Rally in first game of weekend set sparks Duck domination

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The Oregon club baseball team proved Saturday night in their game against Montana at West Linn High School that to get the ball rolling, sometimes all it takes is a push.

Montana pitcher Scott Ladenburg had been dominant through the first three innings of game one of Saturday's doubleheader. He was commanding both his fastball and his curve and had the Ducks stymied. Now though, Ladenburg's deuce had flattened noticeably and was either sailing high or hanging in the fat part of the zone. Add to the equation that his fastball had begun to fail, and that spelled trouble for the bare-armed Grizzly.

Then came the push that Oregon needed.

With the Ducks in a five-run hole, cleanup hitter Bryan Hansen hit a squibber to the left side that third baseman Treyson Hopkins fielded cleanly, but too late to have a prayer of nipping Hansen at first.

Consecutive walks loaded the bases with one out and brought Cameron Gaulke to the plate. The freshman leftfielder hit a smash that Hopkins fielded cleanly, but dropped while transferring to his throwing hand, bringing Hansen home from third for Oregon's first run.

With the floodgates open, the Ducks tacked on four more runs in the frame and knotted the score at five heading into the fifth inning. Both teams traded runs over the next two innings and Oregon entered the final frame down 7-6.

Senior righthander Greg Wells, who had come out of the bullpen in the sixth, worked his way in and out of trouble in the seventh, stranding runners at first and second by getting leftfielder Heath Faulk to ground harmlessly to shortstop Scott Marchione for out number three.

Hansen doubled to start the action in the Ducks' half and was brought home two batters later on shortstop Cory Kambak's error. That knotted the score at seven and set the stage for rightfielder Corey Johnson.

After Gaulke had bunted aboard to load the bases and Montana reliever Chris Etter had retired the next man on a popup to third, Johnson dug in.

"3-1 came around and I was just looking for a ball down the middle. I'd been seeing the ball well all day, but had just struggled the first three at-bats so I knew (I had to) get my hips into it, so it felt good," Johnson said afterward.

Continued...

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