May 30, 2014

Ducks Batter Tigers

By Gary Johnson

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

NASHVILLE – In their most productive offensive performance of the season, the second-seeded Oregon Ducks claimed an 18-1 victory over the third-seeded Clemson Tigers in the opening game of the Nashville Regional on Friday afternoon.

Clemson (36-25) took an early 1-0 lead, but that lead was short-lived as Oregon (43-18) scored 18 unanswered runs to close out the game in a dominant performance. The Ducks rallied for three runs in the second inning, five in the fourth, three in the fifth and capped off the game with a seven-run seventh.

“We feel really good,” Ducks coach George Horton said. “It's one day, one game. Certainly, it was a combination of a lot of good things. Not taking anything away from our effort or athletes' effort, we feel good about winning our first game."

The 18 runs are the most by Oregon in the postseason with the previous mark being 11 last year against Rice. Clemson suffered its most lopsided NCAA tournament loss since dropping a 23-5 decision to Missouri State in 1999.

The Ducks banged out a season-high 20 hits with right-fielder Tyler Baumgartner blasting a home run, triple and single with catcher Shaun Chase collecting his 13^th long ball of the season while adding a double and contributing four RBI.

Steven Packard ripped a triple and single, Mitchell Tolman tripled and Nick Catalano added a double and a pair of singles for the Ducks.

Junior left-hander Tommy Thorpe got the win, throwing seven innings with only one earned run. He scattered five hits with four strikeouts and four walks.

“I just zeroed in on the glove and focused more,” Thorpe said. “I was going out there in the first inning and things weren’t going my way. My first inning could have gone sideways on me real quick. But I just bared down, threw strikes and got out of it.”

Sophomore lefty Porter Clayton closed out the final two frames, allowing no runs or hits with two strikeouts and a walk.

Clemson threw six pitchers with sophomore southpaw Matthew Crownover taking the loss. He allowed eight earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts in 3.2 innings.

“The bottom line is they outhit us, outpitched us, outplayed us,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “The good thing is, regardless what the score is, it’s one game.”