:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/13942151/20130305_121215.0.jpg)
The Ducks look to make good on their second consecutive national seed after falling short of Omaha last season. Their first obstacle along the way will be the South Dakota State Jackrabbits who are making their first tournament appearance in program history. SDSU won the Summit league automatic bid by winning their conference tournament and are rewarded with a trip to Eugene.
The Ducks have placed 4 players onto the the All Pac-12 first team, among them closer Jimmie Sherfy who has been named as a semi finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser trophy among several other awards and watch lists.
Early in the season, the Jackrabbits dropped a pair of games to Ohio State by a combined score of 15-4, a team Oregon swept in Columbus. Outside of that, the Ducks and the 'Rabbits have no mutual opponents. Scott Splett leads SDSU with hits but strikes out (57) nearly as often as he gets a hit (58). The Ducks will need their pitching to come up big against a team in the Jackrabbits who really enjoy hitting the ball. What's more is, it will be interesting to see how they will do in PK Park which is notoriously difficult to hit in.
The winner of this game will face the winner of Rice and San Francisco tomorrow at 6 PM.
The game will be live on ESPN 3 and the call will be on 95.3 The Score.
Go Ducks