Peterson wins as offense comes alive
05/19/17 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – David Peterson gave Oregon another strong start and the Ducks' offense broke out of a slump in a 6-2 win over USC on Friday night at Dedeaux Field.
Â
Peterson allowed two runs on just five hits in seven innings while striking out nine and walking just one. The Ducks' lefty moved his record to 11-3, just one win shy of the Oregon single-season record.
Â
How it happened: Kyle Kasser continued his strong play at the top of the lineup helping the Ducks take a first inning lead. Kasser doubled over the first base bag, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. It looked like Oregon would add to the lead after Spencer Steer walked and Gabe Mathews and Matthew Dyer had back-to-back hits to load the bases, but USC starter Connor Lunn (0-3) struck out Tim Susnara and got Kenyon Yovan to fly out to end the inning.
Â
Oregon (27-22, 10-15 Pac-12) added three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Morgan McCullough drove in the first run with a single after Jake Bennett and Kasser put runners on first and third with back-to-back base hits. Matthews drove in the next run with an infield hit after the runners moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Steer. Dyer picked up the final RBI with a sacrifice fly scoring McCullough for a 4-0 lead.
Â
USC (19-30, 6-19 Pac-12) cut the lead to two with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Oregon got them right back in the sixth. McCullough unloaded a two-run home run, the first of his career, to dead center field scoring Bennett who led off the inning with his third hit of the game.
Â
Peterson record watch: Of his nine strikeouts, two caught USC batters looking to run his season total to 30 which ties Alex Keudell (2012) and Tyler Anderson (2011) for the most in a single season … His 11th win tied him with Tommy Thorpe (2014) and Keudell (2012) for the second most in a single season … The win was the 19th of his career, tying Robbie Snow (1962-64) for the sixth most in school history.
Â
Box score notes: Oregon's run in the top of the first broke a 19-inning scoreless streak … The Ducks' 13 hits were the most in a game since they had 13 vs. Stanford on April 22 … Kasser, McCullough, Matthews, Dyer and Bennett combined for all 13 hits … McCullough was 3-for-5 with two runs scored while matching a season-high with three RBI … Bennett went 3-for-4 with two runs scored breaking out of a 1-for-24 slump while batting ninth for the first time this year … Matthews was 3-for-5 with a RBI .. Dyer went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Kasser was 2-for-5 with two runs scored … Dyer, Bennett and Matthews all had their 11th multi-hit game and are tied for the third most on the team … Kasser had his team-best 21st multi-hit game, which is tied for the fifth most in school history … Matthews finished with his 10th multi-hit game … Bennett had his fifth three-hit game, while McCullough had his fourth.
Â
On Deck: The Ducks and Trojans play game two of the series on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
Â
Â
Peterson allowed two runs on just five hits in seven innings while striking out nine and walking just one. The Ducks' lefty moved his record to 11-3, just one win shy of the Oregon single-season record.
Â
How it happened: Kyle Kasser continued his strong play at the top of the lineup helping the Ducks take a first inning lead. Kasser doubled over the first base bag, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. It looked like Oregon would add to the lead after Spencer Steer walked and Gabe Mathews and Matthew Dyer had back-to-back hits to load the bases, but USC starter Connor Lunn (0-3) struck out Tim Susnara and got Kenyon Yovan to fly out to end the inning.
Â
Oregon (27-22, 10-15 Pac-12) added three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Morgan McCullough drove in the first run with a single after Jake Bennett and Kasser put runners on first and third with back-to-back base hits. Matthews drove in the next run with an infield hit after the runners moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Steer. Dyer picked up the final RBI with a sacrifice fly scoring McCullough for a 4-0 lead.
Â
USC (19-30, 6-19 Pac-12) cut the lead to two with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Oregon got them right back in the sixth. McCullough unloaded a two-run home run, the first of his career, to dead center field scoring Bennett who led off the inning with his third hit of the game.
Â
Peterson record watch: Of his nine strikeouts, two caught USC batters looking to run his season total to 30 which ties Alex Keudell (2012) and Tyler Anderson (2011) for the most in a single season … His 11th win tied him with Tommy Thorpe (2014) and Keudell (2012) for the second most in a single season … The win was the 19th of his career, tying Robbie Snow (1962-64) for the sixth most in school history.
Â
Box score notes: Oregon's run in the top of the first broke a 19-inning scoreless streak … The Ducks' 13 hits were the most in a game since they had 13 vs. Stanford on April 22 … Kasser, McCullough, Matthews, Dyer and Bennett combined for all 13 hits … McCullough was 3-for-5 with two runs scored while matching a season-high with three RBI … Bennett went 3-for-4 with two runs scored breaking out of a 1-for-24 slump while batting ninth for the first time this year … Matthews was 3-for-5 with a RBI .. Dyer went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Kasser was 2-for-5 with two runs scored … Dyer, Bennett and Matthews all had their 11th multi-hit game and are tied for the third most on the team … Kasser had his team-best 21st multi-hit game, which is tied for the fifth most in school history … Matthews finished with his 10th multi-hit game … Bennett had his fifth three-hit game, while McCullough had his fourth.
Â
On Deck: The Ducks and Trojans play game two of the series on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
Â
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Peterson, David (11-3)
L: Lunn, Connor (0-3)

Batting:
2B: Kasser, Kyle 1
HR: McCullough, Morgan 1
RBI: Kasser, Kyle 1 ; McCullough, Morgan 3 ; Matthews, Gabe 1 ; Dyer, Matthew 1
SH: Steer, Spencer 1
SF: Dyer, Matthew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kasser, Kyle 2 ; McCullough, Morgan 2 ; Bennett, Jake 2
CS: Matthews, Gabe 1
HBP: Yovan, Kenyon 1

Batting:
2B: Dempster, Corey 1
RBI: Sabol, Blake 1 ; Perez, Cris 1
SH: Carrillo, Adalberto 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rios, Frankie 1 ; Dempster, Corey 1
HBP: Perez, Cris 1
Game Leaders
Tuesday, June 02
Tuesday, June 02
Tuesday, June 02
Tuesday, June 02
















