Down 10-0 after two innings, Oregon rallied all the way back, tying the game and taking the lead in the top of the ninth and held on for a stunning comeback at Arizona.
Colby Shade had four RBIs, including the game-tying double, and scored on the go-ahead two-run single Sabin Ceballos that capped a 13-11 comeback for the Ducks over the Wildcats Saturday night at Hi Corbett Field.
Arizona (14-11, 3-8 Pac-12) shelled Logan Mercado to the tune of 10 runs, eight earned, on nine hits and three walks over just 1.2 innings. But four Oregon relievers combined to allow just one run on eight hits, three walks and a hit batter with nine strikeouts over 7.2 innings while the offense chipped away.
Drew Cowley’s RBI ground out in the third got Oregon (17-7, 5-3) on the board. Rikuu Nishida (5 of 6) and Shade hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it 10-3 in the fourth. Nishida hit an RBI double and Shade hit a sacrifice fly got UO within 10-5 in the top of the sixth.
Arizona got a run back on a double off Grayson Grinsell in the bottom of the inning but UO’s bullpen otherwise held strong.
Matthew Grabmann allowed four hits and two walks and struck out four over 3.1 scoreless innings, Grinsell allowed a run on three hits and struck out two over 1.2 innings and Matt Dallas (4-0) struck out two and allowed one hit over 1.1 IP.
Owen Diodoti’s RBI double got the scoring started in a five-run seventh for the Ducks, who added a two-run single from Dominic Hellman, RBI single by Nishida and another sac fly by Shade to make it 11-10.
In the ninth, Nishida and Shade hit back-to-back one-out doubles to tie the game. Cowley singled and an error by runners on second and third for Ceballos, who singled a 2-1 pitch to left to put Oregon in front.
Closer Josh Mollerus got two outs then issued a walk and hit a batter to put the tying run aboard and bring the winning run to the plate, but got Tommy Splaine to ground out to short to seal the win.