“I don’t try to come in and pitch to the scoreboard. Prager has been awesome all year. It was just an opportunity for me to go pick him up.”
The No. 3 Texas A&M baseball team beat Oregon by a final score of 10-6 on Saturday afternoon at Blue Bell Park to begin the Bryan-College Station Super Regional.
Junior RHP Chris Cortez came in, was lights out and saved the day per usual to earn the win. Cortez (9-3) tossed 5.2 scoreless innings and gave up 3 walks and 2 hits with 10 Ks on 89 pitches.
“I don’t try to come in and pitch to the scoreboard. My job is to get outs. Prager has been awesome all year. It was just an opportunity for me to go pick him up. I knew if I put up zeroes, the offense was going to score some runs. That’s my job is to go out there and put up zeroes,” Cortez said. “(My mindset was) to go in and fill it up. It doesn’t matter if I go in the second inning, third inning or the ninth inning, it’s the same thing. One pitch at a time, one inning save. My mentality doesn’t change if I go in earlier or late in the game.”
Game 2 at Olsen Field is Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
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“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more proud of a team,” he said. “You know, emotionally, Prager goes out and didn’t have a great first inning.”
Murphy’s Law appeared to be taking place early at the Bryan-College Station Super Regional on Saturday afternoon as the Texas A&M baseball team trailed Oregon 6-3 after two innings.
On top of that, junior outfielder Braden Montgomery suffered a season-ending right leg injury in the bottom of the first frame, deflating the crowd at Blue Bell Park. Despite that, the No. 3 Aggies prevailed 10-6, much to the joy of coach Jim Schlossnagle.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more proud of a team. You know, emotionally, Prager goes out and didn’t have a great first inning. Then we battle back into it and then the injury,” Schlossnagle said. “To get down 6-3, the emotions of that, I think a lot of teams fold. Chris gave us a big lift. I thought Hayden Schott had a lot of great at-bats, and obviously, Jackson. Super proud of our club. All we’ve done is won a game, nothing more than that. We’ve gotta be ready to go tomorrow. I think Oregon has a good team and we’re going to face some good lefties tomorrow.”
Game 2 at Olsen Field is Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
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“We tried to score and it was a bit of an awkward slide. I didn’t see if there was a collision or not but yeah, he’s banged up pretty good.”
Texas A&M junior outfielder Braden Montgomery suffered what appeared to be a right ankle injury during the first inning of the Bryan-College Station Super Regional against Oregon.
After trailing 6-3 after two innings, the No. 3 Aggies entered the fifth frame with a 7-6 advantage. During the ESPN2 broadcast with Victor Rojas and Lance Cormier, Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle had a brief interview during the top of the fifth inning.
“Obviously you saw him, we tried to score on a throw home from second base and it was a little bit of an awkward slide. I didn’t see if there was a collision or not but yeah, he’s banged up pretty good,” Schlossnagle explained. “We could even be better, we swung at another ball right there. You’ve gotta check your ego at the door and just make these guys throw strikes.
“Thank you, Gig ‘Em.”
The Aggies lead the Ducks, 10-6, entering the bottom of the seventh at Blue Bell Park on Saturday afternoon.
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Texas A&M junior OF Braden Montgomery is officially out after sustaining an ankle injury
On Saturday, Texas A&M’s (47-13) Game 1 matchup vs. the visiting Oregon Ducks (40-18) in the Super Regionals was not the best start for the home team, as the Aggies went down 2-0 behind a shaky start from ace pitcher Ryan Prager.
However, after Jackson Appel hit a single with two men on base in the bottom of the first, one of those base runners, star outfielder Braden Montgomery, was confusingly waved home by A&M 3rd base coach Nolan Cain, which led to the junior MLB prospect twisting his ankle in the process.
Unable to put weight on his ankle or even stand up, Texas A&M’s medical staff came immediately to his aid, eventually placing an air cast on his affected ankle, and being ruled out of the game and potentially the remainder of the postseason.
As more news regarding his injury will be released in due time, Travis Chestnut has replaced Montgomery in the outfield, while Kaeden Kent was moved to second base.
So far this season, Montgomery recorded 76 hits, 27 home runs, and a .322 batting average.
Not good at all for Texas A&M baseball, projected first round MLB Draft pick Branden Montgomery was put in an air cast after a play at the plate. Needed help getting off the field. pic.twitter.com/15a7x9EPvW
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Oregon completes the weekend sweep over Utah with a 7-2 win Sunday afternoon at PK Park.
Oregon didn’t need any late-inning heroics this afternoon.
The Ducks scored first, broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the fourth and eventually cruised to an easy 7-2 win over Utah Sunday afternoon at PK Park.
With the victory, Oregon completed the three-game weekend series and is now in first place of the Pac-12 with a 5-1 mark. They also improved to 13-6 overall. Utah came into this series with an impressive 11-4-1 overall record, but now the Utes are reeling after this trio of defeats.
Josh Kasevich and Anthony Hall both singled in the second to set up the Ducks’ first two wins of the game in the second inning. Josiah Cromwick drove in Kasevich with a ground out and Gravin Grant later singled home Cromwick for the 2-0 lead.
Utah managed to tie it 2-2 with single runs in the third and fourth. But as usual, Oregon seems to take it personally when the opponent gets back into a contest. Hall homered for the second time of the series to give Oregon the lead for good at 3-2.
But the Ducks were far from finished.
Cromwick singled to set up Tanner Smith’s two-run home run to right-center to make it 5-2 Ducks.
Meanwhile on the mound, the Oregon bullpen was stellar once again. Starter Caleb Sloan flirted with danger in the first three innings and probably can consider himself lucky he only allowed two runs in 3 2/3 innings. But the combination of Logan Mercado, Dylan Sabia, Stone Churby, Christian Ciuffetelli, Rio Britton and Matt Dallas went 5.1 innings, no runs, three hits and eight strikeouts.
Oregon will now head up to Spokane to take on Gonzaga for a non-league contest on Tuesday before coming back to the friendly confines of PK Park to host USC for yet another three-game weekend series.
— 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.
— MLB Draft Tracker (@MLBDraftTracker) July 12, 2021
With the 213th pick of the MLB draft, the New York Yankees select … Robert Ahlstrom from the University of Oregon.
That’s how it would have sounded if the baseball draft was similar to the NFL and NBA drafts.
Ahlstrom was picked in the seventh round of the MLB draft after a stellar junior season as a Duck. The North Eugene High graduate finished 2021 with a 9-3 record and a 2.50 earned run average to go along with 92 strikeouts in 90 innings pitched.
In his last appearance in a Duck uniform, Ahlstrom pitched Oregon into the Regional title series by going eight innings, giving up three runs in the 7-3 victory over Gonzaga.
This is what Baseball America had to say about the Oregon left-hander:
He struggled in the truncated 2020 season, but has taken a step forward in 2021… Ahlstrom isn’t flashy, with a fastball that sits 88-89 mph and tops out at 92, but he consistently throws the pitch for strikes. The same is true of his curveball and changeup, which are both average offerings, and he commands all three pitches effectively.
The Yankees were counting on Ahlstrom’s control and experience instead of a flashy gun for an arm. He’s not going to light up the radar gun, but neither did Tom Glavine and things worked out fairly well for that Hall of Famer.
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.
BRIAN HAYES – THE STATESMAN JOURNAL
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.
It’s always nice to sweep one of your rivals on the diamond and the Oregon Ducks baseball team was rewarded for their efforts.
With the Ducks’ handling of the Washington Huskies this past weekend at PK Park, Oregon moved up into the Top 10 of the USA Today Coaches Poll on Monday.
Oregon is now the No. 9 team in the nation, moving up four spots from last week, with its 30-11 overall record and 14-7 in Pac-12 play. The Ducks remain 1.5 games behind Arizona for first place in the conference as the Wildcats are 16-8.
Despite being in second place, Oregon is still the highest-ranked Pac-12 team. Arizona (12), Stanford (13), and UCLA (22) are the other conference teams who are still in the poll.
Not only are the Ducks battling for a possible Pac-12 title, but they are hoping for enough wins in order to host at least a Regional and maybe a Super Regional if their seeding allows for one. The top eight seeds are lined up to host a Super Regional before advancing to the College World Series.
But there’s still a lot of baseball to be played. Oregon has 10 games left in the regular season, nine of those conference games. The Ducks travel to Utah this weekend for a weekend set with the Utes, who are struggling with a 5-16 conference mark and 12-26 overall.
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) May 8, 2021
Tanner Smith’s middle name may not be Clutch, but the Huskies would like a second look at that birth certificate.
Oregon baseball was down 1-0 through six innings with a classic pitcher’s duel between the Ducks Cullen Kafka and Washington’s Tyson Guerrero. But the Huskies replaced their starter with Gabe Smith and Oregon responded with a hit-by-pitch and a single followed by Tanner Smith’s three-run homer to right-center field to put his team on the board.
The Ducks went on to defeat the Huskies 5-1 to capture Game 2 of the three-game weekend series. Nico Tellache was credited with the win in relief and Colby Somers struck out the last five Huskies to earn his eighth save of the season. Oregon managed to win the series opener Friday night 8-0.
Oregon is now 29-11 overall and 13-7 in conference action with the win.
