GAME 2 & 3 - 247 SPORTS: Kenyon Yovan's career day leads to doubleheader sweep over No. 7 UCSB (1 photo, article)
Kenyon Yovan's career day leads to doubleheader sweep over No. 7 UCSB
ByJARED MACK Mar 6, 9:49 PMIn Oregon’s first doubleheader of the season, the Ducks showed their true colors, sweeping No. 7 UCSB on Saturday. The Ducks took a thrilling game one 5-4 and dominated in game two, winning by a whopping 15 runs, winning the series on a 17-2 shellacking.
This article will be broken into two parts, covering game one and then game two.
Game One: Oregon Win 5-4.
It was almost a nearly identical win for Oregon in game one of the doubleheader, riding an offensive explosion in the eighth inning and securing at least a series split against the No. 7 team in the country.
Oregon sent Cullen Kafka to the mound to start, and Kafka was dominant in his second start of the season. Kafka got off to a slow start, walking the first batter of the game and giving up a single before getting his first out. The Gauchos once again came out in a passive but aggressive approach, forcing Kafka to throw strikes from the start. This philosophy worked well against Friday’s starter Peyton Fuller, as Fuller struggled to find the strike zone in his brief outing.
Kafka would routinely find the zone on Saturday but did allow a run in that stressful first on a wild pitch. That would be the lone run the Gauchos would score off Kafka, as the righty was dominant in his 5.1 innings of work. Kafka relied heavily upon his fastball and slider combo, a typical approach for most pitchers. Kafka’s slider command was the difference on Saturday, throwing front door breaking balls to lefties and sweeping sliders away to righties.
His slider velocity ranged from 81-89 MPH and gave most hitters uncomfortable at-bats. When the Gauchos made contact with Kafka’s fastball, it was rarely solid. Kafka’s natural arm side run jammed right-handed hitters, as they so often tried to keep their weight back and wait for the slider. For left-handed hitters, Kafka was able to tail his fastball inside, giving the appearance of a fastball inside for a ball before coming back over the plate.
The righty struck out seven and walked just one batter all night before Christian Ciuffetelli came in for relief. Ciuffetelli struggled against the Gauchos, pitching only 1.2 innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs, as UCSB led 4-1 against Oregon, heading into the eighth inning.
Just like Friday night, Oregon’s bats came alive late into the ball game, starting with a Tristan Hanoian single to right field. Tanner Smith, Friday’s hero, drew a walk before Kenyon Yovan got his first hit of the season, hitting a three-run home run to center-field and knotting the ball game at four.
Yovan had a career day, but most of that came in the second game. As Gabe Matthews walked, the inning didn’t stop there, and Aaron Zavala was hit by a pitch, giving Oregon two more baserunners and zero outs. A throwing error by the catcher allowed Zavala to scamper home, giving Oregon a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
The backend duo of Hunter Breault and Kolby Somers surrendered just two base runners over the final two innings, one of which was caught stealing by freshman catcher Josiah Cromwick.
Shortstop Josh Kasevich ended the ball game with an athletic diving play to his left, getting up and throwing to Matthews, who picked the ball out of the dirt, giving Oregon a 5-4 win and a 2-0 series lead.
Game Two: Oregon wins 17-2
This article will be broken into two parts, covering game one and then game two.
Game One: Oregon Win 5-4.
It was almost a nearly identical win for Oregon in game one of the doubleheader, riding an offensive explosion in the eighth inning and securing at least a series split against the No. 7 team in the country.
Oregon sent Cullen Kafka to the mound to start, and Kafka was dominant in his second start of the season. Kafka got off to a slow start, walking the first batter of the game and giving up a single before getting his first out. The Gauchos once again came out in a passive but aggressive approach, forcing Kafka to throw strikes from the start. This philosophy worked well against Friday’s starter Peyton Fuller, as Fuller struggled to find the strike zone in his brief outing.
Kafka would routinely find the zone on Saturday but did allow a run in that stressful first on a wild pitch. That would be the lone run the Gauchos would score off Kafka, as the righty was dominant in his 5.1 innings of work. Kafka relied heavily upon his fastball and slider combo, a typical approach for most pitchers. Kafka’s slider command was the difference on Saturday, throwing front door breaking balls to lefties and sweeping sliders away to righties.
His slider velocity ranged from 81-89 MPH and gave most hitters uncomfortable at-bats. When the Gauchos made contact with Kafka’s fastball, it was rarely solid. Kafka’s natural arm side run jammed right-handed hitters, as they so often tried to keep their weight back and wait for the slider. For left-handed hitters, Kafka was able to tail his fastball inside, giving the appearance of a fastball inside for a ball before coming back over the plate.
The righty struck out seven and walked just one batter all night before Christian Ciuffetelli came in for relief. Ciuffetelli struggled against the Gauchos, pitching only 1.2 innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs, as UCSB led 4-1 against Oregon, heading into the eighth inning.
Just like Friday night, Oregon’s bats came alive late into the ball game, starting with a Tristan Hanoian single to right field. Tanner Smith, Friday’s hero, drew a walk before Kenyon Yovan got his first hit of the season, hitting a three-run home run to center-field and knotting the ball game at four.
Yovan had a career day, but most of that came in the second game. As Gabe Matthews walked, the inning didn’t stop there, and Aaron Zavala was hit by a pitch, giving Oregon two more baserunners and zero outs. A throwing error by the catcher allowed Zavala to scamper home, giving Oregon a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
The backend duo of Hunter Breault and Kolby Somers surrendered just two base runners over the final two innings, one of which was caught stealing by freshman catcher Josiah Cromwick.
Shortstop Josh Kasevich ended the ball game with an athletic diving play to his left, getting up and throwing to Matthews, who picked the ball out of the dirt, giving Oregon a 5-4 win and a 2-0 series lead.
Game Two: Oregon wins 17-2
Once again, the Ducks found themselves in an early 1-0 deficit after the first inning. Brett Walker was on the mound this time and quickly found himself in a bases-loaded, no-one-out jam.
A sacrifice fly to right gave the Gauchos the early lead before Walker settled in and got an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. It would be another three innings before Walker allowed multiple baserunners.
With Walker getting out of the jam, Oregon’s bats lit up once again. Instead of waiting until the later innings, the Ducks jumped on UCSB’s Rodney Boone in the second inning. Oregon sent 12 batters to the plate, with the first three batters reaching base, as Sam Novitske tied the game with an RBI single. An error by the third baseman gave Oregon the lead, and the Ducks never looked back.
Gavin Grant hit a sacrifice fly to right-field, and the Ducks quickly found themselves with two outs in the second. An RBI double from Smith kept the inning going for Yovan, who hit his second home run of the day, this time a bomb over the left-field scoreboard. Oregon quickly found itself up 6-1.
Oregon kept the peddle to the ground, scoring two more runs on RBI singles from Zavala and Kasevich. An eight-run inning flipped the momentum, and with Walker on the mound, Oregon was sitting pretty.
Walker went on to throw six innings of one-run ball, striking out three and holding the Gauchos at bay. Like Kafka, Walker induced weak contact, hitting 94 MPH on his fastball, getting harmless fly ball and groundball outs.
The offense kept on scoring, scoring in five straight innings (including the second), headlined by Yovan. Yovan connected on his second home run of the game in the sixth innings, another shot to left field, traveling over the scoreboard and recorded at 403 feet.
Here are all of Yovan’s at-bats on Saturday, stretching two games: groundout, strikeout, line-drive out, three-run home run, rbi single, flyout, two-run home run, walk, RBI sac fly, two-run home run, single. Not bad.
From that point on, the game was nearly over. Zavala added a solo shot in the fourth inning, his second home run of the series, and a serious reminder of how talented the right-fielder is. If Zavala can continue to hit for power, the depth of Oregon’s lineup becomes even more remarkable.
Oregon trotted out a few first-year students into the game from the bullpen, including righty RJ Gordon who had a stellar debut. Gordon tossed two shutout innings, striking out five of the eight batters he faced, hitting 95 MPH on his fastball.
Oregon’s bullpen showed their depth on Saturday, and coach Wasikowski has an immensely talented group of arms at his disposal.
The victory secures a 5-2 record for the Ducks heading into the fourth and final game of the series starting Sunday at noon. Senior lefty Robby Ahlstrom makes his season debut on the bump, as Oregon will look to sweep the Gauchos, heading into Corvallis next weekend with some serious confidence.
Kenyon Yovan's career day leads to doubleheader sweep over No. 7 UCSB (247sports.com)
A sacrifice fly to right gave the Gauchos the early lead before Walker settled in and got an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. It would be another three innings before Walker allowed multiple baserunners.
With Walker getting out of the jam, Oregon’s bats lit up once again. Instead of waiting until the later innings, the Ducks jumped on UCSB’s Rodney Boone in the second inning. Oregon sent 12 batters to the plate, with the first three batters reaching base, as Sam Novitske tied the game with an RBI single. An error by the third baseman gave Oregon the lead, and the Ducks never looked back.
Gavin Grant hit a sacrifice fly to right-field, and the Ducks quickly found themselves with two outs in the second. An RBI double from Smith kept the inning going for Yovan, who hit his second home run of the day, this time a bomb over the left-field scoreboard. Oregon quickly found itself up 6-1.
Oregon kept the peddle to the ground, scoring two more runs on RBI singles from Zavala and Kasevich. An eight-run inning flipped the momentum, and with Walker on the mound, Oregon was sitting pretty.
Walker went on to throw six innings of one-run ball, striking out three and holding the Gauchos at bay. Like Kafka, Walker induced weak contact, hitting 94 MPH on his fastball, getting harmless fly ball and groundball outs.
The offense kept on scoring, scoring in five straight innings (including the second), headlined by Yovan. Yovan connected on his second home run of the game in the sixth innings, another shot to left field, traveling over the scoreboard and recorded at 403 feet.
Here are all of Yovan’s at-bats on Saturday, stretching two games: groundout, strikeout, line-drive out, three-run home run, rbi single, flyout, two-run home run, walk, RBI sac fly, two-run home run, single. Not bad.
From that point on, the game was nearly over. Zavala added a solo shot in the fourth inning, his second home run of the series, and a serious reminder of how talented the right-fielder is. If Zavala can continue to hit for power, the depth of Oregon’s lineup becomes even more remarkable.
Oregon trotted out a few first-year students into the game from the bullpen, including righty RJ Gordon who had a stellar debut. Gordon tossed two shutout innings, striking out five of the eight batters he faced, hitting 95 MPH on his fastball.
Oregon’s bullpen showed their depth on Saturday, and coach Wasikowski has an immensely talented group of arms at his disposal.
The victory secures a 5-2 record for the Ducks heading into the fourth and final game of the series starting Sunday at noon. Senior lefty Robby Ahlstrom makes his season debut on the bump, as Oregon will look to sweep the Gauchos, heading into Corvallis next weekend with some serious confidence.
Kenyon Yovan's career day leads to doubleheader sweep over No. 7 UCSB (247sports.com)
