Ducks bullpen dominate once again in victory over Baylor

Teams are going to learn very quickly that if they enter a battle of the bullpens with Oregon, it’ll be a losing proposition.

The Ducks scored seven unanswered runs and held Baylor off the scoreboard for the final five innings to take a 7-4 win over the Bears in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas.

Oregon is now 2-0 with the bullpen dominating so far. The pen has thrown 9 2/3 scoreless innings in the games against Oklahoma and Baylor. Bradley Mullan earned the victory and veteran Logan Mercado got the six-out save.

Baylor jumped on the Ducks early in the second inning when Mason Greer hit a two-run homer to right field. Fans in Texas are used to watching a player named Greer hit home runs as Mason’s father, Rusty, played for the Rangers for nine seasons.

The Bears added to their lead with single runs in the third and fourth off of Oregon starter Kevin Seitter. On the other side of the field, Baylor starting pitcher Colin McKinney was having his way with the Duck lineup through the first three frames.

Oregon finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth on Bennett Thompson’s RBI single to left to make it 4-1.

McKinney was losing his stuff in the fifth and once Baylor went to its bullpen and brought in left-hander Grant Golumb, the Ducks made thim pay with three runs to tie the game at 4-4.

Jacob Walsh lined a double to left-center to score two runs to make it 4-3 Bears. Oregon tied the game on Jeffrey Heard’s single to center.

It was a brand new game in the sixth and Oregon was able to take complete control with three more runs. Mason Neville led the frame off with a double down the right field line and then scored on Ryan Cooney’s single to give the Ducks their first lead of the game 5-4.

Carter Garate followed up with a perfect drag bunt down the first base line that Baylor mishandled and threw down the line. Cooney was able to score on the bad throw and Garate advanced to third to make it 6-4.

Oregon was able to tack on one more insurance run on Drew Smith’s single to left and it was 7-4.

That was more than enough for relievers Mullan, Jaxon Jordan and Mercado to shut it down. Jordan found himself in some trouble as the Bears were able to load the bases with two outs in the seventh, but whiffed Cortlan Castle to end the threat.

Oregon will now attempt to leave Globe Life Field unscathed tomorrow when the Ducks face No. 18 Texas Tech Sunday afternoon with a scheduled first pitch at 12:30 pm PT.

Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire