Oregon Ducks Baseball: Balta Comes Through Again To Get Ducks To 3-0
The Oregon Ducks Baseball team is 3-0 on the season thanks in part to A.J. Balta who came through on both Saturday and Sunday with home runs over San Diego State.
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A.J. Balta helped put another W in the win column on Sunday and sweep San Diego State on the road to open the 2016 season. He came to the plate in a critical situation with two on and two out in the eighth inning with Oregon down two runs and hit the ball over the right field wall giving Oregon the lead and eventually the win over the Aztecs. For the series it was the bottom of the order that came through in a big way going 8 for 20 in the three game series according to GoDucks.com, giving the team key offensive production from a part of the lineup where you wouldn’t expect that level of success.
Daniel Patzlaff and Freshman Travis Moniot lead the team Offensively hitting .455 and .333 respectively. It has been just three games so far, but seeing production this early in the season is a good sign. On the mound, Oregon is also showing success.
Starting Pitcher Cole Irvin saw a no decision on Friday going seven innings and giving up just six hits and nine strikeouts. Stephen Nagosek and Freshman Jacob Bennett pitched their way out of trouble to pick up the other two wins of the series for the Oregon Ducks. Matt Krook saw success in just returning to the mound and will come along as the season progresses. He found himself in trouble on Saturday on several occasions and managed just four innings giving up four hits. It was his first appearance in almost two full seasons and he is likely on a pitch count to rebuild his arm strength in game conditions.
Next: Oregon Women's Basketball Pick Up 20th Win of 2015
Oregon will continue the non-conference slate this week hosting Illinois State starting on Thursday for a four game series at PK Park. First pitch on Thursday is set for 6pm Pacific Time.