Oregon released its 2012 baseball schedule on Wednesday.  If Oregon is to return to the NCAA Tournament, it won't be without a challenge.  Oregon opens up with two challenging road trips--the annual opener at Hawaii, and a trip to Nashville to face Belmont and Vanderbilt.  They also co-host the inaugural Nike College Showcase, which will give home games against Illinois, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Connecticut all in one weekend.  The other highlight of the non-conference schedule, at least if you live in the Salem area like me, is a non-conference game against Portland at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.

Home Pac-12 series are against Utah, Arizona State, WSU, Cal, and USC, while road series consist of Washington, UCLA, Stanford, Arizona, and Oregon State (Colorado does not sponsor baseball).

It's Sunday, May 15, and with the series tied at one game apiece, the Oregon Ducks and the Stanford Cardinal are locked in a back-and-fourth battle to decide the series. The Ducks have a 6-5 lead, but the Cardinal are threatening to tie the game late.

Stanford has runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the eighth. The Cardinal hitter, Zack Jones, sends a single through the hole between first base and second base.

The Cardinal third base coach waves the runner, Dave Giuliani, home from second. Oregon right fielder Aaron Jones fires the ball home, as a bang-bang play is about to develop.

Oregon catcher Brett Hambright fields the throw about four feet up the third baseline with the 200-pound Giuliani barreling down the line. It all created for a textbook play at the plate.

The NCAA implemented a "Collision Rule" (Rule 8.7 in the college baseball rulebook) prior to the 2011 season. The rule states, in part, "Contact above the waist that was initiated by the base runner shall not be judged as an attempt to reach the base or plate."

If the umpire determines that the contact at the plate violates Rule 8.7, the runner is out and can be ejected.

Giuliani tried to avoid Hambright, but the tag was applied keeping it a one-run game.

Now we'll travel to The Show.

I don't need to describe to the horrific sight for San Francisco Giants fans in late May at AT&T Park. It's what spawned from the Scott Cousins and Buster Posey collision that could change one of the more iconic plays in professional baseball.

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Oregon Ducks starting pitcher Tyler Anderson and second baseman Danny Pulfer were named to the Pac-10 All-Conference team. 

Anderson has now won the award for the second consecutive year, while this is the first time Pulfer has received the honor in his three-year Oregon career. Anderson finished the 2011 season with an 8-3 record, 2.17 ERA and 114 strikeouts (3rd Pac-10). 

In 15 starts this season, Anderson recorded 12 quality outings and six starts with double digits in strikeouts.

Earlier today, Anderson, a Las Vegas native, was named one of 30 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award.

Pulfer carried the Ducks offense in 2011, batting .351 (5th Pac-10), recording 79 hits (2nd Pac-10) and 16 doubles (T-4th Pac-10). 

Pulfer, a Cypress, Calif. native, set a program record in doubles and his 13-game hit streak set a new Oregon modern era record. Pulfer had two double digit hit streaks this season. 

It is expected that both players will not return for their senior seasons and turn pro following the draft in June.

Oregon relief pitcher Kellen Moen received honorable mention accolades. The senior set an Oregon single-season record with eight saves, which tied for third in the Pac-10.

The honor is voted on by the league's coaches.

I hate to be the one to bring bad news, but the Oregon Ducks were not selected for regionals. You can see the field of 64 here. If you want to read an article I wrote that talked about the implications for the Ducks and Oregon State Beavers after the sweep, click here.  It's a little dated now. I will have reactions from the Ducks tomorrow morning.

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.

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Just like football!  And basketball!  And softball!  And volleyball!

Quack fans, here is where you can find updates on today's third game of the Civil War Series. I will be in the press box of PK Park, posting updates as they happen.

The Ducks lead the series 2-0 and have raised their RPI to 58, according to Boyd's World. For the Beavers, their RPI has fallen to 28.

What does that mean for the Ducks? RPI is far form an exact science when determining regional selections. I would say the cut off for being selected to regionals is 60, so Oregon would have to complete the sweep in order to stay below that. Also, even if the Ducks stay below 60, that does not guarantee them a regional spot. The committee will take into account things like being swept by the UCLA Bruins and losing two out of three to the Washington State Cougars last weekend. 

Looking at the Pac-10 conference picture, the Bruins secured themselves at least a share of first place with a win over the Arizona State Sun Devils, last night. If the Bruins win today. Currently, the Beavers are one game back of the Bruins. A win for the Bruins today and they will stand alone at the Pac-10 conference champs. A loss and a win by the Beavers means a two-way tie for first place.

The Ducks sit alone in seventh place.

As far as the game today, the Beavers are not releasing who will be their starting pitcher. Because of that, Horton has decide he will wait as well. My hope is that Madison Boer will be on the hill for the Ducks. He spent much of the year as the Ducks dominant No. 2 pitcher--although he would be an ace on many other staffs. He was moved to the closer roll a before the Stanford series to relieve a struggling bullpen. But after Scott McGough's outing yesterday, the Ducks might be able to take the risk of moving Boer out of the 'pen.

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For a second straight game, the Oregon Duck bats came through with timely hitting. And again, the Oregon State Beaver bats did not.

A crucial three-run double from freshman Aaron Jones and a just-enough effort on the mound from Christian Jones, allowed the Ducks to steal the second game of the Civil War Series by the score of 4-1 Saturday at PK Park.

The Ducks (32-26-1, 10-16 Pac-10) entered the series with an RPI of 74, and after Friday's win, the Ducks improved their RPI to 65. The Ducks have to wait until Sunday to see how Saturday's win will improve their RPI. If the Ducks are able to pull off the sweep of the Beavers, this is how coach George Horton described the Ducks chances of making regionals: "I'd say 40 percent, and that's including a win tomorrow. If we don't win tomorrow I think it goes down to 20 (percent). What works against us is that we can't pass anybody else, standings wise."

Essentially, the Ducks need to sweep in order to have a chance of being selected to regionals.

On Saturday, the Ducks needed some early inning luck to keep the Beavers (38-16, 17-9 Pac-10) off the board.

Christian struggled with his command early, and the Beaver hitters tried to capitalize on location mistakes. Christian left pitches over the plate, which the Beavers squared up, but right to the Duck fielders.

"Definitely not the best stuff, but when I needed it, it was there," he said.

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