Ducks look for season sweep of Portland on Wednesday

Ducks and Pilots wrap up three-game season series: Oregon will look to complete the season series sweep of Portland on Wednesday in the Rose City. The Ducks own a 102-34 series advantage against the Pilots, including 22-7 record in the games played since baseball returned to Oregon. The Ducks swept the three-game season series last season and have won 19 of the last 20 games between the two teams. Oregon has also won all nine games between the two teams at Joe Etzel Field since 2009.

First Meeting -- Oregon 1, Portland 0 (March 28 at Portland): Five Oregon pitchers combined on a three-hitter as Oregon held off Portland 1-0 at Joe Etzel Field. SO RHP Isaiah Carranza pitched five innings in his second start of the season allowing just one hit and a walk while striking out a career-best four in the win. FR RHP Kenyon Yovan picked up his Pac-12 Conference leading ninth save. SO RHP Parker Kelly, SR RHP Cooper Stiles and SR RHP Connor Zwetsch all threw a scoreless inning as the five Ducks' pitchers combined to fan 10 Pilots.
Oregon got all the offense it would need in the third inning against the Pilots. In just his third start of the season, JR OF Taylor Travess put the Ducks on top in the top of the third inning with a RBI single to score JR C Tim Susnara, who started the inning with a double.

Second Meeting -- Oregon 6, Portland 1 (April 11 in Eugene): The Ducks scored two runs in three of the first four innings and then cruised to a 6-1 win over Portland at PK Park last Tuesday. Six pitchers combined on a three hitter against the Pilots with SO LHP Cole Stringer getting the win after allowing one run on one hit in four innings with five strikeouts. FR RHP James Acuna, FR LHP Zack Noll, SR RHP Cooper Stiles, JR RHP Brac Warren and SR RHP Connor Zwetsch combined to hold the pilots to no runs over the final five innings. FR 2B Morgan McCullough led the Ducks' offense going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. FR DH Matthew Dyer was 1-for-2 with two RBI, while FR 1B Gabe Matthews was 1-for-3 with an RBI and SR CF Jake Bennett was 1-for-2 with two runs scored.

Horton wins number 800 as Division I head coach: George Horton hit another career milestone on April 8 against UC Irvine when he won his 800th career game as a Division I head coach. The Ducks' skipper has compiled an 803-417-2 record in 19-plus seasons as a Division I head coach at Cal State Fullerton (11 seasons) and Oregon. On March 11, Horton won his 300th career game at Oregon when the Ducks beat Santa Clara 10-0. He moved his Oregon wins total to 313 with a win last Thursday at Arizona while running his record to 312-205-1 in his first eight-plus years in Eugene. Horton now has a 1,029-470-2 career record counting his time as a junior college coach.

Ducks host Stanford in Pac-12 series: Oregon returns to Pac-12 play this weekend when the Ducks host Stanford in a three-game series starting on Friday. The Ducks enter the matchup with a 6-6 conference record, while Stanford is 5-7. The Cardinal lead the all-time series against Oregon 30-18 with the Ducks holding a 13-11 edge in games played since baseball returned to Oregon. The Ducks won two of three in the last series played in Eugene.

On Deck: Oregon hits the road for one game before returning home for another Pac-12 series. UO heads to Corvallis on Tuesday for a non-conference Civil War battle against No. 1 Oregon State on April 25. Oregon wraps up the week with a three-game league series against Arizona State on April 28-30 at PK Park.

Peterson's 68 combined strikeouts is the best six-game stretch in Oregon history: No pitcher in Oregon history has been better when it comes to striking out opposing hitters in six straight starts than JR LHP David Peterson. The Ducks' lefty combined to strikeout 66 hitters in six starts dating from March 3 to April 7. He had 17 against Mississippi State, 14 against Santa Clara, eight at California, seven vs. Washington, 11 at Utah and 11 vs. UC Irvine during the stretch. Peterson's total is six more than he fanned in a six-game stretch starting with his second start this season. In addition to the dominant six-game strikeout run, Peterson also ranks highly in strikeouts in a five-game stretch, a four-game span, three straight games and back-to-back games

Peterson's ranks in top 11 nationally in five statistical categories, leads country in two: With seven straight commanding appearances, JR LHP David Peterson has placed himself among the national and Pac-12 leaders in a number of categories. Nationally, he is in the top 11 in five separate categories ranking first in victories (8) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.40), third in strikeouts (82), fifth in walks allowed per nine innings (0.77) and 11th in strikeouts per nine innings (12.65). In the Pac-12, Peterson leads the conference in all five of those categories.

Peterson named to Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list: Oregon junior David Peterson, who led the NCAA in victories and was second in strikeouts at the time of the announcement, was named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list by USA Baseball. The Golden Spikes Award is given to the country's top amateur baseball player. Peterson was one of 40 players named to the midseason watch list. The 6-foot-6 left-hander has won eight straight starts entering Friday's outing against Stanford. At 8-1 with a 1.85 ERA and 82 strikeouts and five walks, Peterson was tied for the NCAA lead in victories entering this week, third in strikeouts and first in strikeout-to-walk ratio. He hasn't allowed more than one earned run in his last seven outings. That streak began with his 17-strikeout dominance of Mississippi State on March 3. In Pac-12 play, Peterson has allowed two earned runs in 27 innings, while striking out 31 with two walks. So far this season, the Ducks' ace has been named a Collegiate Baseball national player of the week twice, and the Pac-12's pitcher of the week twice. He was named national pitcher of the month by the NCBWA after going 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA, 57 strikeouts and two walks in March.

Peterson named NCBWA National Pitcher of the Month: JR LHP David Peterson was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Month for the month of March after finishing with a 5-0 record and a 0.50 ERA. In games against Mississippi State, Santa Clara, California, Washington and Utah, Peterson allowed just two earned runs in 36.1 innings pitched with 57 strikeouts and only two walks. Peterson finished with double-digit strikeouts in the wins over Mississippi State (17), Santa Clara (14) and Utah (11).

Peterson claims Perfect Game midseason All-America honors: Oregon's Friday night starter JR LHP David Peterson was named second-team midseason All-American by Perfect Game. Peterson was 6-1 with a 2.14 ERA during the first half of the season with 66 strikeouts and just six walks. He led the nation in victories, while ranking in the top 17 in five separate statistical categories. In addition to being the national leader in wins, he ranked third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.50), eighth in strikeouts, 11th in walks allowed per nine innings (0.78) and 17th in strikeouts per nine innings (12.82).

Peterson named a national player of the week in back-to-back weeks, also earns two Pac-12 weekly honors in a month: JR LHP David Peterson was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks following his dominating efforts against Mississippi State on March 3 and Santa Clara on March 10. Peterson was also named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career following the Santa Clara game when picked up the win after holding the Broncos scoreless through 7.1 innings while striking out 14 hitters. Peterson fanned multiple batters in four of his innings, including striking out the side twice, and allowed just three hits while walking one. The week before, he earned the national honor after fanning a school-record 17 hitters over eight innings of a 1-0 win against Mississippi State allowing just three hits and no walks. Over the two starts, Peterson didn't allowed a run on just six hits in 15.1 innings while striking out 31 batters and walking just one. Peterson added to his awards claiming Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on April 3 after holding Utah to just one run in eight innings with 11 strikeouts and now walks in an 11-1 win. The two Collegiate Baseball honors gave him three for his career. He earned his first honor after beating UC Santa Barbara in the series clinching game last March.

Peterson, Yovan turn in dominating months of March: Not much more could be asked for than what JR LHP David Peterson and FR RHP Kenyon Yovan accomplished during the month of March. Peterson, Oregon's Friday night starter, was dominant in all five of his starts winning either a national or conference award after three of those. The Ducks' lefty finished the month 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA and was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Month. He allowed just two earned runs on 28 hits in 36.1 innings pitched with 57 strikeouts and just two walks. He had three games with double-digit strikeouts, highlighted by a 17 strikeout (0 walks) effort against Mississippi State. Peterson also fanned 14 (one walk) in his next start against Santa Clara, and had 11 Ks (0 walks) against Utah.

Yovan was nearly perfect out of the bullpen. The Ducks' closer picked up seven saves and a win in eight appearances. He allowed just one unearned run in 12 innings and struck out 17 while walking just two. Yovan got a save in all seven save opportunities with five of them coming in one-run games. In his win, Yovan entered a tie game in the ninth inning and pitched three-scoreless innings in a 6-5, 11-inning win over Mississippi State.

Peterson strikes out record 17 in win over Mississippi State: In a dominating performance against Mississippi State on March 3 that resulted in him being named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week, JR LHP David Peterson fanned a career-high and Oregon record 17 hitters in eight innings while giving up no runs on three hits with no walks. Peterson's 17 Ks bested his former career high of 13 vs. UC Santa Barbara on March 6, 2016, and was three more than Tyler Anderson's 14 vs. Long Beach State on March 4, 2011. Oregon's team record for strikeouts is 20 against Lewis & Clark on April 8, 1969. Peterson and reliever Kenyon Yovan combined for 18 against Mississippi State. They also combined for 18 in Peterson's next start with the Peterson fanning 14 and Yovan four.

Peterson's scoreless streak ends at 22.1 innings pitched, earned run streak halted at 25.1 innings: In a stretch of four starts, JR LHP David Peterson was dominant leading Oregon to four wins, three at PK Park and one at California. The Ducks' lefty, who was 4-0 in the stretch with wins over Mississippi State, Santa Clara, Cal and No. 22 Washington, combined to throw 21.1 consecutive scoreless innings (22.1 including his final inning in the UC Irvine game at the Tony Gwynn Classic) on just 15 hits in the first three games with 39 strikeouts and only two walks. The streak came to an end when UW scored an unearned run in the top of the first in a 4-3 win. The Huskies eventually scored an earned run in the fourth inning to snap Peterson's earned run streak at 25.1 innings.

Peterson ranks 10th in D1Baseball.com's list of top 100 college prospects for 2017: Oregon has a history of pitchers getting drafted since the return of baseball before the 2009 season. In eight seasons, the Ducks have had 24 different pitchers picked in the MLB Draft, including 14 in the top 10 rounds. JR LHP David Peterson could bring the number to 25 with a solid season in 2017. The two-year weekend starter at Oregon is ranked as the 10th-best college prospect in the 2017 Draft by D1Baseball.com. Peterson is one of seven pitchers in the top 10, and one of three Pac-12 players.

Peterson plays for Collegiate National Team: JR LHP David Peterson spent the summer before his junior season playing with USA Baseball's College National Team. The Ducks' lefty took part in a three-country tour that included stops in Taiwan, Japan and Cuba. Peterson made six appearances for the CNT finishing with a 1-1 record and 2.57 ERA in 14 innings pitched while striking out 13. He held opposing hitters to a .227 batting average.

Mercer gives Ducks a solid 1-2 punch at top of rotation: Pitching on Saturday's, SO RHP Matt Mercer has been a nice compliment to LHP David Peterson. Mercer is seventh in the Pac-12 in ERA (2.45) while leading the Ducks' starters in batting average against (.214). The sophomore, who moved into the starting rotation for the last four weekends of his freshman season, is second on the team lead with five quality starts this season. Mercer has pitched in the weekend rotation 13 times in his career and has given the Ducks a quality start in eight of those games. In his five outings from Feb. 25 to March 25, he had a 1.09 ERA in 33.0 innings pitched and allowed just four earned runs on 21 hits with 25 strikeouts and just six walks. Mercer ranks eighth in the Pac-12 in opposing batting average, fourth in wins (5) and 11th in innings pitched (41.0).

Mercer named Most Outstanding Pitcher at Tony Gwynn Classic, Matthews earns a spot on all-tournament team: A couple of Ducks earned some accolades in February's Tony Gwynn Classic. SO RHP Matt Mercer was named the tournament's most outstanding pitcher after holding Seton Hall scoreless through seven innings in an eventual 1-0 win. In addition to setting a new career high in innings pitched, Mercer fanned a career-best seven while picking up the win. FR DH Gabe Matthews was named to the all-tournament team after batting .571 with a .667 on-base percentage.

Yovan continuing tradition of superb closers: It wouldn't be a stretch to call Oregon "Closer University" with the run of top notch relievers the Ducks have had in the back end of the bullpen over the last five seasons. With JR RHP Brac Warren working his way back from an injury, FR RHP Kenyon Yovan took advantage of the opportunity as the team's closer with a series of strong outings with the game on the line to lock down the job. Yovan follows four closers who combined for a 19-8 record with 78 saves and a 1.85 ERA in the last five seasons. All four were drafted in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. Jimmie Sherfy started the run in 2012 and combined for a 7-3 record with 40 saves and a 2.22 ERA during his two seasons as the closer before being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 10th round of the 2013 draft. Jake Reed inherited the closer role and finished 4-1 with 13 saves and a 1.93 ERA before being picked in the fifth round of the draft by the Minnesota Twins. In 2015 Garrett Cleavinger went 6-2 with nine saves and a 1.58 ERA, and then was selected in the third round by the Baltimore Orioles. Stephen Nogosek was the latest Ducks' pitcher to excel in the role, finishing his final season at Oregon 2-2 with 16 saves and a 1.13 ERA before being drafted in the sixth round by the Boston Red Sox.

Yovan already in the top 10 in single-season and career saves at Oregon: He's only appeared in 13 games, but FR RHP Kenyon Yovan has already put his name in Oregon's single-season and career record books with 12 saves. Yovan is tied fifth on the all-time saves list and needs one more to tie Garrett Cleavinger (2013-15) and Jake Reed (2012-14) for third. Jimmie Sherfy (2011-13) is the all-time leader with 40 saves, 24 more than any other Duck. On the singles-season list, Yovan ranks fifth and he needs one more to tie Reed (2014) for fourth.

Yovan leads Pac-12, second in the nation in saves: Heading into this week's games at Portland and against Stanford, FR RHP Kenyon Yovan leads the Pac-12 with 12 saves while ranking in a tie for second in the country. Yovan has picked up saves in 12 of his 13 outings, while getting a win in the other appearance. The Ducks' freshman, who hasn't given up an earned run in 19.1 innings, sits just one save behind the national leader.

Freshmen make huge impact: A young and talented crop of freshmen are already making their mark on the Oregon baseball program. Ten freshmen, nine true and one redshirt, have seen action for the Ducks this season. Eight different freshmen have made starts with both FR 2B Morgan McCullough and FR 3B Spencer Steer having started 32 of 33 games. FR 1B/DH Gabe Matthews has 26 starts and FR C/OF Matthew Dyer (12 in RF, 4 at catcher, 3 at DH) has made 19 starts. FR DH/RHP Kenyon Yovan has six starts while serving as the team's closer (1-0, 12 saves). FR INF/RHP Ryne Nelson made his first two starts at DH in the Arizona series and has also made three appearances, including a pair of crucial scoreless eighth innings in one-run wins over Fresno State and Seton Hall, on the mound. RFR OF Braden Stutzman has started 13, 12 in right field and one as the designated hitter. On the mound, five true freshmen have seen their first career action. In addition to RHP Yovan and RHP Nelson, FR LHP Zach Noll and FR RHP James Acuna made their first career starts earlier this year with Noll picking up a win in one of his three starts, and Acuna leaving after four innings with a 6-0 lead in his lone start. Acuna did get his first career win in relief in the Fresno State series finale. FR LHP Nico Tellache has made five appearances.

Warren named to 2017 Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List: Oregon JR RHP Brac Warren is one of sixty players named to the 2017 Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Warren (Rosebud, Mont. / Custer County District HS) spent last season in a set-up role for All-American Stephen Nogosek and finished his sophomore season with a 3.16 ERA in 25 appearances while striking out 34 in 25.2 innings pitched. During his career at Oregon, Warren has a 2-2 record with a 3.48 ERA in 42 appearances. He has come out of the bullpen in 41 of those appearances, while fanning 56 in 51.2 innings pitched. He has made three appearances this season and hasn't given up a run in four innings.

Susnara on Johnny Bench Award Watch List: JR C Tim Susnara is one of 85 catchers to be named to the initial list, announced by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. Susnara was also on the watch list during his sophomore season.

Balta chasing career records: In his third season on the field, JR OF/1B A.J. Balta already ranks in the top 10 in four career categories, while closing in on a number of others. Balta is fourth all-time in multiple-RBI games with 24, and needs six more to pass Kyle Garlick (2011-14) for third. He is seventh in RBI (86) and needs four more to pass Don Reynolds (1972-75) for sixth. He is also tied for 10th in career triples (7) and is fifth in hit-by-pitches (21). Balta needs one more triple to move into a tie for eighth with Mitchell Tolman (2013-15) and Earl Averill, Jr. (1951-53), while needing four more HBP to pass Mark Karaviotis (2014-16) for fourth. Balta is also closing in on the top 10 in games started, at bats and runs.

Ten Ducks on D1Baseball.com's list of the Pac-12's top prospects/freshmen: Four Duck juniors and three sophomores made D1Baseball.com's list of top Pac-12 Conference draft prospects heading into the 2017 season, while three UO freshman made the website's list of impact freshmen. JR LHP David Peterson is the fourth ranked prospect in the 2017 draft class, while JR C Tim Susnara ranks 19th, JR RHP Brac Warren is 21st and JR OF Jakob Goldfarb is 31st. Among the 2018 draft class, SO RHP Matt Mercer is the seventh-ranked prospect, while SO RHP Isaiah Carranza is 13th and SO RHP Jacob Bennett is 21st. Bennett will redshirt in 2017 after suffering a season-ending injury midway through his freshman season. Among the Ducks' freshman, 3B Spencer Steer is D1Baseball's 14th-ranked impact freshmen, while RHP/1B Kenyon Yovan is 24th and INF Morgan McCullough is 39th.

Pitching staff ranks among nation's best in six categories, including four top 25 rankings: Oregon's pitching staff has been dominant early in the season compiling a 3.49 ERA through 33 games with 286 strikeouts and just 83 walks in 291 innings pitched, while compiling six shutouts. The Ducks rank among the national leaders in ERA (39th), shutouts (7th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5th), strikeouts per nine innings (45th), WHIP (25th) and walks allowed per nine innings (7th). The Ducks' staff is second or higher in five of those categories in the Pac-12 Conference, including leading the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.45), strikeouts per nine innings (8.8) and walks allowed per nine innings (2.57).

Ducks' pitching staff's 27-scoreless innings streak ends at Cal, as does 45-inning streak without an earned run: Oregon's pitching staff had back-to-back shutouts against Santa Clara to wrap up the four-game series, and then held California scoreless for the first seven innings of game one of their series to run the scoreless streak to 27 innings. Cal finally snapped the streak with a run in the eighth inning, which also snapped Oregon's 45-inning streak without allowing an earned run. The Ducks started that streak with two innings against UC Davis on March 6, before holding Santa Clara without an earned run in all four games (36 innings) of that series and Cal to no earned runs in the first seven innings of game one. In all, 12 different pitchers (Carranza, Acuna, Kelly, Stiles, Warren, Peterson, Yovan, Mercer, Hobaica, Tellache, Stringer, Zwetsch) contributed to the earned run streak, with Warren, Yovan, Peterson and Zwetsch making two appearances.

Ducks 28-18 all-time against ranked teams at PK Park: The Ducks continue their success against ranked teams at PK Park when they won two of three games against No. 22 Washington. In eight-plus seasons, the Ducks have played 46 games against teams ranked in the Baseball America top-25 and compiled an impressive 28-18 record in those games.

Ducks will play 16 TV games: Oregon has 16 games scheduled to be broadcast on television with 15 of those on the Pac-12 Network and one on BYUtv. Four of the Ducks' Pac-12 series will be televised (Washington, at Utah, Oregon State, at USC), while four of their non-league games will be carried (BYU, Portland-April 11, at Oregon State-May 2 and May 11). All of Oregon's home games will be streamed on-line as will a number of the Ducks' road games.

Ducks are tied for 13th-most wins since beginning of 2012 season: Oregon has put together a five-year stretch of wins that is among the best in the nation. Since the 2012 season, when the Ducks advanced to the Super Regionals, Oregon has the 14th-most wins (228) in the nation while qualifying for postseason four of the last five years. UO won at least 38 games from 2012 to 2015 before finishing 2016 with 29 wins. The Ducks trail only LSU, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Florida State, TCU, Florida, Oregon State, Texas A&M, North Carolina, South Carolina, Miami and Louisiana in total wins.

Horton named USA Baseball Coach of the Year: USA Baseball announced in December that Oregon head coach George Horton was the recipient of the Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year award after leading the College National Team on a successful tour of three countries that included Team USA's first ever series win in Cuba.

"George Horton is very deserving of being named the USA Baseball Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year," said Eric Campbell, USA Baseball's General Manager of National Teams. "His ability to handle the unique challenges of the summer tour while creating positive developmental and personal interactions with the players was first-class; and leading that group of young men to a series win in Cuba for the first time in our history was remarkable."

In addition to winning USA Baseball's coach of the year honor, the Collegiate National Team, led by Horton, was named USA Baseball's Team of the Year after winning the first ever series on Cuban soil. 2016 marked the first time a visiting team has ever won the international friendship series between Cuba and the U.S. The team traveled over 20,000 miles during the course of its summer tour, participating in friendship series in Chinese Taipei, Japan and Cuba. The team finished with an 11-7-1 record and its success led to Horton, being named the USA Baseball Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year.

Horton will be honored at the Golden Spikes Award and Rod Dedeaux Award Dinner, which is expected to be held June 29 at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles.

Dietrich, 2016 Collegiate Baseball Pitching Coach of the Year, joins Ducks staff: Shortly after joining George Horton's staff at Oregon, pitching coach Jason Dietrich was named the 2016 Pitching Coach of the Year by Collegiate Baseball. The current Duck earned the honor for the coaching job he did with Cal State Fullerton's pitching staff last season. Dietrich led a Titan staff that was dominant leading the nation in both ERA (2.22) and WHIP (1.04), while also ranking third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.32) and 26th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.5). Dietrich's pitching staff led the Titans to a 36-23 record, a Big West championship and a spot in the NCAA Regionals. During his four seasons at CSF, the Titans led the nation in one of four major pitching categories nine times. In addition to have to having the country's best ERA in 2016, Dietrich's pitching staffs led the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio three times (2013, 2014 and 2015), WHIP twice (2013 and 2016) and fewest base on balls per nine innings three times (2013, 2014 and 2015). In his four seasons with the Titans, Dietrich's pitching staff never finished with a team ERA higher than 2.89 or ranked lower than 11th in the country. In addition to the Titan's Division I leading 2.22 ERA in 2016, Dietrich's teams posted ERAs that ranked fourth in the country in 2013 (2.47), third in 2014 (2.24) and 11th in 2015 (2.89). Dietrich's pitching staffs at Cal State Fullerton also ranked no lower than third in strikeouts-to-walk ratio during his four seasons, while also ranking no worse than sixth in WHIP and seventh in base on balls per nine innings.