The baseball team (0-7 overall) continued its winless 2024 season last weekend. The Leopards traveled to the University of Oregon (6-1 overall) to face off against the Ducks at P.K. Park where they dropped all four games in the series.
The first game on Friday resulted in a 17-3 loss. There was hope for the Maroon and White when senior infielder Blaze Fadio gave the Leopards an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo home run in the first inning.
However, the Leopards did not hold the lead for long. The Ducks responded with three runs in the bottom of the first and did not look back, tallying at least a run in every single inning played.
On Saturday, the two teams faced off in a doubleheader. The first game produced results similar to Friday’s, with the Ducks running away with a 15-4 win. Junior infielder Ben Petrone tied the game 1-1 with a solo home run in the second, but Oregon went on to score 13 additional runs before the Maroon and White were able to score again.
Petrone showed out again in the sixth inning, hitting another home run that made the score 14-3. The Leopards were able to score one more run facilitated by freshman outfielder Teddy Cashman.
The second game of the doubleheader was much closer with the Ducks winning by a 7-4 margin. Like Saturday’s first game, the Ducks took the reins at the beginning, adding four runs by the bottom of the third. The Leopards showed signs of life in the top of the fifth when they were able to put two runs on the board, eventually adding their third in the sixth.
However, Oregon did not sit idly by and added to its lead in the bottom of the seventh to bring the score to 7-3. Lafayette was able to score one more consolatory run in the ninth.
The Leopards wrapped up the series on Sunday with a 12-2 loss. Like both games in the doubleheader on Saturday, the Ducks put runs on the board first, scoring six by the top of the third. The Maroon and White made it competitive in the fifth inning, drawing within four on freshman outfielder Jeremiah Holder’s first collegiate home run. After leaving runners on second and third in the same inning, they could not score again and the Ducks put six unanswered runs on the board en route to an easy win.
Six members of the baseball team did not respond to requests for comment.