Oregon Drops First Game in Civil War

Last week, Jordan Spencer became a huge star giving Oregon baseball it’s first recorded no-hitter. Being a freshman, that means that inconsistency still exists, and Spencer had exactly the opposite fortune on a big stage.

The first game of the Civil War rivalry took place in Eugene, highlighting two top-20 teams in a stacked Pac-12 baseball conference. However, the 19th-ranked Oregon Ducks (27-13) got down early fast and lost their third straight game of the season against the 14th-ranked Oregon State Beavers (27-12). Spencer (2-2) was pulled in the third inning after giving up a single and a double, completing two full innings and giving up four runs on four hits (all earned), gave up a walk, and no strikeouts.

Center fielder Connor Hoffman represented the only run in the game. Down 6-0 going into the bottom of the third, Hoffman got a leadoff single and eventually scored on a wild pitch from third base. Aaron Jones, who now has the team-high batting average of .314, has been out of the lineup for a while with an ankle sprain. Just below him is right fielder Kyle Garlick, who finished with one strikeout in four at-bats. First baseman Ryon Healy saw his 10-game hitting streak come to an end.

Beavers’ starter Taylor Starr (4-1) was terrific. In seven innings of work , he gave up only one earned run off of five hits, mailed seven strikeouts, and walked one in a 96-pitch outing. Starr kept the Ducks from being a major threat, only letting one base runner at third. Tyler Smith added a hit, an RBI, and represented a run as he keeps up his amazing team high batting average of .406.

Oregon will host the second game of the series on May 8th. Both this and that game do not count toward the Pac-12 conference record. The official Pac-12 series will be the regular season finish beginning May 25th with a three-game series at Corvallis. The Ducks will host California (23-15, 7-8) in a three-game series that starts this Friday. The Bears come in winning six of their last seven games, including a last-weekend sweep against Utah.

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