Kolby Somers – Syndication Server

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.

Ducks sweep Arizona to end the regular season in style

Oregon baseball ends the regular season in style with a 5-3 win over Arizona to complete the three-game sweep.

At the beginning of the week, the thought of Oregon hosting an NCAA regional was a long shot at best.

Now with a good showing in the Pac-12 tournament next week, the Ducks have a really good shot at hosting.

Oregon ended the regular season with a 5-3 win over No. 25 Arizona and completed the weekend series sweep over the Wildcats. This is the same Wildcat team that defeated No. 2 Oregon Series two games to one last week.

With the win, the Ducks are 35-21 overall and finished the conference season with an 18-12 mark. They will be the 4-seed in the Pac-12 tourney in Scottsdale, Ariz., and will open the festivities on Wednesday with a 9 a.m. start against Arizona of all teams.

Isaac Ayon set the tone Friday night with a complete-game win and that momentum certainly must have inspired Game 3 starter Jace Stoffal. The sophomore from Roseburg had never pitched more than four innings in a game, but he was able to pitch into the eighth inning.

Stoffal gave up just one run on three hits and struck out three to earn his first win of the season.

The Ducks scored three runs in the second inning thanks to Bennett Thompson’s run-scoring single and Tanner Smith’s two-run double to right-center. They made it 4-0 in the sixth on Jacob Walsh’s single to center. That was all Stoffal and the Ducks needed, but Arizona made it interesting late in the game.

They scored one run in the eighth and two more in the ninth off of Kolby Somers. But the Oregon closer struck out Blake Paugh to end the game.

Now Oregon will take the show down to Scottsdale where if they win a few games or make the final, this win over Arizona won’t be the last game at PK Park in the 2022 season.

Anthony Hall drives in five to lead Oregon past the Bears 7-2

Oregon’s Anthony Hall drove in five runs with a double and triple to lead the Ducks past Cal 7-2.

The Pac-12 is going to be hard-pressed to find someone other than Anthony Hall to be the conference player of the year.

Oregon’s right-fielder drove in five runs, including a bases-clearing triple in the eighth inning, as the Ducks were able to down California –. Coupled with the Beavers’ 2-1 loss at Utah, Oregon moved to within a game of first place with a 12-7 record and 27-14 overall.

Not only did Hall hit his fifth triple of the season, but he also smacked a two-run double in the sixth to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead. In reality, if it wasn’t windy and raining at PK Park, Hall might have had two home runs.

The win was a nice rebound from a rough week where the Ducks lost a series to Washington State and a mid-week defeat to Oregon State.

It was also pitcher RJ Gordon”s best outing since being named as the permanent Friday night starter. He threw 5 2/3 innings, giving up just two runs and two hits while striking out four.

Closer Kolby Somers earned his eighth save of the season. He came on in the eighth inning with the Ducks up 3-2 and the go-ahead runs on base. But Somers was able to strike out Rodney Green, Jr. to end the threat.

Oregon and Cal will meet up for Game 2 Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. with Isaac Ayon (2-1, 5.33 ERA) on the mound facing the Bears’ Joseph King (3-2, 3.29 ERA).

Kolby Somers earns his seventh save of the year with 5-4 win over Portland

Anthony Hall homers and Kolby Somers shuts the door on the Pilots for the 5-4 win at Portland.

Oregon Ducks baseball coach Mark Wasikowski probably didn’t think he would need his closer to come into the eighth inning to preserve a slim one-run lead considering the last time the Ducks played Portland, they won 18-2.

Kolby Somers was up to the task and earned his seventh save of the season as Oregon defeated the Pilots 5-4. With the win, the Ducks improved to 25-11 on the season and have won six straight.

After six innings of play, it looked like Oregon would cruise as it held a nice 5-0 lead. They scored one in the first and two more in the second. Anthony Hall extended the Ducks’ lead with a mammoth two-run home run in the sixth. It was his ninth homer of the year and the Ducks’ 56th home run as a team, equalling the number of round-trippers they hit last season. The next homer will be a program record.

Once it was 5-0, the Pilots managed to finally cross some runners home. They have threatened numerous times in the early innings, but the Ducks were able to leave runners on base. Portland was able to crack the scoreboard in the seventh with three runs off of reliever Matt Dallas, who just didn’t have it for the first time in quite a while.

Logan Mercado gave up a triple and a double and saw the lead cut to one at 5-4 and that was when Wasikowski went to his closer to shut down the Pilots and get out of Portland with a win.

Now the Ducks will come back home and host Washington State (13-21, 5-13) for a three-game weekend set beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.

Oregon goes extra innings to sweep away the Huskies in Seattle

The Ducks needed 11 innings, but eventually got the brooms out to sweep the Huskies in Seattle with a 6-5 win.

Everyone knew, including the Ducks, that it wouldn’t be easy to sweep the Huskies on the road. Oregon needed to go 11 innings, but it was able to defeat Washington 6-5 to complete the three-game weekend set in a cold and windy Seattle.

The Ducks moved to 24-11 overall, 10-5 in conference action, and are now tied for first place with Oregon State. Washington fell to 16-18 overall and 6-12 in Pac-12 play.

This game went back and forth with Washington erasing a 4-1 deficit with two in the sixth and one in the eighth.

It looked like the Ducks were going to get out of there with a win in the 10th after Tanner Smith belted his ninth home run of the season to give Oregon a 5-4 lead. But Washington’s Johnny Tincher crushed the first pitch he saw out of Kolby Somers’ hand over the scoreboard in left and it was once again tied 5-5.

The Huskies had a golden opportunity to win the game later in the 10th as they managed to get runners on second and third off an obviously tired Somers. The Oregon closer had pitched in three consecutive games and he didn’t have his usual stuff.

Somers buckled down and struck out Cole Miller and coaxed Christian Dicochea to pop out to second to extend the game.

The Ducks used some two-out lightning to grab the lead as Gavin Grant walked and a Smith single. Colby Shade was able to drive in Grant with a liner to right-center for the 6-5 lead. Thankfully for the Ducks, there would be no fireworks in the bottom half of the 11th. Christian Ciuffetelli walked one batter, but that was it for his first save of the year.

Tincher put a mild scare into the Ducks with his fly ball to center that Bryce Boettcher caught on the warning track.

Oregon will now make a quick stop in Portland to play the Pilots on Tuesday before hosting Washington State for a weekend series at PK Park. The Ducks and Pilots are scheduled for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

Flared up tempers spark Ducks to rally past the Huskies

Oregon rallied late with 5 runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Huskies 8-6.

We saw a lot of this blueprint early this season, but not so much of late.

Oregon’s ability to rally late came back just in time today in Seattle as the Ducks scored five runs in the eighth inning to defeat Washington.

With the win, not only do the Ducks win the series over the Huskies, they’ll now go for the series sweep up on Montlake. Oregon improved to 23-11 overall, winners of four straight and 9-5 in Pac-12 play. Washington falls to 16-17 overall and just 6-11 in conference action.

Washington was able to grab a 5-1 at the end of the fourth inning and that’s when the Ducks woke the bats up. Colby Shade got Oregon back in the game with a two-run homer to left in the fifth.

Washington came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth and this is when tempers got hot. Oregon starter Isaac Ayon, who wasn’t having the best of days, plunked leadoff batter, Johnny Tincher, in the back. He wasn’t thrilled and home plate umpire Brett Terry felt that was enough to eject Ayon out of the game.

The Huskies scored one in the sixth to make it 6-3 and it stayed that way until the eighth. Anthony Hall got the rally started with a triple down the right field line. Sam Novitske singled Hall home and it was 6-4.

Josiah Cromwick continued the rally with a single of his own and then the Huskies gifted Oregon a run when they threw away Gavin Grant sacrifice bunt attempt that saw Novitske score and Cromwick and Grant advance to second and third.

Colby Shade tied the game with a single and moved up to second when the Huskies’ defense wasn’t paying attention. Brennan Milone gave the Ducks the 8-6 lead with a liner to left field that scored two runs.

Logan Mercado, who came in the game when Ayon was ejected, earned the win with his four innings on the mound. He allowed just one unearned run on two hits.

Kolby Somers came on in the ninth and earned his sixth save of the season, his second in less than 24 hours.

Oregon will go for the sweep when the Ducks and Dawgs meet for Game 3 at 2 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network. Jace Stoffal (0-0, 27.00 ERA) will take the mound for the Ducks and he will battle Washington’s Case Matter (0-2, 5.73 ERA).

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.

[jwplayer rtTwGXeF]

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.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

[mm-video type=video id=01fz0vhkvneprhd3dm82 playlist_id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fz0vhkvneprhd3dm82/01fz0vhkvneprhd3dm82-7a92b7a8ecafed7f58f6ee5fd37c8d07.jpg]

[listicle id=21505]

Oregon defeats No. 19 Gonzaga 9-5 to keep winning streak alive

The Ducks ruined Gonzaga’s home opener on the diamond with a 9-5 win over the No. 19-ranked Bulldogs.

Oregon baseball is going to have to be ranked soon.

The Ducks, coming off a weekend series sweep over Utah, spoiled No. 19 Gonzaga’s home opener with a 9-5 victory over the Bulldogs.

With the win, the Ducks move to 14-6 overall and have won four straight. Gonzaga, which has a road sweep over No. 4 Oklahoma State under its belt, fell to 14-5 overall.

Tanner Smith hit his seventh home run of the season and Jacob Smith belted his fourth homer to lead an explosive offense. Walsh also drove in three and added a double.

It was also a bullpen-by-committee game for the Ducks as they used eight pitchers to hold down the Zags. Closer Kolby Somers, not eligible for the save, played with fire in the ninth as he found himself with the bases loaded and no one out.

But Somers was able to get Enzo Apodaca to line out to shortstop Josh Kasevich and then coaxed Stephen Lund into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat and the game.

Oregon comes back home to PK Park as the Ducks return to Pac-12 action with a three-game weekend series against USC. The Trojans are 3-3 in conference play and 12-6 overall.

Oregon baseball takes a big step forward, but wants more in 2022

Oregon’s baseball season was a successful one, but the Ducks showed they are capable of a lot more in 2022 and beyond.

In the four seasons before Mark Wasikowski took over the Oregon Ducks baseball program, they were floundering around the .500 mark, and in college baseball, that’s mediocre.

Oregon didn’t bring baseball back in 2009 to just be mediocre.

The Ducks could see signs of the turnaround right away in 2020, but the pandemic hit and the season was canceled after just 15 games. In some strange way, it gave Oregon time off the field to go into the weight room, to recruit, and to build up everything it needed to be successful on the field.

Whatever they did, it worked. Oregon proved that the turnaround is nearly complete by being one game away from winning their first conference title and just one inning away from going to a Super Regional. Unfortunately, that one inning where a few mental lapses occurred ended the season with a 9-8 loss to LSU.

But those lapses shouldn’t define a season. Instead, Oregon should take solice in the fact it can be a successful program in many ways. Before the Ducks were offensively challenged and relied heavily on pitching and defense.

The 2021 Ducks proved there’s more than one way to skin a cat. The Ducks featured their best offensive lineup in the program’s history.

Kenyon Yovan went from one of the best pitchers in the Pac-12 to one of the best power hitters in the country with his school single-season record of 17 home runs. The senior proved PK Park can be the home of a premier power hitter and Oregon has to hope that attracts more power hitters to consider the Ducks in the future.

Recruiting homegrown talent also paid dividends. Besides Beaverton’s own Yovan, Salem’s Aaron Zavala won the Pac-12 Player of the Year. First baseman Gabe Matthews turned into a MLB prospect as well as Eugene’s own Robert Ahlstrom, the ace of the pitching staff and closer Kolby Somers from Hillsboro.

Look for Wasikowski to keep mining Oregon high schools and the Pacific Northwest. It worked for Oregon State in its national championship seasons and Oregon proved homegrown talent can help with the program’s turnaround.

No one knows what 2022 will bring to PK Park, but this season showed that Oregon can be and should be a destination for top talent. Mediocrity won’t be acceptable any more and Omaha is finally within the Ducks’ reach.

[listicle id=2399]

Oregon baseball goes for the sweep after defeating UCLA in extra innings

Sam Novitske’s single gave Oregon the 3-2 extra-inning win over UCLA at PK Park Saturday.

In what Winnie the Pooh would consider a blustery day, the Oregon Ducks baseball team had to go 10 innings to defeat UCLA for the second straight game.

Both Oregon and the Bruins had their chances to score throughout the day, but it was Sam Novitske’s single to left that scored Bryce Boettcher for the victory.

With the win, Oregon goes to 24-8 overall and 10-4 in conference play. The Ducks also moved ahead of Oregon State for first place, a half-game ahead of the Beavers, who aren’t playing conference games this weekend.

Kenyon Yovan got the 10th inning started the right way with a solid single to right. Boettcher replaced the Duck’s power hitter on the bases and moved up to second on an errant pick-off play. With first now open, Aaron Zavala was intentionally walked.

Josh Kasevich hit into a fielder’s choice, putting runners on the corners with one out. Gabe Matthews also received the intention pass as UCLA wanted to put a force on every base, hoping to wiggle out of the jam. But Novitske was able to rip a 2-0 pitch to left for the win.

Wiggling out of jams seemed to be the theme of the day for both teams. Oregon managed to get themselves in a major pickle in the top of the ninth as the Bruins managed to have runners on second and third with no out.

Duck pitcher Andrew Mosiello struck out Michael Curialle for the first out. Then the fireworks began.

Noah Cardenas grounded to Kasevich at shortstop, who processed to throw home, getting Mikey Perez in a run down. Catcher Jack Scanlon ran Perez back to third where UCLA had to runners at third base. Jack Filby, who was on second, was the runner that was out, but in the confusion, Bruins third base coach Rex Peters put his hands on Scanlon. This sent Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski bursting out of the dugout demanding what was going on.

After order was restored, Mosiello whiffed Kyle Karros to end the inning.

Kolby Somers, who earned his seventh save in the series opener, came on to pitch a perfect 10th inning and was credited with the win.

Oregon will go for the series sweep Sunday afternoon with Brett Walker (4-1, 3.53 ERA) on the mound where he will go up against Jesse Bergin (4-2, 4.29 ERA) for a noon start time at PK Park.

[vertical-gallery id=1004]