— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) July 12, 2021
Selecting an Oregon Duck worked out for the Colorado Rockies once before, so they decided to go to the well again.
Starting pitcher Cullen Kafka was picked in the ninth round of the MLB draft Monday afternoon. The Rockies picked former Oregon hurler Tyler Anderson in the first round in 2011. Anderson was able to make his debut in 2016 and is still pitching in 2021 in Pittsburgh
Kafka was the Ducks’ No. 2 starter behind Ahlstrom where he went 5-3 with an earned run average of 3.00. The junior from Walnut Creek, Calif. struck out 84 batters in 78 innings.
The last part of the 2021 season didn’t go so well for Kafka as he failed to get out of the fifth inning in his last three starts against Stanford, California and Central Connecticut.
Although the estimated value of his selection is $158,000, Kafka might choose to return to Oregon. With the NIL, Kafka can make money with his name and likeness. He would also be Oregon’s No. 1 starter heading into the 2022 season. And Colorado isn’t exactly the most pitcher-friendly place to play with the high altitude of Denver.
It will be interesting to see what Kafka chooses to do in the coming weeks ahead.
It was a tough weekend for both the Ducks baseball and softball teams as they both suffered road series losses after hot starts.
The majority of Oregon Ducks fans were focused on two things this weekend: The Spring Game, and the 2021 NFL Draft. While those two things were going on, though, both the baseball and softball teams were on the road, taking part in a couple of series that could be pivotal down the road.
Just because our eyes weren’t directly on them doesn’t mean that we will ignore the outcomes. Here is a quick breakdown of what took place for both teams over the weekend.
Baseball Drops Series to Cougars
The trip up to the Palouse and Washington State started off with a bang but ended on a big fat thud for the Oregon Ducks this past weekend.
Coming off a series win over UCLA that saw the Ducks briefly take over first place in the Pac-12 and a sweep over San Jose State, Oregon was riding sky high before its three-game set with the Cougars.
That momentum carried itself into the first game with a dominating 13-0 win over WSU. Unfortunately, Robert Ahlstrom’s excellent start wasn’t repeated on Saturday or Sunday with losses of 11-1 and 11-6, respectively.
In that opener, the Ducks bats stayed alive and they knocked starter Brandon White around. Oregon forced WSU to yank him out in the third inning with five runs to go up 5-0 early. White was finally taken out in the fourth when he gave up a double and a walk to begin the fourth.
The Ducks eventually went up 7-0 before Aaron Zavala’s home run made it 9-0 in the sixth and then Kenyon Yovan put the game away with a three-run blast to make it 12-0 in the seventh.
Ahlstrom was dominating through seven innings, scattering six hits and striking out six to improve his record to 4-3 on the season.
But the Oregon offense was shut down in Game 2 when Cougar hurler threw 7 2/3 stellar innings, giving up just a run on four hits with six strikeouts. It just wasn’t Cullen Kafka’s night as he allowed four homers in the loss.
Hoping to still win the series on Sunday, the Ducks went with Brett Walker on the hill, but after being staked to an early 2-0 lead, Walker allowed three runs in three innings. Nico Tellache had his roughest outing of the season, giving up five runs and getting just one out before being pulled.
The Ducks are now 27-11 overall and 11-7 in conference play. Oregon will have a chance to rebound this weekend when it hosts Washington, a team that’s only 17-21 overall and 3-12 in conference action.
Eric Evans Photography
Softball drops series to No. 12 Arizona State
The story for the Oregon Ducks softball team was eerily similar, as they began with a nice victory at No. 12 Arizona State but then lost three straight down in the desert.
In Game 1 of the series, pitcher Brooke Yanez was given a 4-1 lead into the fourth, but three homers in that frame gave the Sun Devils a 5-4 advantage. Oregon didn’t get down on itself, however. The Ducks just got to work.
Allee Bunker’s blooper to right field scored Hannah Galey to tie the game up at 5-5. It stayed that way into extras when Mya Felder’s grounder was booted and she beat out the throw to allow Terra McGowen to score the eventual winning run in the 6-5 Oregon victory.
It was home run derby on Saturday as both teams traded three-run shots in the first inning. Hannah Delgado put the Ducks (31-13, 9-9) on the board with that homer for the 3-0 lead, but ASU broke away from a 5-4 lead in the sixth to go on to win 10-4. The nightcap featured two early homers from the Devils to gup 4-0 and Oregon couldn’t muster up enough offense and eventually went down 4-1.
Hoping to salvage a series split on Sunday, the Ducks turned to Yanez, but it wasn’t her day in the circle. Oregon scored four in the second, but ASU, like they did all weekend, put a crooked number on the scoreboard with a six-spot in the third. The Sun Devils built up a 9-4 lead before Oregon scored two in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as the Ducks went down 9-6.
It doesn’t get any easier for the softball team as they will prepare to face off with No. 9 Arizona, who come in with a 33-8 overall record and 11-5 in conference play. The series opener at Jane Sanders Stadium will be televised by ESPN2 at 4 pm.
