2 p.m.