The Oregon Ducks’ introduction to the Big Ten baseball tournament was rough … for one-half of an inning.
The top-seeded Ducks defeated the Michigan State Spartans 4-2 Thursday night at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, riding a prolific performance from Anson Aroz and solid pitching to a pool play win in its conference tournament debut.
Oregon will continue pool play on Friday, when it faces the eighth-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers at 4 p.m.
It wasn’t the cleanest victory by the Ducks (42-13), who committed three errors and coughed an unearned run in the seventh inning. Nor was it the most explosive — they managed seven hits and were held to less than five runs for just the third time this month.
But it was plenty good to dismiss the 12th-seeded Spartans (28-27), thanks to exceptional pitching and a hot bat from Aroz.
The night started ominously for the Ducks, as Michigan State leadoff hitter Ryan McKay opened the game with a double to left-center field off junior left-hander Ian Umlandt. Two batters later, after Sam Busch smacked a sacrifice fly to left field, the Spartans took an early 1-0 lead.
But it didn’t even last an inning.
Oregon center fielder Mason Neville opened the bottom of the first with a single to center field and No. 2 hitter Dominic Hellman followed with a walk, putting two Ducks on with no outs. The rally was briefly stopped when Jacob Walsh struck out and Drew Smith hit a harmless grounder to first base. But Aroz didn’t waste the opportunity.
The left fielder ripped a double down the left field line, driving in Neville and Smith, and Oregon never trailed again.
Michigan State tied the game at 2-2 in the seventh, using an Ryan Cooney throwing error to plate an unearned run. But the Ducks answered quickly again, using back-to-back RBI singles by Smith and Aroz to retake the lead, 4-2.
Aroz finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs and Hellman went 2 for 2 with two walks and a run scored, as the duo combined to produce five of Oregon’s seven hits.
It proved to be more than enough for Umlandt and the Ducks’ bullpen. Umlandt allowed just four runs and one earned run, while recording five strikeouts. over 6 2/3 impressive innings. He tossed 90 pitches on the way to a no-decision.
Relievers Santiago Garcia and Seth Mattox took over from there, tossing a combined 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Garcia (3-0) earned the win, needing just 16 pitches to get through 1 1/3 hitless innings, and Mattox earned his eighth save with a perfect ninth, during which he recorded two strikeouts.
Next up: The Ducks and Cornhuskers play for a spot in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday. The winner will face No. 9 seed Penn State in the semifinals Saturday at noon.
— Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | @freemanjoe.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
