University of Washington
Oregon
Oregon Rallies To Beat Huskies, 6-4
March 21, 2009 | Baseball
March 21, 2009
PORTLAND, Ore. - Catcher Mitch Karraker's two-out, two-run double lifted Oregon to a 5-4 win over Washington Saturday in a Rose City Invitational game at PGE Park.
The Huskies (6-11) had led the whole way after a first-inning homer before the Ducks, who had scored narrowed the gap to 4-3 going into the eighth, scored the tying and go-ahead runs on Karraker's double.
The Ducks had two on base on a pair of hit batters for Karraker, who had entered the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth. Karraker scored on a wild pitch to account for the final Oregon run.
Washington lost its fifth in a row while the Ducks improved to 9-9 on the season. Reliever Jason Erickson (0-3) suffered the loss while Scott McGough (1-0), who retired the only batter he faced, got the win. Drew Gagnier pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.
Washington opened up an early lead in the first. Brendan Gardner-Young led off with a single and then catcher Pierce Rankin belted his fourth homer of the year deep to left, staking the Dawgs with a 2-0 lead. Rankin's homer stretched his hitting streak to 16 games.
In the second, the Ducks took advantage of two Husky errors to score a run. After Josh Hogan reached on a two-out throwing error by third baseman Julien Pollard, Dylan Gavin's fly to left was dropped by Jake Rife, allowing Hogan to score.
In the fourth, after a one-out walk to Kyle Conley, Husky DH Ty Rasmussen belted a long homer to left, his second of the season, increasing the UW lead to 4-1.
Oregon didn't manage a hit until Dylan Gavin reached on a one-out bunt single in the fifth. Antony Kreitz followed with a line-drive single to left and an infield single from Caleb Tommasini loaded the bases. However, the Ducks only got one run as a groundout from Curtis Raulinaitis scored one before a popup ended the inning with Washington still on top, 4-2.
In the fifth, Oregon narrowed the gap to 4-3. After a leadoff double from Paul Eschleman, a walk and a sacrifice bunt, Josh Hogan singled to drive in one. But, UW senior Jason Erickson came on and got an infield pop and a groundout on a 3-0 pitch to end the inning.
The Huskies will play Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. against Portland. Live audio will air on gohuskies.com. Sunday's opponent has yet to be determined, but the Huskies will play the 3:30 p.m. game.
LINESCORE Rose City Invitational, Portland, Ore. Oregon 6, Washington 4 Washington 200 200 000 -- 4 6 3 Oregon 010 011 02x -- 6 6 0 Ben Guidos, Jason Erickson (6), Geoff Brown (8), Forrest Snow (8) and Pierce Rankin. Erik Stavert, Ryan Fleckenstein (8), Scott McGough (8), Drew Gagnier (9) and Paul Eschleman, Mitch Karraker (6). W - McGough (1-0). L - Erickson (0-3). 2B - UW, Troy Scott; UO, Eschleman. HR - UW, Rankin (4), Ty Rasmussen (2). T - 3:30.
