Cole Irvin has pitched nine innings of collegiate baseball before. Three times, in fact, during the regular season. However, his complete game against San Francisco to stay alive in the post season was different. He knew before he threw out his first pitch that he had to go nine.
“My bullpen catcher game up to me, he always does this before the game, he said, ‘You want the gushy stuff or do you want it straight?,’” said Irvin. “I told him I always want it straight and he said, ‘I need you to go a complete game’. I was like, ‘I agree.’”
Irvin took care of business and the rest of their team did their job as well. Oregon found their offense in their third regional game, getting nine hits, including two home runs, to lead them to a 6-1 victory.
The star of the game was Tyler Baumgartner who went 3-5 with a single, a double and a home run, making him a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Baumgarter also had one of the two Oregon hits Saturday night against Rice, making him responsible for four of Oregon’s 12 hits.
“For Baumgartner, it was about time,” said Irvin, chuckling. “I was happy for him.”
In the first two regional games, Oregon struggled brutally on offense. They managed only two hits per game, going 4-53 in the two game span.
Shaun Chase also went yard for Oregon, who put up runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Mitchell Tolman went 2-3 from the plate with two RBI and Ryan Hambright hit 1-4 with an RBI in the ninth inning for insurance.
In both games, Oregon had strong pitching and defense, which allowed them to keep the games close. The run support in the third regional game, combined with the consistent pitching and defense, proved to be the difference as Oregon separated themselves from the Dons with runs in the third, fourth, and fifth inning.
Irvin gave up one run on six hits while striking out nine, but it didn’t always look pretty. The Dons leadoff hitter, Justin Maffei took the second pitch Irvin threw and sent it over the wall to give the Dons an instant 1-0 lead.
“That first pitch was off the plate and then that second pitch I was just trying to throw a ‘get me over’ fast ball to get even in the count,’” said Irvin. “It just so happens that he drilled it.”
Oregon will play again Sunday evening against Rice. Rice won the first regional match up 1-0 on Saturday. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start with righthander Jeff Gold (3-0, 2.50 ERA) getting the start and will be televised on ESPN3.
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Notes:
Ryon Healy left the game in seventh inning and was replaced by Kevin Minjares, who played third while Ryan Hambright slid over to first. Healy had been struggling with a back injury and will likely be out for the evening game with Rice.