Offense struggles in weekend sweep in Oregon

Apr 1, 2013, 12:00 AM

The start of the season has not gone the way the Washington baseball team wanted. But, after taking two of three games from USC a week ago, the Huskies were hoping to gain some much-needed momentum heading into the heat of conference play. Unfortunately, after a heartbreaking weekend in Eugene, Ore., they are back to square one. After their promising series against USC, the Huskies struggled again this weekend, getting swept at the hands of rival Oregon. Now, the Huskies are in real trouble, sitting in the cellar of the conference standings three series into Pac-12 play. The series started with a heartbreaking, extra-inning loss for the UW. In Thursday’s opener, Oregon got on the board first, scoring two in the bottom of the first off UW starter Jared Fisher. Those would be the only runs surrendered by Fisher, who gave up just three hits in six innings. He retired 15 consecutive batters between the first and sixth innings, striking out four batters in the process. The Huskies (6-19, 2-7 Pac-12) got on the board in the fourth on an RBI single by Ryan Wiggins, then took the lead with two in the fifth. Joe Meggs drove in Andrew Ely with a groundout, and Robert Pehl singled to right to give the UW a 3-2 lead. But, they were unable to hold that lead, as the Ducks tied the game in the eighth off Tyler Davis. Oregon’s Ryon Healy drove a two-out single to left field to tie the game. Two innings later, Healy stepped up again with two outs, and this time hit a 2-run, walk-off home run off Trevor Dunlap to give the Ducks the opener. Unfortunately for the UW, those three runs would be the last ones they would score on the weekend. On Friday night, the Huskies could muster only three hits off the combination of Tommy Thorpe and Jimmie Sherfy, as the Ducks bested the UW 1-0. Thorpe was brilliant in eight innings of work, giving up three hits and walking three while striking out seven Huskies. Austin Voth was the hard-luck loser for the UW, giving up just one run on seven hits in seven innings. The Ducks scored their only run on a safety squeeze by J.J. Altobelli in the second inning. In Saturday’s series finale, the Huskies were once again held scoreless, this time falling 6-0 to Oregon. Cole Irvin gave up four hits in his complete game, shutout, striking out 11 Husky batters on the way to his fifth win of the season. Oregon picked up two unearned runs in the first inning off UW starter Davis, who couldn’t get out of the fourth inning. In the fourth, Davis gave up two hits before being replaced by Zach Wright, who gave up a two-run double and two more runs in the frame on a groundout and a single. The Huskies will try to solve their offensive problems Tuesday, when they play a road game in Bellevue against Seattle University. After picking up 12 hits total in the three-game series, the UW faces a team it beat 4-2 on March 5, in a game where they had 11 hits. Reach reporter Daniel Rubens at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @drubens12

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