Gabe Matthews Sets Oregon RBI Record, Ducks Cruise Past Gonzaga 10-3

The Ducks earned a win in a Top 25 matchup behind a solid offensive performance

Author:
Dylan Reubenking
Publish date:
May 19, 2021 10:18 PM EDT

It was another record-breaking day for Oregon first baseman Gabe Matthews. The senior became Oregon’s all-time leader in runs batted, adding two more to his tally as the No. 13 Ducks took care of business against the No. 25 Gonzaga Bulldogs Tuesday in a 10-3 victory.

Matthews surpassed Spencer Steer’s career record set in 2019 with his 130th RBI in the sixth inning, giving the Salem native yet another milestone this season. He has also become the Ducks all-time leader in hits, doubles and multi-hit games this year, and is closing in on breaking JJ Altobelli’s record of 802 career at bats, and seven runs away from breaking Aaron Payne’s record of 135 runs scored.

Matthews reflected on passing his former teammate Steer’s RBI record.

“I knew I had to beat him out of all people,” he said. “We had been talking about it for a while, and he wanted me to beat it, but it just kind of eventually happened. I will call him tonight and let him know.”

The Bulldogs jumped ahead with two runs in the second and one run in the third off of Ducks’ starting pitcher Logan Mercado — who made his first career start — to take a 3-0 lead. The third inning run was the last the Bulldogs would score before the Ducks erupted for four runs in the bottom of the third.

Kenyon Yovan sliced the deficit to 3-2 with a two-run home run into the Oregon bullpen in right center. Josh Kasevich tied the game with a single that ricocheted off Bulldogs pitcher Nico Zeglin’s leg and into foul territory, forcing Zeglin to leave the game.

Oregon took a 4-3 lead on an Anthony Hall sacrifice fly to score Matthews, and the runs didn’t stop there. Kasevich stole home on a double steal in the fifth to extend the lead to 5-3.

In the sixth, the Ducks offense poured on five more runs on six hits to blow the game open. Yovan cracked an RBI single to the center field warning track to score Tanner Smith, and Aaron Zavala doubled to advance Yovan to third and bring Matthews to the plate, needing two RBIs to break the record.

Matthews lined an offspeed pitch into deep center to score Zavala and Yovan, placing his name among the Oregon greats with yet another record.

Kasevich drove in Matthews on an RBI single, and Jack Scanlon drove in Sam Novitske to score the Ducks’ 10th run of the ballgame.

The Oregon bullpen suffocated the Bulldogs offense after it scored three runs off of Mercado. Nico Tellache, Isaac Ayon, Caleb Sloan, Rio Britton, and Hunter Breault combined for six shutout innings.

The pitchers allowed just three hits and had five punchouts to seal the Ducks’ seventh straight win.

With the win, the Ducks improve to 34-11 and finish with a 15-3 record against non-conference opponents. It was the Ducks’ first matchup of the season with the Bulldogs as the previous three had been cancelled earlier this month due to COVID-19 protocols within the Gonzaga program.

Head coach Mark Wasikowski said the team “came out today and played a very clean game.”

“I was just excited the way these guys are enjoying to be with each other — just the camaraderie, the work ethic. They really are a fun group to be with on a daily basis.”

Next up for Oregon is a three-game series against No. 17 Stanford beginning Friday at PK Park — the final home series of the season. Oregon (17-7 in Pac-12) remains first in the conference standings while Stanford (13-8 in Pac-12) stands at third with Arizona (19-8) in between.

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