Oregon Baseball: Tolman Leads Ducks with 7 RBI’s in Win vs Seattle

It’s always nice to see Freshman players step up and Tuesday night in Seattle Freshman Mitchell Tollman seemed to have someone on base each time he came to the plate. His 7 RBI’s were the most in over three years for a Duck. The first game against Seattle was back and forth, but in the 6th Oregon took over and ended up with the victory 12-7.

Press Release from the U of O:

Oregon Freshman Mitchell Tollman

GoDucks.com

EVERETT, Wash. – Freshman Mitchell Tolman went 3-for-4 with seven RBI to lead No. 11 Oregon to a 12-7 non-conference win over Seattle in a non-conference game Saturday night.

Tolman finished with the most RBI by a Duck player since Jack Marder had eighth vs. Nevada on March 9, 2010.

Ryon Healy added three RBI while going 2-for-3 with two runs scored before leaving the game in the fourth inning after he was hit in the face by wild throw.  Brett Thomas and Aaron Payne both scored four runs with Payne going 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk, while Thomas was 1-for-2 with two walks. Ryan Hambright went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple.

Christian Jones (1-1) picked up the win in relief, while Derek Smith got his first career save allowing no runs over the final three innings.

Oregon took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first without the benefit of a hit. Kyle Doyle walked Thomas to lead off the game and then hit Payne to put runners on first and second. Healy moved the runners to second and third with a groundout to third and then Tolman picked up a RBI with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Seattle got the run back in the bottom of the first thanks to two hits and two walks by Oregon starter Jeff Gold. Brian Olson picked up the RBI with a single to center scoring Chase Fields who led off with a double.

Hambright, making his first start since March 13, opened the second with a triple off the wall in center field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Graham to put the Ducks up 2-1.

Seattle answered again in the bottom of the second. Landon Cray’s two-out double to the right-center field wall scoring Fields to tie the game, 2-2.

Oregon pushed the lead to 5-2 in the third. Healy picked up two RBI with a double to left field scoring Thomas and Payne. Healy scored on a RBI ground out by Tolman.

Seattle matched Oregon’s three runs with three of its own in the third. Sean Narby, Cullen Hendrickson and Cash McGuire all had RBI to make it 5-5 after three innings.

Healy and Tolman combined to help Oregon score three more runs in the fourth, all with two outs. Healy singled and drove in Thomas to put the Ducks back in the lead 6-5. Tolman added a two-RBI single to left scoring Payne and Healy to give Oregon an 8-5 lead.

Seattle cut the lead to 8-6 with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but Oregon added two more in the sixth to push the lead to 10-6. Craig Meredith, playing for Healy, doubled driving in Payne. Tolman followed with his fifth RBI of the game scoring pinch runner Kevin Minjares with a single to left.

The Redhawks cut the lead to three in the bottom of the sixth, but the Ducks answered again behind the bat of Tolman. The freshman picked up his sixth and seventh RBI of the game with a single to right in the eighth to give Oregon a 12-7 lead.

The two teams wrap up their two-game series Wednesday with a game at 4 p.m. at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue.

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