Bullpen collapses in midweek loss to Pilots

Oregon led 9-4 after six innings but the University of Portland struck for three runs in both the 7th and 8th innings to win 10-9 at PK Park Tuesday night.

The loss drops the No. 13 Ducks to 27-12. It comes after a weekend series win over No. 15 UCLA. Oregon hosts No. 3-ranked Oregon State in a three game series beginning Friday night.

Reliever Ryan Featherston pitched well until he didn't, striking out five over three and a third innings. He got into trouble in the seventh with a leadoff double, followed by two outs, then a pair of walks.

With bases loaded and two outs, a pair of seeing-eye singles leaked through the infield and half the lead disappeared, 9-7 going into the Ducks half of the inning.

Oregon went down 1-2-3.

In the eighth the Pilots pushed across three more runs to take the lead 10-9 on a single, a throwing error, a walk and a three-run homer by rightfielder Brady Bean.

Santiago Garcia pitched a scoreless ninth for the Ducks, but they stranded three runners in the 8th and 9th to take a frustrating loss. Oregon pitchers walked eight batters in the game, and five came around to score.

The Ducks have a potent offense. Tuesday Anson Arroz, Ryan Cooney and Jacob Walsh led the attack with two hits apiece and seven RBI between them. Leftfielder Mason Neville leads the nation in home runs with 19, and they bat an even .300 as a team with a Big Ten-leading 73 round trippers.

Mark Wasikowski has even taught them to play small ball. They extended their lead in the sixth with a pair of well-placed bunts.



There's about three weeks to go in the regular season. The NCAA Regionals start May 30. The Ducks play an exciting brand of baseball, but somehow they have to figure out the riddle of the strike zone and learn to get some outs in the late innings.

Read More: