Tag: Josh Kasevich

Outfielder Anthony Hall goes to the Yankees in the fourth round

Oregon outfielder Anthony Hall was selected by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB draft.

Major League scouts spent a lot of time at PK Park for good reason. There was a lot of talent on that field and Anthony Hall was definitely among them.

The New York Yankees took notice and drafted the Oregon outfielder in the fourth round, 130th overall, in the 2022 MLB draft Monday morning.

Hall becomes the second Duck to get selected after shortstop Josh Kasevich was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. Like Kasevich, Hall had a breakout season in 2022 as he hit .333 with 14 home runs and 56 runs batted in.

This is what MLB scouts said about Hall before being drafted.

A left-handed-hitting and throwing outfielder, Hall has the chance to be an impact bat. Thereโ€™s some definite juice in his swing with plus raw power, especially to the pull side, but heโ€™s shown the ability to hit the ball out the other way, too. His approach got better on the Cape, as he took more pitches and used the whole field more consistently, and that has helped him get to his power more this spring. He crushes fastballs, but he needs to continue to refine his recognition of softer stuff.

Milone, Kasevich and Somers named to All-Conference baseball team

Brennan Milone, Josh Kasevich and Kolby Somers were all honored by the Pac-12 Conference with post-season awards.

The Pac-12 Conference announced its 35-player all-conference selections and the Oregon Ducks were able to have three names on the list.

Designed hitter/first baseman Brennan Milone, shortstop Josh Kasevich an closer Kolby Somers were all recognized for their efforts that helped the Ducks finish fourth with an 18-12 record and 35-21 overall.

Oregon is among the top 8 Pac-12 teams that will head down to Scottsdale, Ariz. to battle for the automatic NCAA tournament berth with the first annual conference tourney.

Milone, a transfer from South Carolina, showed early on his for being on the highlight film. He showed power right away and that the new dimensions for PK Park might be a plus for the Oregon program. Milone’s 10 homers contributed to the Ducks’ season record-breaking 71 dingers.

Kasevich isn’t the prototypical No. 5 hitter except that he usually gets that big hit in big situations. He also played a solid shortstop, committing just five errors at the most demanding defensive position on the diamond. Overall, Kasevich hit .311 with seven homers and 40 RBIs. He was also named to the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team thanks to that .979 fielding percentage.

Somers came into the season as one of the best closers in the conference and he showed it over and over in 2022. He finished the regular season with nine saves to go with a 5-3 record and a 2.97 earned run average.

Another Duck who could have easily been named an All-Conference performer, but instead was given an honorable mention was outfielder Anthony Hall with his .326 average, 13 homers and 47 RBIs. He also had 12 doubles and five triples.

If there was one “snub” it would be Tanner Smith, who wasn’t named to any list despite hitting .320 with 11 home runs, 11 doubles, 35 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.

Oregon snaps losing streak with 15-6 blowout of UC-San Diego

The Ducks baseball team was able to snap their six-game losing skid with a big 15-6 win over UC-San Diego at PK Park.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team needed a victory in the worst possible way and they finally got it this afternoon at PK Park.

Oregon ended its six-game losing streak, which included 18 scoreless innings, with a 15-6 blowout win over UC-San Diego. With the win, the Ducks moved to 29-20 overall and they will now head to the desert to face Arizona State for a weekend three-game series.

The Tritons were able to hold Oregon to just one hit on Tuesday, but the Duck bats got off the deck in a big way with five runs in the second inning and five more in the third to grab a 10-1 lead.

Josh Kasevich ended the scoreless streak that eventually reached 19 innings with a home run to left. Later in the inning, Sam Novitske belted a two-run homer to left-center and the Ducks were off and running.

In the third, the long ball wasn’t necessary. Oregon scored five runs on six hits. Up with a comfortable nine-run lead, the Ducks could relax and it showed on both ends of the diamond. Oregon scored three more in the fifth on Brennan Milone’s three-run double to make it 14-5.

Hopefully the Ducks are out of their slump and can focus on the rest of the season that has just seven more regular season games left. They go down to Tempe to take on a Sun Devil team that is 24-25 overall and 12-12 in conference action.

Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, May 13 with a 7 p.m. first pitch.

Bruins complete the weekend sweep with 5-4 win over Oregon

UCLA was able to complete the weekend series sweep with a 5-4 win over the Ducks Sunday afternoon.

This could have gone the exact opposite way.

That’s how close this weekend series went between Oregon and UCLA down at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Unfortunately for the Ducks, it was the Bruins who came out with a weekend sweep with a 5-4 victory. It was the third straight one-run decision that went UCLA’s favor.

With the loss, the Ducks fell to 18-10 overall and 7-5 in league play. UCLA was able to improve to 19-8 overall and 6-3 in conference action. Oregon has lost three straight games for the first time since losing the first three games of the season at San Diego.

As with the first two games against the Bruins, Oregon was able to grab the lead early on. The Ducks scored single runs in each of the first four innings eventually taking a 4-2 lead. Josh Kasevich’s homer gave Oregon a 2-1 lead and Anthony Hall’s long home run in the fourth helped the Ducks take a 4-1 advantage.

Oregon had planned to have this be a bullpen game with Matt Dallas starting. But UCLA was forced to go with a bullpen game when starter Thatcher Hurd had to leave after facing just three hitters due to an illness or injury.

The two teams combined to use 10 pitchers.

UCLA’s Malakhi Knight doubled home two runs in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4. The Bruins then took the lead in the next inning on Kyle Karros’ home run to left.

Closer Gage Jump earned a six-out save by pitching the last two innings.

Oregon will now take a break from Pac-12 play when they host Ball State in a four-game series at PK Park with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday. The Cardinals are 17-9 overall and just saw their 10-game winning streak get snapped with a 5-1 loss to Toledo.

Oregon wins a rare pitcher’s duel in 11 innings over San Francisco

The Ducks had to go extras, but were able to sweep San Francisco in the two-game series with a 4-3 win in 11 innings.

Suffice it to say that there won’t be many pitching duels at PK Park this season.

Oregon came into today’s game with San Francisco averaging nine runs per contest. But on those rare occasions where the Duck bats just don’t have it, they still need to find ways to win.

The second game of the brief midweek series with the Dons featured one such occasion and the Ducks managed to find a way to win 4-3 in 11 innings. Oregon is now 18-7 overall as it prepares to go down to Los Angeles to face UCLA for a three-game set.

Josh Kasevich had three of Oregon’s six hits on the day. His single to begin the ninth sparked a rally to tie the game at 3-3 and his double led off the 11th where Kasevich eventually scored the winning run.

The Ducks had runners on second and third with two out and the Dons decided to pitch to Gavin Grant. It was a pick your poison option with Tanner Smith waiting on deck. Grant hit a bouncer to second where it was slow enough for Grant to beat the throw sending Oregon home happy.

USF took the early 2-0 lead in the second inning, but the Ducks were able to tie the game an inning later. Brennan Milone’s single got Oregon on the board and Kasevich’s single up the middle tied the game.

It remained 2-2 until the sixth inning when USF was able to scratch out a run off of reliever Logan Mercado. Oregon used five pitchers out of the bullpen after Scott Ellis made his first career start. Matt Dallas threw the final 3 2/3 innings and earned the win.

Oregon baseball holds off USC 9-7 for its fifth straight win to maintain first place in Pac-12

Oregon scores early, take a big lead and then holds off a late USC rally to take Game 1 over the Trojans 9-7 at PK Park.

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USC pitcher Jaden Agassi isn’t the first Friday night starter the Oregon Duck offense has hit hard and he won’t be the last.

But that fact probably doesn’t make the Trojan hurler feel any better as he was knocked out in the fourth inning. Agassi gave up nine runs, six earned, and 10 hits before the Ducks held off a late USC rally to win it 9-7 at PK Park.

Oregon (15-6, 6-1) has now won four straight conference games and five straight overall. USC fell to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in Pac-12 action.

As usual, the Ducks used the long ball to take the lead on two separate occasions. Josh Kasevich put Oregon on the scoreboard in the first with a three-run homer to left-center that bounced off the top of the wall before going over.

After the Trojans Johnny Olmstead tied the game with a three-run homer of his own in the second, USC took a brief 4-3 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly. But as per usual, the Duck offense immediately answered with Brennan Milone’s two-run bomb to left to give Oregon the lead for good at 5-4.

The Ducks added two more runs in that four-run third and two more insurance runs for a commanding 9-4 advantage.

It was a commanding advantage for long, however.

The Trojans scored one in the fourth and put two runners on base off of Oregon starter RJ Gordon. Oregon went to the bullpen, but USC managed to put two runs across in the sixth to make it 9-7.

It turned into the battle of the bullpens where both teams’ relievers did yeoman’s work. Oregon’s relievers threw four scoreless innings and USC’s bullpen shut down the conference’s most potent offense for five innings.

Kolby Somers pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the season.

Jacob Walsh went 3-for-5 with a double and Kasevich drove in four runs for the Ducks. Olmstead also drove in four runs for the Trojans.

These two teams will get together for Game 2 of the weekend series with a first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Isaac Ayon (2-0, 5.33 ERA) will start on the mound for the Ducks and he will face USC’s Tyler Stromsborg (1-1, 2.88 ERA). The contest will be streamed on goducks.com.

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Around the horn: Ducks prepare for Pac-12 play with win over Portland

Oregon hit three more home runs at home and that was more than enough to hand Portland an 18-2 loss Tuesday.

Midweek games during the college baseball season can be taken for granted at times. Teams sometimes give their regulars a rest to give players on the bench much-needed at-bats.

Oregon isn’t doing that.

The Ducks (8-5) sent out the regulars in a huge 18-2 win over the Portland Pilots Tuesday afternoon at PK Park. Perhaps that plan will change later this season, but Oregon wanted to keep its starters in rhythm with No. 2 Stanford next on the docket.

Tanner Smith, Jack Scanlon, Colby Shade, and Tyler Ganus all homered for the Ducks, who are continuing to build a case that their home ballpark is no longer a pitcher’s paradise. Oregon has hit 14 home runs in its first nine games at home so far.

Around the horn: Oregon sweeps away the Red Storm with 6-0 shutout

The Ducks complete the series sweep of St. John’s and have won five straight.

The Oregon pitching staff didn’t want to be forgotten in the past couple of days with all of the runs that were being scored.

Tommy Brandenberg dominated for five innings and he was supported by Josiah Cromwick’s three-run homer in the second as the Ducks completed the four-game sweep of St. John’s 6-0.

Josh Kasevich added a two-run single in the fifth and Jacob Walsh belted his second homer on the season in the seventh.

Oregon won its fifth straight game, but the schedule will get tougher this coming weekend with UC-Santa Barbara coming to PK Park for a four-game series that includes a doubleheader on Saturday.

Around the horn: Cromwick’s grand slam lifts Oregon past San Diego 21-11

Josiah Cromwick’s grand slam sparked a 12-run eighth inning to help Oregon capture its first win of the year 21-11.

Josiah Cromwick must be a fan of his grandma’s salami sandwiches on rye bread with mustard.

The Oregon Ducks catcher belted a grand slam in the eighth inning to give the Ducks a 14-10 lead and eventually Oregon went on to win 21-11 over San Diego to salvage one win in the four-game wraparound series.

Oregon had been struggling to score this entire weekend against Toreros pitching, but the offense broke out in a big way with 20 hits.

Jacob Walsh also added a two-run homer in the 12-run eighth inning. It was the first of what could be many round-trippers in the careers of both Cromwick and Walsh.

Getting this win in the series finale was very important as the Ducks didn’t want to come home 0-4 to start out the season. While the offense finally broke out, Oregon has to be concerned about the pitching and defense. San Diego scored in double figures in three of the four games and they committed eight errors.

The Ducks will try to figure a few things out before St. John’s comes all the way from New York to Eugene to begin another four-game series that runs from Friday to Monday (Feb. 25-28).

Ducks fall as Bruins salvage the series finale in extra innings

UCLA’s JT Schwartz’s two-run blast in the 10th inning was just enough to hold off the Ducks for the 7-6 win in the weekend finale.

A sweep would have been nice, but the Oregon Ducks baseball team will have to settle for a 2-of-3 series win over UCLA.

The entire series went back and forth with Oregon claiming the first two games. But UCLA’s two runs in the 10th inning was just enough to hold off the Ducks for the 7-6 win in the weekend finale.

Even with the loss, Oregon is now tied with Oregon State on top of the Pac-12 standings as both teams hold a 10-5 record. The Ducks are now 24-9 overall as they look to host San Jose State for a short two-game set this week.

As with the first two games with the Bruins, the series wrap-up contest was a close one throughout. Oregon held a 2-1 lead going into the sixth inning when JT Schwartz hit a Brett Walker offering out over the rightfield fence into the Duck bullpen for the 3-2 lead.

Gavin Grant gave Oregon the lead right back with a single to center and it was the Ducks who were ahead 4-3. Tanner Smith later singled home Grant for the 5-3 advantage.

It was an advantage that didn’t last long, however.

UCLA scored one in the seventh and then tied the game when Matt McLain belted a solo homer center, a section of PK Park that doesn’t see the ball fly over the wall often.

The score stayed knotted up at 5-5 until Schwartz hammered his second home run of the day, a two-run shot to left-center. UCLA held a 7-5 lead, but the Duck, to their credit, didn’t go quietly into the night.

After Josh Kasevich lined out to begin the frame, Gabe Matthews doubled down the left-field line. Sam Novitske struck out for the second out, but Nick Bellafronto kept the game going with an infield hit. Tristan Hanoian drove in Matthews with a bunt single to make it 7-6. Unfortunately for the Ducks, Tanner Smith’s grounder to second ended the game.

With the conference season halfway finished, the Ducks are in prime position to possibly win the Pac-12. Oregon has already gone through the toughest part of its schedule. The remaining teams have a combined conference record of 27-45. Only Stanford has a winning Pac-12 mark of 8-4 and that three-game series will be at PK Park later in the year.

After the mid-week series with San Jose State, the Ducks will travel to Pullman to take on Washington State. Currently, the Cougars are 6-11 in Pac-12 play, but they have a winning record of 18-15.

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