Diamond Oregon Ducks: Friday Night Recaps

In a bit of a role reversal the baseball team absolutely eviscerated their opponent Friday night and the Softball team pulled out a W in a close nail bitter.

Baseball

After a frustrating series loss to Ohio State last weekend and a baffling midweek loss to Portland the Baseball team needed to get a win with their ace on the mound.

With the Ducks offense sputtering the first couple of innings Grayson Grinsell was holding up his end of the bargain keeping the Wolverines off the board through three innings, striking out four.

In the bottom of the 3rd the Ducks got on the board with a big inning. Ryan Cooney hit a solo home run to get things started and the Ducks offense followed that up with a sac-fly, an RBI double, and an Anson Aroz 2-run homer.

Just like that the Ducks were off and running with a comfortable 5-0 lead after 3.

The Ducks would keep the Wolverines scoreless in the 4th and then got right back to mashing the ball in the bottom half of the inning. Parker Stinson would hit a solo bomb and Mason Neville followed that up with a 2-run shot. 8-0 Ducks.

The Wolverines would get on the board in the 5th inning to make it 8-2 but the Ducks would halt any momentum with a big inning of their own in the bottom half of the 5th.

After loading the bases Ryan Cooney and Carter Garate would walk and get hit by a pitch respectively to bring in 2 more runs, and then Dominic Hellman would clear the bases with a Grand Slam. 14-2 Ducks

Grayson Grinsell retired the Wolverines in order in the 6th and the Ducks would add on another run in the 6th to make the game 15-2. Both teams put up a scoreless 7th and then the game was called via the run rule 15-2 Ducks and series opening W.

Gryason Grinsell gave the Ducks another great start as he finished the game with 5 strikeouts over 6 innings only allowing 2 runs. Here is what he had to say after the game.

The Ducks will look to secure a series victory Saturday with some furry fans in attendance.

Softball

The softball team looked to keep things rolling as they also took on Michigan at Jane Sanders Stadium. Michigan came into the series with an identical 6-1 conference record as Oregon suggesting that this series might be a bit more of a challenge than the most recent couple of Big Ten matchups for the Softball team.

The first two innings were business as usual for the Ducks and Lyndsey Grein: 6 up and 6 down thanks to nice play from Paige Sinicki.

In the bottom half of the inning the Ducks would get on the board with a solo shot from Katie Flannery. Kedre Luschar walked, then stole second and grabbed third when Michigan missed trying to throw her out. Stefini Ma’ake then grounded it down the 1st base line to send Luschar home to make it 2-0.

Lyndsey Grein would keep rolling as she struck out the side in the 3rd but in the 4th got a little help from her center fielder to keep the Wolverines off the board.

Michigan would cut the lead in half with a solo home run in the 5th and then tie the game with another solo home run in the 6th and that would be all for Grein. Elise Sokolsky would come in relief to finish the 6th and the game was tied heading into the Ducks half.

In the 6th Rylee McCoy came up with a big hit to score Paige Sinicki from 2nd base and Oregon re-took the lead 3-2.

Elise Sokolsky would shut the door on Michigan in the 7th to preserve the victory for Oregon to take game 1 of the series.

Oregon will look to take the series on Saturday as the Ducks and Wolverines will play a double header Saturday starting at 3pm PT to avoid inclement weather on Sunday.