The Oregon Ducks (7-4) finished off a four-game weekend with a 7-2 win against the UC Davis Aggies on a cold Monday night at PK Park.
In his first college start, Oregon freshman Zack Noll went five innings and gave up four hits and one earned run to pick up the win. In the second inning, he struck out the side, and all total he struck out four batters in the game. Noll was scheduled to start last weekend, but the team’s game against San Diego was cancelled, forcing his first start to be pushed back to tonight.
“I’m sure he was anxious to get out there,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “I thought he did a fine job.”
Isaiah Carranza came into the game in the sixth inning and finished out the game, holding the Aggies to four hits and one earned run while striking out four batters to pick up his first save of the season.
It was an exceptionally cold and rainy weekend in the Eugene area, with some parts of Eugene waking up to snow on Monday morning. This created some unusual baseball conditions for the players.
“We never take that for granted, to be able to play catch and defense and throw strikes when it’s this cold,” Horton said.
Junior first baseman Kyle Kasser capped off a good weekend offensively with a 2-for-5 performance against UC Davis. Kasser went 9-for-18 overall and collected the first home run of his career during this four-game stretch. Gabe Matthews went 3-of-4 against the Aggies on, bringing in one run in the bottom of the fourth to extend the Ducks lead to three runs. Matthews had a chance to take advantage of a bases loaded situation with no outs in the bottom of the first, but he hit into a double play, and after a Tim Susnara walk to load the bases again, Matthew Dyer flew out to end the threat.
In the bottom of the third, the Ducks had the bases loaded for a third time and scored two runs off an error by the Aggies at first base. Had the Aggies made the play it would have marked the third time in the game the Ducks left the bases loaded. The Ducks loaded the bases a fourth time in the bottom of the eighth but again hit into a double play and could not push anybody across.
“The bases loaded situation has been kind of a pink elephant situation for us,” Horton said. “That’s the unfortunate thing; the good news is we’re getting the bases loaded.”
Susnara, despite having five plate appearances, did not record an official at-bat the entire game. He tied the school record for walks in a game, with five, set by Mitch Karraker in 2010.
“I knew the umpire’s zone really well and that favors the catcher a little bit sometimes,” Susnara said. “You get a feel for what’s a ball and what’s a strike when you work with him a lot, so I think that helped me.”
The Ducks continue their eight-game home stand with a four-game series against Santa Clara beginning Thursday at PK Park at 6 p.m.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter @zlast3445
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