Tag: Oregon Duck baseball

Oregon brings out the brooms to sweep away the Utes

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.

Colorado Rockies pick up Oregon’s Cullen Kafka in the ninth round

The Colorado Rockies take Oregon pitcher Cullen Kafka in the ninth round of the 2021 MLB draft.

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.

Robert Ahlstrom drafted by New York Yankees with 213th pick

The New York Yankees picked Robert Ahlstrom in the seventh round of the MLB draft Monday afternoon.

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 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.

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.

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Ducks baseball jump into the Top 10 with recent sweep of Washington

Oregon moved up four spots to No. 9 in the most recent USA Today/Coaches poll after its sweep of the Huskies.

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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.

WATCH: Tanner Smith’s late 3-run bomb gives Ducks a win over Washington

Oregon baseball takes a 5-1 win over Washington in large part to Tanner Smith’s 3-run homer in the seventh.

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.

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Oregon bats stay hot in 13-1 thumping of the Spartans

Oregon Ducks baseball stays hot with a 13-1 drubbing over San Jose State to complete the brief two-game mid-week series with the Spartans.

Unlucky 13 wasn’t so unlucky after all.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team managed to sweep the brief two-game series with San Jose State with a 13-1 beatdown over the Spartans. In the mid-week series, Oregon scored 24 runs.

Oregon’s bats didn’t wait to fall behind this afternoon as they did in the series opener as the Ducks jumped on San Jose State starter Wesley Clawson for four runs in the second inning.

After a single, double, and hit-by-pitch, Gavin Grant found himself up with the bases loaded and no one out. He proceeded then to drive in two with a double off the rightfield wall for the early 2-0 lead. Tanner Smith walked to reload the bags and Anthony Hall smacked a two-run single.

The Spartans managed to avoid a huge inning as Kenyon Yovan flew out and Zavala was coaxed into a double play to end the inning.

Oregon then put the game away in the fifth with five more runs to make it 9-0. The Ducks hit three extra-base hits in that inning, which also included three walks.

San Jose State finally got on the scoreboard when slugger Ruben Ibarra clubbed a home run to right-center. It was his sixth homer of the season and among the Spartans, the big 6-foot-5, 285-pound first baseman stood out.

But Ibarra couldn’t carry his team to a win as Oregon did a number against the San Jose State pitching staff. Not only did the Ducks score 13 runs, but they also were credited with 18 hits.

Smith went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI. Zavala also had three hits and three RBI and Grant was also a perfect 3-for-3 with a trio of RBI.

In his first appearance as a Duck, pitcher Logan Mercado got the win as he threw three innings and gave up just one hit.

At 26-9 overall, Oregon will go back to Pac-12 action Friday as it goes up to the Palouse to take on Washington State for a three-game weekend series. The Cougars are currently 19-16 overall and 7-11 in conference play.

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.

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