What: Oregon Ducks (10-6, 2-1 Pac-12) host the Utah Utes (11-4-1, 2-1 Pac-12)

When: 3/18/22 6:00 pm

Where: PK Park, Eugene, OR

Watch: Pac-12 Oregon Network

When the Utah Utes finish this weekend’s series in Eugene, they’ll come away with a better idea of how they stack up against Pac-12 competition than when they started. Since joining the Pac-12 in 2012, Utah’s play has been streaky against Oregon - the Ducks won the first four series, then the Utes won the next two, and Oregon has taken the series since 2017. The Utes have also struggled against the rest of the Pac-12, as last weekend’s series win over Washington was their first Pac-12 series win since 2019.

Utah is looking for a better showing this weekend, but they are facing an Oregon Ducks team that is riding momentum of their own. After lighting up the scoreboard in historic fashion against St. John’s a few weeks ago, they traded victories against a very good UC Santa Barbara squad the weekend after. Last weekend they won their series against the #2 Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto, and so they are flexing their muscle in leading eight major Pac-12 categories, seven of which are offensive. In order to be successful in this series and beyond, the Ducks will need to see improvement in the pitching staff. Oregon had an opportunity to sweep against Stanford last weekend and they let that opportunity slip from their grasp.

Tonight’s game will see some relatively pleasant weather; well, as pleasant as March in Oregon will allow. Rain is a near certainty on Saturday, and so it will remain to be seen what impact that may have on Saturday’s contest.