Oregon, fresh off a 4-0 start to the season, had their home opener spoiled by LMU despite their ace, Jake Reed, on the mound. Loyola Marymount beat up Reed to earn a 7-2 win.
The Ducks started off hot both on the mound and at the plate, loading the bases in both the first and second innings, only to leave all six runners stranded. Jake Reed seemed primed for a career night, tallying eight strike outs in the first four frames, tying a career high while regularly hitting 91mph on the gun.
Colin Welmon, the starting pitcher for LMU, was a little shaky to start the game, but got stronger as the game went on, throwing at 89mph fast ball and utilizing his off speed pitch. Welmon finished the game with six innings pitched, four hits, nine K’s, and a win.
“Tip your cap to Welmon, he did a good job,” coach George Horton said. “It seemed like every time he needed a key pitch, he went to his off speed stuff, his change up. We weren’t seeing it well, its a good change up.”
For LMU, most of the offensive damage came courtesy of Tanner Donnels (3-4). For Oregon, it was Scott Heineman (3-3) and JJ Altobelli producing at the plate.
Going into the season, Horton frequently talked about catching being the vulnerable position, but was pleased with the effort in Hawaii. Friday was a different story as freshman catcher Josh Graham went 0-4 from the plate with three strike outs and a huge error at home plate allowing Zac Fujimoto to score, the first of four LMU runs scored in the fifth inning.
“Josh didn’t have a good day offensively but I thought defensively he did fine,” Horton said of Graham. “The error happened, and I am sure he wants that one back. Him and Chase are going to catch a lot of games so I’m not worried about the defensive side of that.”
Turning Point. After a strong start, Jake Reed’s composure crumpled in the fifth inning. He started the inning by giving up a tripple to Fujimoto, then hit Brice Savage by pitch, sending him to first. Kevin Garcia then hits to third, but Graham bobbled the throw from third baseman Ryan Hambright, allowing Fujimoto to score. Reed gave up three more hits and as many scores before Lowenstein was caught stealing to end the inning.
“I’m not going to lie, that was a crucial play,” It would have been big after the leadoff triple to get that out at home, but it’s no excuse. I had eight K’s in the first four innings and I could have easily had a few more in that fifth inning to minimize things a bit but they did a good job of putting the ball in play. It’s tough.”
Christian Jones, who came in after a tumultuous fifth inning, was again a bright spot for the Ducks. He only allowed one run in two innings pitched and could have gone longer but Horton said he wanted to save him for later in the series.
“That was a tough one,” Horton said. ” We could have left him in there. We have a long series so he possibly could be available Sunday. Really, the thought wasn’t we’re giving up, we were keeping the bullets available for either Sunday or possibly a start where we could extend him.”
The Ducks tried to mount a Techno Chicken-fueled comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning, getting a walk, stolen base, and two hits but only one run scored by JJ Altobelli before Ryon Healy grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Altobelli again scored in the bottom of the ninth to finish the game with two runs scored and, per usual, a few stellar defensive plays.
On the Horizon. The Ducks will have their shot at redemption against LMU Saturday at 2 p.m. Starting on the mound for the Ducks will be Tommy Thorpe (1-0) who will face Trevor Megil (1-0).