Oregon knew coming into the weekend that they couldn’t afford to make mistakes against a team as talented as Vanderbilt, and they were reminded of that on Saturday in a 4-2 loss at PK Park. The Ducks were charged with just one error, but walked eight Commodores and made minor mistakes at all the wrong times.
The Commodores hardly played a perfect game either, committing three errors and walking seven, but the Ducks couldn’t manufacture runs out of those chances. The end result was 12 runners left on base for Oregon, something which has become all too common a theme this year.
“We’re in that funk,” head coach George Horton said. “Guys are taking responsibility on themselves and I think they’re trying to do too much.”
Horton’s point is well supported by Ryon Healy, a bright spot offensively for the Ducks this year who went 1-5 on Sunday, March 9.
“I’m not helping this team at all right now with my at bats,” Healy said.
Vanderbilt capitalized on an error by Brett Thomas in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Mike Yastrzemski singled to left field but Thomas had trouble reading the ball allowing Yastrzemski to reach second where he was promptly cashed in by Vince Conde. The Commodores doubled their lead an inning later, capitalizing on another miscue when Tommy Thorpe bounced a wild pitch with Tony Kemp on third base.
The Ducks would take advantage of a Vanderbilt mistake to plate a run in the sixth inning as Healy reached base on an error and eventually scored on a groundout from Steven Packard, but Vanderbilt jumped back out to a two-run lead in the next inning, once again capitalizing on a mistake, this time a bases-loaded walk from Brando Tessar.
Oregon loaded the bases in the seventh inning and had its best power hitter at the plate in Healy, but the Ducks first baseman struck out swinging to let the Commodores off the hook. The Ducks rallied again in the eighth, pulling within 4-2 on a Connor Hofmann RBI double, but Oregon left two men in scoring position for the second straight inning.
The Ducks would string together a minor rally in the ninth as well, sparked by a two-out double from Healy, but Packard would eventually fly out to end the game.
It’s the second-straight weekend series the Ducks have dropped, though both came against highly ranked teams. Still, it’s valuable experience for the Ducks as they prepare to start Pac-12 play next week in Los Angeles against USC.