Oregon Baseball: Corvallis kerplunk puts Ducks on the bubble

I know people are more concerned with the Oregon Ducks' regional chances than they are with how they won today, so I'll try to give people a good perspective on the likelihood of being selected. 

There are several Ducks who may have suited up in the green and yellow for the final times today. Possibly among those was starting pitcher Alex Keudell, who provided his finest performance as a Duck as his team tried to complete the sweep of the No. 6 Oregon State Beavers (38-17, 17-10 Pac-10).

Keudell went 8 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on only two hits and struck out six. He was lifted in the ninth inning with two outs to give senior Kellen Moen his, possible, final moment as a Duck (33-26-1, 11-16 Pac-10).

A first inning bomb from freshman Ryon Healy off the wall in left center field, which scored Danny Pulfer form second base, was all the Ducks needed as they swept their in-state rivals 6-0.

Lets get to Oregon's chances of being selected to the field of 64.

The win improved Oregon's RPI to 53, according to warrennolan.com. The RPI cutoff for teams being selected is about 60 or 70, so the Ducks are safe in that regard. 

Had the Ducks won the series against the Washington State Cougars last weekend, then they would probably be selected. Since they didn't, they are on the bubble and the outlook doesn't look good.

ESPN released their protected field of 64, and they have Oregon as one of the last nine teams out. Aaron Fitt of Baseball America is working on his projections, but this is what he tweeted just moments ago: "Oregon made a furious last-ditch rally, sweeping Oregon State, making Ducks realistic at-large candidate. They still fall just short for me."

I would have to agree with both of those projections. The Ducks' body of work doesn't represent a regional worthy team. Oregon pulled their act together in the final three weeks of the year, but as a whole, there are too many disappointing defeats.

If the committee is having trouble deciding if Oregon should get in, they will look at a couple of things. Being swept by the Bruins will hurt. Washington taking two out of three from the Duck in Eugene will hurt. And Hawaii is also a bubble team, and the Ducks were only able to split that series to begin the year. Also, Oregon is 5-12 in one-run games this year-not a favorable stat.

After Sunday's game, this is what coach George Horton had to say about regionals: ". I think we're a worthy team. In my heart of hearts, I believe we're one of the 64 best teams in the country. I think we've earned the right to play in the 64-team tournament. I think we'll make the committee proud."

Horton believes the Ducks have a 40 percent chance of being selected.

Tune into ESPN at 9:30 a.m. PDT, as the field will be announced then. Until then, cross your fingers Duck fans. If anybody has any questions, post them below and I'll try my best to answer them. Also, if any other news breaks, I'll have it for all of you.

Go Ducks! I've had an amazing time bringing all of you news on the Diamond Ducks.