The Oregon Ducks, the No. 5 national seed, are still alive and kicking in the 2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament with a 3-2 victory over the Kent St. Golden Flashes on Sunday night. A three-run seventh inning put the Ducks ahead and solid bullpen after freshman starter Jake Reed left the game after 6.2 innings secured the victory.
Kent State got on board with a solo home run in the second inning and an RBI double in the fourth inning, both by George Roberts. The Golden Flashes could have opened up the game in the fourth inning, but a bases-loaded situation ended in nothing following groundout with two outs already recorded.
Oregon came back in the seventh inning with a one-out single by Ryon Healy, who scored on a single and an error when Brett Thomas followed him at the plate. A walk to Kyle Garlick and a Ryan Hambright single scored the second run. Brett Hambright put down a sacrifice bunt on the next play and reached base due to an error. However, Garlick scored on the play.
Kent State saw T.J. Sutton double to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but Thomas Thorpe followed with a strikeout. Jimmie Sherfy came in for the final two outs and got a swinging strikeout and a called strike three to end the game.
Game 3 of this best-of-three series will take place on Monday at 2:00 p.m. MT on ESPNU.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For a complete bracket, visit NCAA.com.
