Tag: oregon ducks baseball

Baseball recap: Ducks take series over No. 7 Cardinal

Logan Mercado becomes the second Duck pitcher to hold the Pac-12’s No. 1 offense down as Oregon defeats Stanford.

It would be a tough assignment to match what Jace Stoffal did to the No. 7 Stanford team. But Logan Mercado was up to the task.

The junior starting pitcher threw Oregon’s second straight complete game and the Duck offense backed him up with three home runs as the home team defeated the No. 7 Cardinal 8-1 at PK Park.

Mercado came into the game with a 6.75 earned run average, but he kept the Stanford hitters off balance all day long as he needed 111 pitches for the nine innings. He gave up just five hits and struck out seven.

The Ducks got on the board to support Mercado in the third when Drew Cowley hit a run-scoring double and Sabin Ceballos RBI fielder’s choice. Jacob Walsh hit his first of two homers in the fourth to make it 3-0. The Oregon first baseman was wearing No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day.

Ceballos put the game out of reach in the fifth with a bomb to left to make it 5-0. Walsh hit another solo shot in the seventh to complete his good day with three runs batted in.

Oregon’s offense did its damage against Matt Scott, who came into the game with an ERA of just 2.05. He was saddled with his first career loss.

The Ducks will go for the sweep Sunday afternoon as they send Leo Uelmen (2-3, 6.55 ERA) and the Cardinal will counter with Joey Dixon (3-0, 4.38 ERA).

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Baseball recap: Stoffal throws a gem as Ducks defeat Stanford

Oregon starter Jace Stofal throws a three-hit complete game shutout as the Ducks defeat No. 7 Stanford 4-0 at PK Park.

The Pac-12 might need to rename the Pitcher of the Week Award to the Jace Stoffal Award.

For the second week in a row, Oregon’s Friday night starter absolutely stifled a Pac-12 team, this time being Stanford, as the Ducks defeated the No. 7 Cardinal 4-0 at PK Park.

With the win, the Ducks moved to 23-9 on the season and 8-5 in the conference, while Stanford dropped to 22-10 and 10-3 in Pac-12 action.

Stoffal needed 118 pitches in the complete-game shutout win as he struck out eight Cardinal hitters and just three hits. It was just the second time this season Stanford didn’t plate a run.

On the other side of the plate, Oregon smacked three home runs to account for all of its runs. Colby Shade hit a solo shot in the third to put the Ducks on the board and later in that inning, Jacob Walsh hit a two-run homer for the 3-0 lead.

Drew Cowley added a solo homer of his own in the sixth, which was a bomb to dead center field to make it 4-0. But with how Stoffal was pitching, the Ducks didn’t need the insurance run.

Oregon did see the record books change as Tanner Smith’s double in the sixth inning was his 59th career two-bagger and he now holds the program record.

These two teams will get at it tomorrow at 2 pm as Logan Mercado (2-0, 6.75 ERA) goes up against Stanford’s Matt Scott (5-0, 2.08 ERA).

Baseball recap: Ducks return to win column with brief series with USF

Oregon needed to return to its winning ways this week and the Ducks did just that with a brief two-game series win over San Francisco.

After a disappointing weekend that saw the Oregon Ducks baseball team drop two straight to the Beavers, they received the remedy in the form of the San Francisco Dons for a midweek two-game series at PK Park.

The Ducks took advantage and got themselves back into the win column with a 5-3 win on Tuesday and then a huge 16-6 win for the sweep Wednesday afternoon.

Oregon improved to 22-9 overall.

The Ducks bats came alive in the series finale as they went ahead 6-1 after two innings and 12-4 after just the fourth inning before cruising to victory.

Sabin Ceballos and Bryce Boettcher each homered and Drew Cowley drove in four runs for the Ducks. Austin Anderson earned his third win out of the bullpen.

In the opener, Oregon grabbed a quick 5-0 lead before having to hold on for the two-run win. Closer Josh Mollerus came on in the eighth and recorded the last six out for his sixth save on the season.

Cowley and Ceballos each drove in a pair of runs.

Oregon’s homestand continues this weekend as a big Pac-12 series is on the docket with No. 8 Stanford coming to town. The Cardinal are currently in first place in the conference standings at 10-2 and 22-8 overall.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Baseball recap: Beavers even series thanks to a three-run homer

Oregon State’s Micah McDowell hit a three-run homer to send the Beavers to a 4-2 win and snap the Duck’s 11-game winning streak.

Sometimes it takes just one swing to win a game. Sometimes it takes just one swing to lose one also.

For the Oregon Ducks baseball team, that one swing came from the Beavers. More specifically, a three-run homer from Oregon State’s Micah McDowell was enough to send the Ducks home with a 4-2 defeat Saturday afternoon at PK Park.

The loss erased Oregon’s 11-game winning stream and dropped the Ducks to 20-8 overall and 7-4 in conference play. The Beavers improved to 19-11 overall and 6-8 in Pac-12 action.

Oregon was able to grab a 2-0 lead thanks to an RBI single from Rikuu Nishida and a run-scoring double from Drew Cowley in the third.

It remained that way until the next half-inning as OSU’s Brady Kasper hit a monster homer to right to make it 2-1 Ducks. Then in the top of the seventh, the Beavers managed to get two runners on to set the stage for Micah McDowell.

The Oregon State designated hitter sent a Matthew Grabmann fastball over the left-center wall to make it 4-2. It was just the senior’s second career home run.

Closer Ryan Brown threw two perfect innings to earn the save.

These two teams will meet on Easter Sunday, weather permitting, for the rubber game of this three-game set with the first pitch scheduled for noon.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Baseball recap: Stoffal and Ducks shut out Beavers 2-0 in series opener

Jace Stoffal threw seven innings of one-hit ball and that was just enough for the Ducks to defeat the Beavers 2-0 to win series opener.

For a while, the fans were thinking no-hitter.

Although Oregon starting pitcher Jace Stoffal didn’t get the no-no with a single in the seventh, the Ducks are more than happy with the 2-0 victory over Oregon State Friday night at PK Park.

The win is Oregon’s 11 straight and now the Ducks are 20-7 overall and 7-3 in conference play. The Beavers dropped to 18-12 overall and just 5-9 in Pac-12 play.

In front of a near sold out PK Park, Stoffal turned in the best start of his Oregon career, going seven innings and just that one hit with nine strikeouts and three walks.

OSU didn’t threaten to score until the seventh when Stoffal was running out of gas. The Beavers managed to load the bases with one out, but the Ducks right-hander coaxed Brady Kasper to pop out and Tanner Smith to fly out to center to end the potential rally.

Oregon’s bats weren’t exactly hot either. Beavers starter Trent Sellers was matching Stoffal pitch for pitch, but the Ducks had many more base runners and just couldn’t get one to cross home.

That was until the fifth inning.

Colby Shade finally got the Ducks on the board with a liner off of Beavers shortstop Mikey Kane’s glove to score Gavin Grant. Oregon made it 2-0 later in the same inning when Sabin Ceballos doubled home Shade.

That was just enough to hold off OSU. Relievers Matt Dallas and Josh Mollerus kept the Beavers off the scoreboard and preserved the win.

The two rivals will get after it for Game 2 of the series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 3 pm.

Baseball recap: Ducks extend win streak to 10 with big win over Pilots

Oregon’s winning streak reaches 10 games after a 9-1 victory over Portland and just ahead of a big series with the Beavers.

There’s no better way to enter into a huge three-game series with your in-state rival than in the midst of a 10-game winning streak.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team hasn’t lost since the middle of last month and is coming off a 9-1 victory over Portland at PK Park. The Ducks will now prepare for a conference series with Oregon State Thursday-Saturday.

Sabin Ceballos crushed a three-run homer in the first inning and that was more than enough to defeat the Pilots. Oregon added three more runs in the fourth thanks to Bennett Thompson’s two-run double.

The Ducks sent four pitchers to the mound and held Portland to just one run and six hits. Oregon improved to 19-7, while the Pilots dropped to 17-11 overall.

Baseball recap: Ducks win ninth straight with a sweep in the desert

Oregon baseball keeps rolling with a nine-game winning streak which includes a sweep over Arizona down in the desert.

The offense was a problem for the Oregon Ducks baseball team early in the season. The key word in that previous sentence is “was.”

It’s not a problem anymore.

The Ducks scored 15 runs on Friday, 13 more on Saturday, and eight in the series finale at Arizona. With the completed sweep, Oregon moves to 18-7 overall and 6-3 in Pac-12 play. They have also won nine straight.

Before this winning streak, Oregon had a team batting average under .230. Now it’s over .300. A big part is the resurgence of power hitter Jacob Walsh. The sophomore first baseman crushed three homers in this series, including an absolute bomb to right-center to give the Ducks an early 2-0 lead.

Oregon had a 7-1 lead and held on to win 8-5 in Game 3 against Arizona. It’s the second straight series sweep over Arizona for the Ducks.

Drew Cowley homered twice and drove in five while closer Josh Mollerus managed to get a five-out save for his fourth of the year. Walsh also homered. He might not want to return to Eugene after nine hits of the series, including a trio of round-trippers.

This series started out with a bang as the Ducks scored a season-high 15 runs and 22 hits in a huge 15-3 win. Sabin Ceballos led the way with four hits and four RBIs. Walsh hit a homer and Jace Stoffal threw seven solid innings for his third win of the season.

In Game 2, it wasn’t how coach Mark Wasikowski would have drawn it up, but a win is a win. Arizona scored 10 runs in the first two innings of the game and about 98 percent of the time, it would be over. But the Ducks were able to scratch and claw their way back.

Still down 11-5 in the seventh, Oregon managed to plate five runs to make it 11-10 Wildcats. Dominic Hellman and Rikuu Nishida each had run-scoring hits to cut the big deficit to just one.

In the top of the ninth, Oregon scored three runs to take a 13-11 lead and eventual win. Colby Shade’s double tied the game and Nishida’s single scored two more runs.

Mollerus came in to pitch a scoreless ninth for his third save of the season.

Now the Ducks come back home for a 10-game homestand beginning with a single game with Portland before hosting rival Oregon State, beginning on Thursday. The Beavers are 18-10 overall and 5-7 in conference action.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

9 Oregon Ducks expected to contribute to MLB clubs in 2023

The Oregon Ducks have nine former players expected to be contributors in the MLB, which begins on Thursday.

Football and basketball rule the college athletics landscape, often leaving baseball (and softball) as the forgotten sports of the spring season.

For the Oregon Ducks, it can be a missed opportunity to see high level athletes both in Eugene and across the Pac-12, a conference that excels in both sports.

It’s also a chance to see future big league stars, as evidenced by the high number of pros the Ducks have cycled through the baseball program in recent years.

A quick look at Fangraphs’ 2023 projections shows nine Oregon alumni who are projected to make a difference in the big leagues this season, with first pitch slated for Thursday, March 30.

Oregon has primarily succeeded at developing pitching, with seven of the nine big leaguers coming from the mound and only two at the plate.

Below is a look at those nine players, when they played at Oregon, and how they are projected to perform this upcoming season:

Baseball recap: Santa Barbara hands Ducks their first defeat of the season

Santa Barbara came up to Eugene and handed the Ducks their first setback of the season 6-2.

Can we call it a do-over and move this series back to Santa Barbara?

The Oregon Ducks baseball team might be wondering just that as the Gauchos came up to PK Park and handed the Ducks their first loss of the young season by the score of 6-2

This series was scheduled to be in Southern California, but that area is experiencing some torrential downpours and there would be no way the two teams could have got the four-game series in. So the Gauchos came up to Eugene for a three-game set.

It was a couple of long balls that hurt the Ducks. Santa Barbara cracked the scoreboard in the third inning on a two-run homer from Zander Darby. It stayed that way until the fifth as Drew Cowley singled home Rikuu Nishida to make it 2-1.

But the big blow came in the seventh as Ivan Brethowr crushed a grand slam down the left field line to make it 6-1 and it put the proverbial nail in Oregon’s coffin.

Oregon Ducks sneak into D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings

The Oregon Ducks come in at No. 25 in D1Baseball’s preseason rankings ahead of the 2023 baseball season.

College football only ended a few weeks ago, and March Madness is a distant point on the horizon, but the fine folks at D1Baseball.com have already begun looking ahead to the college baseball season, releasing their preseason top 25 rankings on Tuesday.

The Oregon Ducks, fresh off a 36-25 record in 2022, are one of three Pac-12 teams in the top 25, coming in right under the gun at No. 25 overall.

Oregon returns six position player starters and eight pitchers from last year’s team, which qualified for the postseason for a second year in a row, playing in the Louisville Regional. Oregon also brings in a recruiting class that ranked No. 5 at Baseball America ahead of the 2023 season.

Elsewhere around the conference, Stanford comes in at No. 3 after back-to-back appearances in the College World Series, while UCLA comes in at No. 17 overall.

Oregon opens up the baseball season with a home series against Xavier, before heading to Santa Barbara to take on the Gauchos.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f27mq9z7hjgk6vc6 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

[listicle id=37735]