Thorpe Leads Oregon Ducks Baseball to 11-1 Win Over Washington State

Oregon and Washington State at PK Park, April 17th 2014//KPNWSports

Entering the game on Thursday, the opener of a three games series against Washington State both teams were in level ground in the Pac-12 Conference at 7-5. The Oregon Ducks knew going into the game that weather would not be an advantage, but the ball would their way in the first two innings with the Cougars committing three defensive errors and Oregon gaining a 6-0 advantage after two innings. Oregon Starting Pitcher Tommy Thorpe was impressive on the hill and did not give up a hit until the fifth inning.

The Junior Left hander threw seven innings giving up just two hits and struck out eight Cougars. Freshman Cooper Stiles pitched the final two innings for the Oregon Ducks giving up just one run. On Offense, Oregon was hitting on all cylinders and in the sixth inning was a homer run shy of hitting an ‘unconventional cycle’. They came within four feet of it in fact. Aaron Payne hit a single, A.J. Balta had a double, Aaron Baumgartner had a triple, and Stephen Packard hit a fly ball to deep right field that was caught a few feet from the wall.  Freshman A.J. Balta led the Oregon Ducks offense going 3-5 with three RBI’s and a two run home run in the 11-1 win over Washington State.

George Horton’s team has now won seven games in a row. Oregon meet the Cougars again on Friday(6pm PT) when undefeated Jeff Gold(8-0) takes the hill. The three game series comes to a close on Saturday(2pm PT) with Trent Paddon(0-2) on the mound.

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