As he gathered the Oregon Ducks for a pregame chat Thursday at Scottsdale Stadium, coach Mark Wasikowski issued a simply challenge to his underdog team.
Don’t leave your fate in the hands of the NCAA Baseball Tournament selection committee.
“I want to sit there on Monday and I want to know that we’re in,” Wasikowski told the Ducks. “And there’s only one way that we can know that we’re in, and that’s to win this tournament.”
So far, so good.
The Ducks added another thrilling comeback victory to their improbable run in the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, stunning the top-seeded Stanford Cardinal 10-8 in 10 innings during the final game of pool play in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Sixth-seeded Oregon advanced to the semifinals, where it will face the third-seeded Washington Huskies at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The winner will play in the championship game.
After rallying in the eighth inning to earn a come-from-behind win over Cal in the opening round of pool play, the Ducks ramped up the drama on Thursday, waiting until their last out to climb back against the Cardinal. Stanford led 4-0 and 6-2 early, as its potent offense recorded seven hits in its first 10 at-bats against Oregon starter Turner Spoljaric. But the Ducks’ bullpen stymied Stanford’s bats the rest of the night, and Oregon found a way on offense, scoring five runs over the final three innings to pull off the stunner.
The biggest swings in the comeback came from Colby Shade and Sabin Ceballos, and both were punctuated with emotion and intensity.
Stanford took a 6-4 lead into the ninth. But Bennett Thompson hit a leadoff double down the left field line and later scored on a Rikuu Nishida sacrifice fly, trimming the lead to 6-5 with two outs.
That sent Shade to the plate and he ripped a 2-1 fastball deep to right field. Braden Montgomery, Stanford’s dynamic sophomore right fielder, gave chase and seemed poised to make a running catch. But he couldn’t quite reach the ball and it ricocheted by him and one-hopped the wall. As Slade hustled around second base, he ran through a stop sign from third base coach Marcus Hinkle, and charged toward third. Montgomery, who has one of the strongest arms in the country, tossed a dart toward the infield and it looked like a good relay through would have ended the game.
But second baseman Drew Bowser airmailed the relay at least 10 feet above third baseman Tommy Troy’s head into a protective net above the third base dugout, sending Slade home to tie the game 6-6.
The Ducks exploded into a mob of chaos after the play, as players screamed and exchanged chest-bumps and hugs outside the dugout.
“That’s probably the most fun I’ve had in a baseball game,” Shade said. “It’s up there with our regional against LSU my freshman year.”
And the fun wasn’t over. Stanford put runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but reliever Josh Mollerus worked out of the jam, inducing an inning-ending groundout from Owen Cobb.
Ceballos led off the 10th and delivered the biggest swing of the night, belting a solo home run to give the Ducks their first lead at 7-6. The junior third baseman tattooed a 3-1 fast ball deep to left-center field, celebrating the clutch swing by thumping his chest as he rounded the bases and leaping to chest-bump teammates and coaches.
“The was the biggest moment in my baseball career, for sure,” Ceballos said. “As soon as that ball got out, I know we just win.”
Oregon added an insurance run later in the inning, when Stanford walked the bases loaded and Jacob Walsh scored on a wild pitch.
The Cardinal threatened in the bottom of the 10th, putting two runners on for Pac-12 Player of the Year Alberto Rios. But he couldn’t deliver, belting a ball to deep right-center that Nishida snared in the alley.
Mollerus (2-2) earned the win in relief, allowing two hits and three walks in 2 2/3 scoreless innings. The right-hander put an exclamation point on a brilliant performance by the Ducks’ bullpen, which held the powerful Stanford lineup to just five hits — an no runs — over the final seven innings.
It added up to another dramatic comeback win for the Ducks, who entered the week on bubble for the NCAA Baseball Tournament and searching for a win or two to lock their berth.
But now that they’ve earned the wins — and likely secured an at-large berth — the Ducks long for more.
“They want to keep the jerseys on and they know that if they win every game from here on out, they’re called Pac-12 champions and national champions,” Wasikowski said. “Can we put that together? That would require one heck of a run. But they know that the secret to success in the postseason is to play with your backs against the wall … if they do that, I think they’ll play their best.”
Joe Freeman reported from Scottsdale, Arizona.
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