Pitching, defense and a couple of extra-base hits got Oregon back in the win column.
Jace Stoffal allowed a run on two hits and two walks and struck out four over 5.0 innings, Drew Cowley hit a two-run double and Jacob Walsh homered in a 3-2 Ducks win over San Diego Thursday afternoon at PK Park.
“I’m happy that we won the game,” Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski said. “How we played today, I thought we pitched the ball good. I thought we played good defense and there are some things we can clean up offensively and on the bases. For me it was great to see a couple of the hitters catch one on the barrel that had been struggling and get some big hits. (Drew) Cowley, Jacob Walsh and even Colby Shade there at the end. It was good to see some of those positives and try to start building off of those.”
Other than a solo home run in the first and leadoff single in the second, Stoffal made quick work of the Toreros and worked around a pair of two-out walks in the fourth to improve to 1-1. Stoffal got San Diego to get into seven groundouts plus a double play.
“Everything felt good, (pitching coach Jake) Angier called a good game,” Stoffal said. “The defense played really well, we have one of the best defenses in the nation, I think, so it makes it pretty easy to throw a lot of strikes and trust in your defense.”
Cowley gave Oregon (5-3) the lead in the fourth with a double down the line in left.
Walsh led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to make it 3-1.
Kevin Sim hit an RBI single in the eight to get San Diego (5-2-1) within a run.
Matt Dallas allowed a run on two hits and a walk and struck out three over 2.2 innings and Josh Mollerus allowed two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings to pick up his second save of the season.
The teams continue their weekend series at 3 p.m. Friday.