Bringing back Oregon baseball in 2009 was supposed to prevent all of this.
But in 2022, Oregon State is as good as ever as the Beavers completed the season sweep over the Ducks with a 4-0 win in Corvallis. With the win, the Beavers improved to 38-9 overall, 18-6 in conference play and will most likely be ranked No. 1 in the country on Monday.
As for the Ducks, they have lost eight of 10 games, fell to 13-11 in Pac-12 play and 28-19 overall. Thankfully for Oregon, its RPI is in the Top 25 so making the NCAA tournament shouldn’t be a problem. However, a few more victories in the last next three weeks would be beneficial.
Oregon has been shut out twice this season and unfortunately, both times came against the Beavers. All Oregon State needed on Sunday were two-run home runs from Matthew Gretler and Jacob Melton. The Duck pitchers held the Beavers to four hits. Oregon’s bats could just muster up four hits themselves. They only got a runner in scoring position once the entire day.
Now the Ducks need to forget the last couple of weeks and move on and first on the docket is San Diego at PK Park for two mid-week games. The Toreros handed Oregon three losses down in San Diego in the first four games, so revenge can be a factor.
But a bigger factor for Oregon needs to be securing the best record possible and making some noise in the Pac-12 tournament. If the Ducks can do that, hosting a regional in Eugene is still in the cards.