Oregon Drops Last Two, Lose Series Against Washington State

The Oregon Ducks break a three-game winning streak and drop the series against the Washington State Cougars over the weekend in Eugene. Both games are highlighted by pitching struggles at stater and at bullpen.

On Saturday, the Ducks (27-12, 11-7) took a 3-2 lead after the third inning. The bullpen gave up six runs in the eighth inning, resulting in an 8-3 loss. Starting pitcher Jake Reed (4-2) recovered from giving up two runs in the first two innings, pitching a total of seven innings. He gave up those only runs (both earned), six hits, and had five strikeouts. The eighth inning saw three different relievers, all of them giving up a combined six runs and three hits. Pitching errors such as two wild pitches and two batters hit by pitch resulted in runs being scored. Washington State (20-16, 7-7) was solid in their bullpen, using four relievers (one in each inning) and not giving up any runs.

Jeff Gold (5-3) didn’t have a good outing and took the loss. He gave up a total of seven runs (all earned) in the first and fifth inning, also giving up seven hits and three walks. Both teams combined for a total of 25 hits in this game, but Oregon was down 10-2 going into the eighth inning and were finally able to do some damage against the Cougars bullpen. The Cougars held on to win a 10-6 decision.

Outside of coming up short in the late-inning rally on Sunday, the Ducks struggled on offense all weekend long. They left 17 men on base combined. Left fielder Brett Thomas had a total of four hits and two RBIs. Designated hitter Kyle Garlick had a hit and two RBIs on Saturday, but didn’t have any output on Sunday and struck out twice.

The Ducks will look to rebound as they face the first of five games against their in-state rival, Oregon State (26-12, 8-7), on Tuesday.

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