Everybody knew that this was a big series coming in. Anytime you get a couple of ranked teams together in a conference battle, there is going to be a big game feel. That was the case in Eugene this weekend, and with this being the rubber game, the atmosphere was tense.
When the dust cleared, Oregon took home a 5-4 win, primarily on the shoulders of two homeruns hit by Duck freshman Angel Laya. He accounted for three of the five Oregon runs.
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Nebraska took a 1-0 in the top of the first when the very hot Case Sanderson hit his third homerun in two days.
Cooper Katskee had a much better first inning than his last couple of starts going three-up and three-down, but his struggles ended up coming in the second today thanks to Laya. Drew Smith had led the inning off with a double and scored when Laya hit his first blast. Oregon up 2-0.
Rhett Stokes got it going again for the Cornhuskers leading off the top of the third inning against Duck starter Cal Scalari. He chopped a single right in front of the plate that took a wicked bounce that catcher Burke Lee-Mabeus could not field in time to make a throw.
With Stokes on first, Mac Moyer got on base for the second time in as many at-bats, this time on a walk. Catcher Jeter Worthley stepped in and laced a double to the wall in leftfield to score Stokes and Moyer. Moyer scored from first base and made a beautiful slide at home to avoid a tag.
Worthley hustled home for Nebraska’s fourth run of the game on a Sanderson single. Going to the bottom of the third the Cornhuskers held a 4-2 lead. That held until Oregon put up three of their own in the sixth. Laya had his second homerun of Katskee to make it 4-3.
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After giving up a single to the next batter, Katskee was pulled for Grant Cleavinger. The lefty had not given up a hit all season, but today Mabeus smacked a double that drove in the tying run. Coach Childress then brought in midweek starter Gavin Blachowicz.
Blachowicz came out of the bullpen for the first time this season and struggled to find the strike zone early on, surrendering the go ahead run when Naulivou Lauki reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Jack Brooks’ first hit of the series. Oregon was now up 5-4 and that was how it would end.
Nebraska did not score another run after their three-run third and only had three hits from that point forward. Reliever Tanner Bradley in particular made it really tough on Cornhusker hitters, and closer Devin Bell pretty much shut the door on them.
One had to wonder how the teams would handle the big-game emotions today, particularly when things got hot during the coaches and umpire meeting before the game even started. Both coaches were reportedly animated and Will Bolt most likely was trying to impress on the umpires how important it was going to be to keep this game under control.
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Both teams played hard today and kept things in check until the seventh inning when Rhett Stokes went in hard to second base on what was the front end of a double play by the Ducks. He came up chest to chest with Ryan Cooney and words were exchanged. It appeared there was a little chest bump as well, but none-the-less, Oregon players stormed out of the dugout.
Nothing ended up happening and players were quickly split up and ushered back to the dugout. Apparently, Nebraska players did not leave the dugout, though an angle was not shown on the live stream to confirm it.
The rules are explicit when it comes to players leaving the bench and going onto the field in a dust-up. Designated hitter Naulivou Lauki was clearly one of those players. However, after taking a look at the video, the umpires made the decision to just give bench warnings to both teams. It most likely would not have made a difference but it should have been enforced.
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Going into this stretch of the season, pundits said that if Nebraska wanted to be in the discussion for hosting a regional, they would have to win one of the two series against Oregon or USC. The Trojans come to Lincoln next week with a top-ten ranking and the stakes will be high. We can only hope that the baseball gods will smile on Lincoln with clear skies and warm temperature so that Cornhusker fans pack Haymarket Park.
Before that can happen, Nebraska cannot overlook their second game of the season against Creighton at home on Tuesday. With Blachowicz pitching today, look from Pryce Bender to get the start.
Notes:
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This was a series of evenly matched teams. One would think that if it took place in Lincoln Nebraska may have come out of hit 2-1. Planning tough games, and playing them close, on the road can have a positive influence on the remainder of the season.
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It was apparent from his pinch-hitting appearance that Will Jesske is still struggling with his hamstring. He was forced to hustle down the baseline and was noticeably gimpy.
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Oregon’s crowd was less than impressive, especially when you consider it was 1) a conference series and 2) both teams were ranked. Temperatures were in the mid-50’s but I guarantee if these games would have been in Lincoln, Nebraska fans would have been out in full force.
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Oregon wore a beautiful throwback uniform today. It was a 1960’s model with a darker green cap than what they wear today, along with beautiful dark green stirrup socks. So much better than Nebraska’s Texas Tech uniforms.
