Isaac Ayon delivers dominant start as Ducks top No. 25 Arizona
Mark Wasikowski never contemplated pulling Isaac Ayon from Friday’s game — not when his sophomore right-hander was that dialed in.
“I didn’t want to get hit today by a bat or anything with Isaac,” Wasikowski said with a laugh. “He wasn’t coming out of the game. There was no discussion.”
Ayon rewarded the faith from Oregon’s coaches by delivering the best start of his college career. He tossed his first career nine-inning complete game and struck out a career-high 10 batters while walking just three and led the Ducks to a 4-3 win over No. 25 Arizona at PK Park in Eugene.
The dominant start from Ayon was complimented by a go-ahead RBI single from Gavin Grant in the bottom of the eighth that plated Tyler Ganus and gave the game its final score.
“It’s awesome,” Grant said. “I thought for a second it was gonna hit (Ganus), and then once it got past the shortstop, I just started yelling. It’s just exciting to get a team win.”
Grant finished the day 2-for-4, and Drew Cowley went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman catcher Bennett Thompson, who was recently inserted into the starting lineup, went 1-for-3 and hit the first home run of his college career.
For an Oregon pitching staff that has struggled mightily this season, Ayon was rock-solid against a Wildacts’ offense that is as dangerous as any in the Pac-12.
“A lot of (Arizona’s batters) we attacked inside with my sinker,” Ayon said. “It just drops off, so it allowed us to get groundballs like we got from (Daniel Susac) when he hit into that double play. We were just attacking inside and throwing the slider off of that.”
The two-pitch combo was incredibly effective and enabled Ayon to shut down the Wildcats early while the Ducks’ offense went to work.
Cowley ripped a single to left to plate Brennan Milone and open the scoring for the Ducks in the first. One inning later, Thompson launched a two-run blast over the left-field fence to make it 3-0.
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“I didn’t start him for the first 40 games, or so, and now he’s waited his turn,” Wasikowski said of Thompson. “He was a good player when we weren’t playing him, but an injury to (Josiah Cromwick) and Bennett’s production when he got his chance. … Not only is he doing really well with the bat, but he’s also catching extremely well.”
But Arizona struck back in the fourth when Chase Davis launched a solo homer, and then tied the game an inning later when Susac and Tanner O’Tremba drove in runs.
From there, though, Ayon buckled down and retired the final 12 batters of the game in order. That included five strikeouts to finish off the day.
“That was awesome to see, he got better as he went,” Wasikowski said of Ayon. “The ninth inning was his best inning of the game. To throw a complete game in less than 100 pitches. … It’s really cool.”
As Ayon cruised through the final four innings, the Oregon bats took advantage of an Arizona miscue to win the game. Sam Novitske reached on a throwing error with two outs, and Tyler Ganus came in to pinch run for him. Jacob Walsh followed by drawing a walk, and Grant stepped to the plate and delivered the go-ahead hit.
The Ducks will look to complete a series sweep on Saturday when they host the Wildcats for the finale. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. PT, with Jace Stoffal set to get the starting nod for Oregon.
