Just two days ago, a lot of surrounding the Oregon Ducks baseball program was looking bleak with a five-game losing streak hanging over it.
Two straight wins to end the regular season erased all of that.
Oregon garnered wins over Utah on Friday and Saturday to take the series in Salt Lake City and finish with a 16-14 conference record and 33-20 overall. The Ducks will now look to the Pac-12 tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. this coming week to bolster their NCAA tourney resume.
That losing streak, which saw the Ducks give up double digits in each loss, reached five with a 12-5 loss to the Utes, a team that didn’t qualify for the conference tournament.
Thankfully for Oregon, the ship was righted on Friday morning as starting pitcher turned in the most important outing of the season. He went seven innings, allowed just one run on five hits as the Ducks took the 9-1 win.
With ace pitcher Jace Stoffal sidelined with an injury, the Ducks have had a hard time finding consistant pitching, but Spoljarik’s start on Friday seemed to be a turning point in the season.
Oregon rode that momentum Saturday morning with a huge 15-3 win to end the regular season. Rikuu Nishida was a homer away from the cycle, Drew Cowley homered and Bennett Thompson added four hits.
On the mound, Matthrew Grabmann followed Spoljarik’s start with a stellar outing of his own, going six inning, allowing two runs and five hits.
Now the Ducks head south to the desert with the conference tournament beginning on Tuesday.