Duck Baseball Drops Stanford Series, Face Cougs Next

This is the first of a weekly series focused on recapping, previewing and discussing Oregon Baseball. Future game stats will be posted in the comment section after the conclusion of each game. Feel free to use this article as a game thread for the upcoming Washington State series.

The Oregon Ducks (16-11-0, 3-6-0) capped their California trip off with a win against the San Francisco Dons (18-10, 8-1). Unfortunately, the week has been tainted by two straight losses to end a three-game series with the Stanford Cardinal (22-3-0, 5-1-0), ranked third in the country at the time (now ranked second).

The Ducks demolished the Cardinal 10-1 to open the series on Thursday, but were outscored 1-9 in their following games. What could have been a season-changing win against the best team in the PAC-12 turned into a blown opportunity and a tie for 10th place in the conference standings.

Here’s a recap of the last week in conference play for Duck Baseball:

GAME 1

Oregon 10 - Stanford 1

Sophomore Kenyon Yovan has been a recent bright spot in his switch from closer to the regular rotation. The rising star pitched six shutouts, nine strikeouts, and allowed only three hits with one walk. The fourth inning saw an offensive explosion from the Ducks; Gabe Matthews, Jakob Goldfarb, and Johnny DeLuca all hit homers against one of the country’s best pitching staffs. Ray Soderman and Johnny DeLuca added some insurance in the seventh and a Stanford score in the eighth was answered by Soderman who was singled in by Goldfarb.

GAME 2

Stanford 5 - Oregon 1

After scoring first in the second inning, the Ducks failed to score again as Stanford pitcher Kris Bubic struck out nine. Oregon’s lone score came from Kenyon Yovan, who crossed home plate after a mishandled play in the outfield. The unearned run ended up being the last score the Ducks would have in the disappointing Stanford series.

GAME 3

Stanford 4 - Oregon 0

Oregon’s Kolby Somers, the freshman left-handed pitcher, held the Cardinal to one score in six innings. However, Somers’ six strike out, zero walk performance fell short as the inconsistent Oregon offense failed to produce a single run. Despite outhitting the Cardinal 9-7, the Ducks failed to take advantage of their best opportunities, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Stanford’s Kyle Stowers sealed the Ducks fate in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run homer.

Dons Don’t Win

The Ducks finished their road trip with a revenge 5-2 win over the University of San Francisco, who squashed the Ducks’ momentum earlier in the season by beating them after a series win over California. But the win will do little to help Oregon’s national standing.

PAC-12 STANDINGS

TEAM (Conference) Record

1. Stanford (5-1-0) 22-3-0
2. Oregon State (6-3-0) 23-4-0
3. UCLA (6-3-0) 17-7-0
4. Washington (6-3-0) 13-12-0
5. Arizona State (5-4-0) 13-15-0
6. Utah (3-3-0) 7-20-0
7. California (3-6-0) 16-10-0
8. Oregon (3-6-0) 16-11-0
9. USC (3-6-0) 14-11-0
10. Washington State (3-6-0) 8-15-0
11. Arizona (2-4-0) 17-10-0

UP NEXT:

Washington State Cougars

The Washington State Cougars (8-15-0, 3-6-0) come to Eugene, Oregon this Friday. Besides the momentum it would bring to the program, a series win would mean little for the Ducks. On the other hand, if Oregon were to be swept by the hapless Cougs it could place them in dead last in the conference standings.

Washington State has few quality wins to speak of, and 12 of their 15 losses are to unranked teams. Wazzu is having trouble on the mound, sporting the highest ERA amongst PAC-12 competitors (5.11) and throwing the least amount of strikeouts (160). They’ve also lost 3-of-12 away from Pullman, which bodes well for a Duck team that is starting to see their season slip away.

Be sure to root for the home team!

Friday, 6 PM PT, Oregon Live Stream

Saturday, 2 PM PT, Oregon Live Stream

Sunday, 12PM PT, Oregon Live Stream