Oregon baseball captures Game 1 of key three-game series with UCLA
More of this, please.
Oregon Ducks starting pitcher Grayson Grinsell threw a two-hit complete game to lead the Ducks in a 2-1 victory over No. 12 UCLA Friday night at PK Park. Oregon is now 26-10 overall and 13-6 in Big Ten action. The Ducks are now a half game behind the first-place Bruins, who fell to 12-4 in league play.
Grinsell's effort was just enough to propel the Ducks to victory. The only runs for Oregon came thanks to designated hitter Dominic Hellman's bat. The junior laced a single to left in the third inning to put the home team on the board 1-0. Then Hellman managed to add some much-needed insurance with a solo homer in the sixth.
That home run turned out to be the game-winning shot as UCLA's shortstop Roch Cholowsky put the Bruins to within one run.
But that was the only blemish on Grinsell's stat line. The Oregon left-handed ace finished with seven strikeouts and just one walk. UCLA's starter Wylan Moss was pretty good himself. He went five innings, giving up just one run on five hits and striking out three. He was followed by Chris Grothues' 2.2 innings and August Souza getting the final out in the eighth. Grothues struck out four, but the first batter he faced happened to be Hellman who took him deep. It might be a pitch Grothues might be thinking about for a while.
This was just the first game of a crucial three-game set that had the feeling of a possible Super Regional. Both teams are ranked in the Top 15 and nearly equal in the Big Ten standings. Should Oregon sweep, which would be a tall task, the Ducks could have an inside track to winning the regular season in their first year in the conference.
But there is a ton of baseball left to be played, including Game 2 of this series Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 2:05 pm.
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