Ducks’ playoff hopes founder – The Register-Guard

Oregon was getting hits off two of the best pitchers in the nation and looked ready to to put together another late rally, but UCLA wouldn’t fold.

The second-ranked Bruins scored a run in the top of the ninth inning to defeat the Ducks 4-3 Friday night in front of 1,556 in Pac-12 baseball at PK Park and put a dent into Oregon’s postseason hopes.

Oregon had a seven-game winning streak snapped and, after coming from behind in five of those victories, the Ducks had a chance to add to that list when they tied the score 3-3 with two runs in the eighth inning.

“We thought we had it, but then it didn’t work out,” Oregon first baseman Scott Heineman said.

The Bruins (42-12), who have clinched the conference title, improved to 22-6 in Pac-12 play while Oregon fell to 35-23 overall and 14-14 in the conference as they missed out on a chance for a quality win to impress the NCAA selection committee that will unveil the playoff bracket Monday.

“That just makes it more difficult,” UO coach George Horton said. “In a perfect scenario we sweep, but that is difficult to do against the Bruins, and now that can’t happen. We really have to fight (today) because does the committee look at this and go it’s a one-run loss, there is not much value in that. We certainly need to try to get it done to protect our lives.”

UCLA broke a 3-3 tie in the ninth against Oregon’s top two relievers when Darrell Miller Jr. singled off Stephen Nogosek. Miller Jr. was sacrificed to second, and then Nogosek walked Christoph Bono and Trent Chatterton to load the bases with one out.

Garrett Cleavinger came out of the bullpen and got Brett Stephens to hit a grounder to third baseman Mitchell Tolman, who threw out pinch-runner Brett Urabe at home for the second out, but Kevin Kramer then walked on four pitches to bring in Bono and give UCLA a 4-3 lead.

“The deal with Nogo and Cleav, we wouldn’t be here without those two guys, but unfortunately they didn’t throw enough strikes,” Horton said.

Tolman led off the ninth with a single and was on third with two outs when Matt Eureste grounded out to end the game. That was the 12th runner left on base for the Ducks.

Oregon drove in runs off two of the top pitchers in the country. UCLA starter James Kaprielian, a likely first-round pick in next month’s Major League Baseball draft, allowed six hits and walked four in five innings. Heineman hit a solo homer to open the scoring in the bottom of the second.

UCLA scored three runs off Oregon starter Cole Irvin in the third inning, but the Ducks tied the score in the eighth.

Heineman led off with a single and pinch-hitter Brandon Cuddy hit a one-out single off reliever Grant Dyer. UCLA closer David Berg — who leads the conference with a 0.79 ERA — entered the game, and following a double steal, Tim Susnara singled in both runners.

“I commend our guys for finding a way to get two runs off Dyer and Berg. That’s not easy to do,” Horton said. “We put ourselves in a position to win, and unfortunately we didn’t get it done.”

Oregon left two runners on base in both the second and third innings and left the bases loaded in the fifth off Kaprielian, who had not allowed a run in 23 2/3 innings in his last three starts.

“Kaprielian threw a no-hitter last week and this was the first time in three outings he gave up a run,” Heineman said. “They’re the best of the best. Against those guys they give you few opportunities and you need to take advantage. We did some things late, but before that we hit the ball hard and had no luck.”

Irvin had his longest outing of the season, allowing five hits and three earned runs in 7 1/3 innings.

Also Friday

Oregon State 4, California 0: North Eugene High grad Andrew Moore tossed a gem in his final regular-season collegiate start, allowing two hits and striking out 13 in a complete-game shutout of the Golden Bears. Moore (7-2) faced the minimum number of batters for the game after both baserunners who reached against him were erased on double plays. Caleb Hamilton drove in three runs for Oregon State (37-15, 18-9 Pac-12). Hamilton and Jeff Hendrix had two hits apiece for the Beavers. Aaron Knapp doubled for California (33-18, 17-11), which will face the Beavers in the second game of the series today.