Oregon Baseball: Ducks Fall Short in Opener at Arizona State, 6-5 in 11 Innings

Press Release from the U of O:

TEMPE, Ariz. – Pinch hitter R.J. Ybarra singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th to lead No. 24 Arizona State to a 6-5 win over No. 11 at Packard Stadium on Friday night.

Photo:Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

The Ducks (22-7, 8-2 Pac-12) rallied from a four-run deficit in the eighth inning to send the game into extra innings, but ASU (18-8-1, 5-5 Pac-12) never let the Ducks take the lead.  Ryan Burr (1-0) picked up the win, while Christian Jones (0-1) took the loss.

Five different Ducks had multiple hits, but UO left 11 runners stranded. ASU stranded 13 while finishing with two more hits than Oregon.

Freshman Mitchell Tolman went 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored to lead Oregon. Ryon Healy was 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Steven Packard went 2-for-5 with a RBI.  Brett Thomas and Tyler Baumgartner both went 2-for-6 with a run scored.  Tolman, Healy, Packard, Thomas and Baumgartner combined for all 11 of Oregon’s hits.

Arizona State took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third with a pair of two out runs off Oregon starter Jake Reed, but the Ducks answered with a run on a ground out by Josh Graham to cut the lead to one.

Arizona State got three more runs in the fifth against Reed forcing the Ducks to go to the bullpen down four.

The Ducks tied the game with four runs in the top of the eighth. Healy ripped a two-run double off the top of the wall in left center to score Thomas and Baumgartner. Tolman added a run scoring triple bringing Healy home and Packard scored Tolman with a RBI single up the middle to tie the game, 5-5.

Oregon and Arizona State meet in game two of the three-game series Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.

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