SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Daniel Aaron Moriel broke a tie with a two-out single in the top of the 11th inning after a balk moved the eventual winning run to second base, and Iowa beat Oregon 2-1 on Sunday in a Springfield regional elimination game.
Moriel, the Iowa catcher, also threw out Oregon’s Scott Heineman trying to steal third base with one out in a 1-1 game in the seventh.
Nick Hibbing (4-1) pitched the final three innings for Iowa.
Oregon reliever Stephen Nogosek (6-3) balked Nick Roscetti to second base ahead of Moriel's single. A leadoff walk and sacrifice bunt had Iowa building momentum, but shortstop Mark Karaviotis threw out Tyler Peyton at third base.
"Every time (Nogosek) goes out there you expect him to shove it," Karaviotis said. "That balk call was unfortunate. Kudos to their hitter for capitalizing on a big two-out hit."
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It looked like the game might end prior to extra innings, after Mitchell Tolman opened the ninth with a walk and took third on a Phil Craig-St. Louis single. Craig-St. Louis advanced to second on the throw trying to get Tolman at third, and Heineman was intentionally walked to load the bases with nobody out.
But Brandon Cuddy struck out with Iowa playing five men on the infield, and pinch-hitter J.B. Bryant hit into a double play to end the inning.
"My heart goes out to the two kids who had opportunities to win the game," UO coach George Horton said. "Those are special opportunities, and I'm sure they'll have a tough time sleeping and such. It'll be my job to make sure they understand those pitches were a small part of it, and we had other chances."
The Ducks said their recent track record in extra innings provided confidence after that lost chance.
"We had a lot of success at the end of ballgames, especially in extra innings, so we felt like nothing was changed inside the dugout," said UO starting pitcher Josh Graham. "Things were expected to go our way, just because we've been there before and done it multiple time. But you can't get them all. That's why we love this game so much — it's going to hurt you or it's going to make you love it even more."
Oregon's season came to an end at 38-25, just shy of the program's fourth straight 40-win campaign.
The postseason seemed improbable in April, before a late surge that included three wins over ranked teams in extra innings over the final week of the season. But that trend ended Sunday.
"We came a long ways, I believe," said Graham, who started and allowed one run over six innings. "It didn't go our way, and it stinks, because when you're on this team you feel like you deserve the world just because of everything we've been through — the ups and downs we faced, and how this team kept grinding."