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The steady scoring of Oregon (10-3, 2-1 Pac-12) and inopportune hitting of Arizona State (12-5, 1-2) highlighted the 5-3 Ducks victory on Sunday afternoon in Eugene.
Arizona State looked to secure the series win after Saturday’s loss with a two-run top of the first. Drew Swift scored on a throwing error by Oregon’s catcher and Hunter Haas scored on an RBI-single by Ethan Long.
Long was the only Sun Devil with a multi-hit game, and had two RBIs, the other coming on a sacrifice-fly in the eighth. Overall, ASU hit 2-19 (.105) with runners on and 1-10 (.100) with runners in scoring position. They left seven runners stranded on the basepaths.
There's one
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) March 21, 2021
Sac fly from @EthanLong2534 gets us back within a run.
4-3, M8. pic.twitter.com/i0LRCjy8WQ
One important note for ASU was that Sean McLain, who went 1-4 on Sunday, extended his hitting streak to 15 games. He is batting .381 with eight RBIs and four homers to start the year.
In his third start of the season for ASU, Justin Fall had a solid outing. He threw five innings and gave up five hits and four runs (three earned), while only striking out two Ducks.
Oregon scored one run in five separate innings throughout Sunday’s rubber match. Every runner that scored led off that inning at the plate for Oregon, with the exception of Robby Ashford, who singled as the second batter in the eighth.
In total, Oregon had eight hits, three of which were for extra bases (one double, two triples). They also stole three bases and left eight runners on.
Hello! @robby_ashford can pick 'em up and put 'em down. He scorched that ball. Ended up scoring the go-ahead run. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/Wm63GRidMP
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 21, 2021
After the rough first inning, Oregon starter Brett Walker settled in. He threw five innings and surrendered five hits and two runs, improving to a 2-1 record on the year.
Both bullpens each surrendered one run apiece, but the Sun Devils used four arms (Brady Corrigan, Cam Dennie, Will Levine and Graham Osman) as opposed to two for the Ducks (Nico Tellache and Kolby Somers).
After losing their first series of the season, the Sun Devils will look to turn things around next weekend when they host Washington State at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The first of three games is scheduled to start at 6:35 p.m. local time on Friday night.