Ducks travel to Seattle for key Pac-12 series against Washington

What you need to know

1-2 Punch: With SO RHP Kenyon Yovan joining JR RHP Matt Mercer in the rotation the last three weeks, Oregon has gone 5-1 in the first two games of the three series against Cal, Stanford and Washington State. Yovan is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA with 21 Ks in 18 innings. Mercer is 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Tough sledding on Sundays: While Yovan and Mercer have been dominant in the 6 starts, FR LHP Kolby Somers has been pretty good on Sundays without the support of his fellow rotation mates. In the 1st 2 games of the 3 series, UO is batting .304 with 32 runs scored. On the 3 Sundays, it's .165 with 3 runs scored.
Through four weeks of play, SR 2B Kyle Kasser continues to be at his best when facing quality Pac-12 Conference pitching. Kasser leads the Pac-12 in hitting in league games batting .447 (21-for-47). Last season, Kasser hit .381 in conference games -- the third highest in the league.

Kasser one of 30 candidates for 2018 Senior CLASS AWARD ®

SR 2B Kyle Kasser has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2018 Senior CLASS AWARD ®.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Classroom: He is an accomplished student who will graduate in less than four years. The 3-year member and past co-director of the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) has a 3.17 GPA in economics and will finish his degree in three years plus two terms. He claimed second-team Pac-12 all-academic accolades as a sophomore in 2016 and honorable mention recognition as a junior in 2017.
Character: He is a team leader who is well respected by his teammates and the coaching staff. He started his career as a non-scholarship athlete who eventually earned a scholarship and then became an all-conference honoree. He's selfless, on and off the field, coachable, competitive and tough minded. A team-first guy as is evident by being asked to play every position in the infield during his four-year career. He's a team captain, a SAAC representative for two years, and a hardworking/self-made player.
Community: He is the "go-to" guy on the Oregon Ducks' baseball team when it comes to being involved in the community. In addition to being a co-director of SAAC, he is the point man for Oregon baseball's involvement with Team Impact in pairing the team with James Dahl, a 15-year old living with Rasmussen's Encephalitis. His willingness to do community service outreach projects included team Thanksgiving baskets for families in need as part of SAAC. Kasser wants to make a difference and leave a legacy at Oregon and has guided more young players to being a part of the SAAC program resulting in the most baseball players being involved since the sport originated in 2009.
He has a .316 career batting average. As a junior, he batted a modern-era program record .352 and was named first-team All-Pac-12 Conference after hitting .381 in league games (third highest in the conference). The versatile infielder is Oregon's starting second baseman and has started 126 games split between the four infield positions. He has 50 starts at first base, 33 starts at second base, 29 starts at shortstop and 13 starts at third base. At the four infield positions his career fielding percentage is .987, including .994 as a junior while splitting time between shortstop and first base. This season he is batting .333 with a .984 fielding percentage.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in late April.

Ducks vs. Washington

Oregon visits Washington this week in a Pac-12 Conference series. The Ducks and Huskies meet Friday at 4 p.m. with 2 p.m. first pitches on both Saturday and Sunday.
UO leads the all-time series 147-133-1, including a 30-21 edge in games played in Seattle.
Washington holds an 18-15 edge in games played since baseball returned to Oregon, including a 14-13 advantage in Pac-12 Conference games.
The Huskies hold a 5-4 edge in the series played between the two teams, including the last three in Seattle. Oregon won their lone series at UW in 2010.
UW won four of six non-league games in 2009 and 2010.

Ducks-Huskies series on Pac-12 Network

All three of this weekend's games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
The TV games will be the first of the season for Oregon, but four of its final six league series will be televised along with both Oregon State mid-week games.
Joe Castellano will handle the play-by-play duties, while Kevin Stocker provides commentary.

Oregon wins series vs. Washington State

The Ducks won their second Pac-12 Conference series of the season winning two of three games against Washington State last weekend.
Oregon swept a doubleheader on Friday night before losing the series finale on Sunday.
The Ducks overcame a .179 team batting average in the series, holding WSU to just a .198 team batting average.

Ducks split Northern California road trip

Oregon went 2-2 on its recent road trip to Stanford and San Francisco.
The Ducks won the opener of a three game series, 10-1, against No. 3 Stanford before dropping the final two games 5-1 and 4-0.
The Ducks wrapped up the trip with a 5-1 win over San Francisco on Monday afternoon.
SR 2B Kyle Kasser led the Ducks on the trip batting .538 (7-for-13) vs. Stanford and .444 (8-for-18) in the four games.
SO RHP Kenyon Yovan picked up the win on Thursday at Stanford earning Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week honors after tossing six scoreless innings while fanning a career-high nine hitters with one walk in the win.
Six pitchers combined to give up just six hits in the win over USF on Monday, while FR CF Jonny DeLuca and JR C Ray Soderman hit back-to-back home runs in the win.

Oregon wins series vs. California

Oregon picked up a series win against California two weeks ago winning both games of a doubleheader on Saturday before losing Sunday's final game.
The Ducks batted .313 in the series with the Bears while finishing with a 2.33 ERA.
SR 2B Kyle Kasser led Oregon batting .583 (7-of-12) with three runs scored, while JR RF Jakob Goldfarb hit .462 (6-for-13) with a triple, two RBI and five runs scored.
JR RHP Matt Mercer and SO RHP Kenyon Yovan picked up Oregon's two wins combining to allow four runs in 11 innings with 12 strikeouts.

Records fall in Ducks win over Seattle

The Ducks set a pair of all-time records in their win over Seattle.
Oregon's 10 runs in the second inning tied for the most in school history. The 1972 team scored 10 vs. Portland State (April 2) and the 2017 team scored 10 at Utah (March 31).
Oregon sent 15 hitters to the plate vs. Seattle in the second inning to set a new record. The Ducks had 14 hitters bat in the game at Utah last season.
Oregon's 14 runs were the most scored by a Ducks' team since they beat Portland 15-4 on May 17, 2016.
The 14-run difference was the biggest for the Ducks since the beat New Mexico State by 15 (22-7) on Feb. 21, 2015.

Postponed Portland game rescheduled

Oregon's postponed game on Feb. 21 at Portland has been rescheduled for April 25 at 6 p.m. in Portland.
The game was postponed because of cold weather.

Ducks put on power display in win over Indiana State

Oregon hit four home runs in an 8-5 win over Indiana State to wrap up the Marucci Desert Classic during the season's opening weekend.
JR RF Jakob Goldfarb hit two solo shots, while SO 1B Gabe Matthews and SO 3B Spencer Steer both hit two-run homers.
The four home runs were the most by a Ducks' team in a game since UO hit four in a game against Cal on April 13, 2013.
In that game, Scott Heineman hit two HRs, while Ryon Healy and Brett Thomas each hit one.
two bombs in a game were the first by an Oregon Duck since Shaun Chase did it vs. Oregon State on May 20, 2014.

Milestone and record book watch

SR 2B Kyle Kasser moved into a tie for seventh all-time at Oregon in hits with Brett Thomas (2011-13) against Portland on Monday. Kasser needs five to pass KC Serna (2009-11) for sixth.
had three multi-hit games at Stanford the previous weekend moving his career total to 47 and allowing him to move into fifth all-time passing Thomas and Serna. He needs six more to pass J.J. Altobelli (2010-13) for fifth all time.
has 503 career at-bats and needs 10 at Washington to pass Thomas for 10th all-time and 12 to pass A.J. Balta (2014-17) for ninth.
Kasser is tied for eighth all-time in walks at Oregon and needs six more to pass Altobelli (2010-13) for seventh.
needs one stolen bases to move into a tie for 10th all-time at Oregon with Connor Hofmann (2011-14), Thomas, Curtis Raulinaitis (2009-10) and John Livingston (1961-63).
SO 3B Spencer Steer is ninth all-time with 17 multi-RBI games and needs one more to tie Altobelli for eighth, and two more to tie Shaun Chase (2012-15) and Serna for sixth. Kasser sits one behind Steer with 16 multi-RBI games and is tied with Scott Heineman (2012-15) for 10th.
is sixth all-time in hit-by-pitches and needs three more to tie Balta and Mark Karaviotis (2014-16) for fourth.
SR INF Daniel Patzlaff had one walk in the WSU series and is tied with Kasser for eighth all-time at Oregon. He needs six to pass Altobelli.
JR RHP Matt Mercer is eighth in all-time starts at Oregon in career starts with 28. He needs five more to tie Tommy Thorpe (2012-14) for seventh.

Ducks in the NCAA rankings (thru 4/10/18)

JR RHP Matt Mercer is 12th in games started with eight.
SO RHP Kenyon Yovan is 28th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (12.58).
FR CF Jonny DeLuca ranks first in the country with eight sacrifice flies.
As a team, the Ducks rank in the top 30 in two statistical categories. They are 13th in sacrifice flies (19) and 27th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.75).

Ducks have veteran infield, gaining experience in the outfield

Oregon returns a wealth of experience, particularly in the infield, heading into the Washington series.
Six different infielders have combined to start 415 games during their careers at Oregon with SR 2B Kyle Kasser and SR INF Daniel Patzlaff leading the way with 126 and 112 starts respectively in the infield. Patzlaff also has 19 starts at DH and two starts in left field for a team-leading 133 career starts.
Patzlaff needs five more starts to tie Scott Heineman (2012-15) and Brett Thomas (2011-13) for 10th on the all-time list.
Kyle Kasser has a team-best 86 consecutive starts and 126 total career starts.
Kasser has started games at all four infield positions with 50 starts at first base, 34 starts at second base, 29 starts at shortstop and 13 starts at third base during his career.
Kasser has the third longest consecutive starts streak since baseball returned to Oregon. Mitchell Tolman (2013-15) started a school-record 128 straight games, one more than Ryon Healy (2010-12).
Kasser needs 12 more starts to tie Heineman and Thomas for 10th on the all-time list.
SO 1B Gabe Matthews has an extensive consecutive games streak as well. He boasts a 64-game streak with the last 60 of those coming at first-base. His four other starts in the streak were at designated hitter.
SO 3B Spencer Steer had his consecutive start streak snapped at 65 when he didn't play in the second game of the Cal doubleheader on March 24 after he was hit on the hand by a pitch in game one of the twin bill. Steer has started 82 of the 85 games Oregon has played during his two seasons with the Ducks. He also missed the Portland game on Monday after getting hit on the knee by a pitch in Sunday's game against WSU.
SO SS Ryne Nelson rounds out the infield. He has made 29 starts at shortstop during the 2018 season. Nelson has also started six games at DH as well as one game on the mound.
Oregon has a combined 187 starts in the outfield.
JR C/RF Jakob Goldfarb, who redshirted in 2017 because of a toe injury, has a team-best 85 outfield starts with 80 of them coming in right field. The other seven starts were in left field. He also has seven starts at DH.
SR OF Taylor Travess has started 33 games (27 in LF, 5 in RF, 1 in CF) in the outfield. He also has three starts at DH.
SO OF Jason Drees made his first career outfield start when he played left field against San Francisco on March 26. He got his second start in left against Portland on Monday. Drees also has two starts at DH.
Patzlaff made his first career start in left field in game two of the Stanford series while also starting in left field in game three for the WSU series.
FR CF Jonny DeLuca started Oregon's first 22 games this season and 30 of 31 overall, while FR LF Evan Williams started the first eight games of his career and 22 of Oregon's first 31.
SO C Braden Stutzman gave Oregon 13 starts in right field in 2017 due to injuries.
Nobody on Oregon's roster had started a Division I game at catcher before JR C Ray Soderman started the season behind the plate. He started UO's first six games, as well as 25 of 31 this season. SO C Braden Stutzman got his first career start at catcher vs. Seattle, while also catching the second game of the UC Davis doubleheader, the last two games of the Cal series, the first USF game and the second game of the WSU doubleheader.

Kasser leads Pac-12 in batting average and hits in league games, second in OBP

Four weeks into league play, SR 2B Kyle Kasser leads the Pac-12 in two offensive statistical categories, while ranking second in another and eighth in one other.
.447 (21-for-47) batting average is the tops in league play, .042 points ahead of Cal's Jonah Davis, while his 21 hits also lead the league in conference games.
is second in on-base percentage at .549, 0.13 behind Davis, and tied for eighth in total plate appearances (56).
In the series at Arizona State, Kasser batted .455 (5-for-11) with three walks and a .571 OBP. He had two 2-hit games and reached base three times in a pair of the games as well.
In the Cal series, Kasser batted .583 (7-for-12) with three runs scored, a walk, a HBP and a .643 OBP. He had two multi-hit games including a 4-hit game in the series opener, while reaching base three times in game two and twice in game three.
In the series at Stanford, Kasser hit .538 (7-for-13) with a run scored, a walk, a HBP and a .600 OBP. He had two 2-hit game, a 3-hit game and reached base four times in the series finale.
Kasser struggled against Washington State batting just .182 (1-for-9) with two walks.

Kasser continues to be "Mr. Consistent" for Ducks

SR 2B Kyle Kasser picked up in 2018 where he left off in 2017. The Ducks' leadoff hitter batted .364 in Oregon's opening weekend at the Marucci Desert Classic in Las Vegas.
After going 0-for-3 while reaching base on a HBP in the opener, Kasser went 5-for-11 in the final two games including a 3-for-5 game on Saturday.
Kasser finished the weekend with a .500 on-base percentage adding two walks to the four hits and the HBP.
Kasser went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored in the win over Seattle, before going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in the series finale against FAU. His two RBI vs. Seattle was his 16th multi-RBI game tying him with Scott Heineman (2012-15) for ninth all-time.
In the UC Davis series, Kasser batted .438 (7-for-16) with two multi-hit games.
A first-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2017, Kasser set the modern era (since 2009) program record for highest single-season batting average, hitting an impressive .352.
He led the team in hits (75), runs (34), on-base-percentage (.435) and slugging percentage (.408).
finished third in the Pac-12, hitting .381 in conference games while leading the conference in Pac-12 play with an on-base percentage of .459.
He proved to be one of the more versatile players on the team defensively, starting at least one game at every infield position with most of his starts coming at shortstop or first base.
tied the school record for longest hitting streak in one season, hitting safely in the final 15 games of the year. That streaked ended when he went hitless in the 2018 season opener against Loyola Marymount.
He also led the team in 2017 with 24 multi-hit games putting him in a tie for third on Oregon's single-season list.

Goldfarb returns to lineup with a bang (and a bang, and a bang)
JR RF Jakob Goldfarb returned to the starting lineup at the Marucci Desert Classic after missing the entire 2017 season with a toe injury.
finished the tournament batting .545 (6-for-11) with three home runs and seven RBI, while boasting a 1.455 slugging percentage and a team-best .583 on-base percentage.
Goldfarb was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and a career-high five RBI in the opener against Loyola Marymount. He finished that game with four two-out RBI, including three on his first home run of the season.
On Sunday at the tournament, Goldfarb was 2-for-4 with home runs in back-to-back at bats in the sixth and seventh innings.
two bombs in a game were the first by an Oregon Duck since Shaun Chase did it vs. Oregon State on May 20, 2014.
three home runs matched the total he put up in his first two seasons (2015-16) at Oregon.
also had an outstanding week in the finale against FAU and vs. UC Davis. In Oregon's five games he batted .529 (9-for-17) with a home run, four extra base hits and four RBI in four games against UC Davis and the Monday game vs. FAU. He had multiple hits in three of the games.
In the Cal series and the first USF game, Goldfarb batted .471 (8-for-17) with a triple, two RBI and six runs scored. He had multiple hits in both of the wins against Cal including a 4-for-5 game with two RBI and two runs scored in the first game of a doubleheader. He also had two hits in the nightcap and finished 2-for-4 with a run scored against USF.

Matthews gets third career four-hit game in win over Indiana State

SO 1B Gabe Matthews went 4-for-4 with a walk in an 8-5 win over Indiana State at the Marucci Desert Classic.
The four-hit game was the third of Matthew's career and his first this season.
launched a two-run home run over the right-center field wall in the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie. He also had an RBI single in the fifth inning that got the Ducks within one run of the Sycamores.
He finished the weekend batting .500 (6-for-12) with a homer and three RBI. He also had a .750 slugging percentage and a .538 on-base percentage.
has 17 career multi-hit games.

Steer leads team in multiple RBI games; cracks career top 10 at UO

SO 3B Spencer Steer heads into the Washington series with a team-high seven multi-RBI games, two more than JR RF Jakob Goldfarb.
also had 10 multi-RBI games as a freshman giving him 17 for his career which allowed him to pass teammate Kyle Kasser (2015-pr.) and Scott Heineman (2012-15) for ninth on the all-time list at Oregon. He needs two more to pass J.J. Altobelli (2010-13) for eighth.
matched a season high with three hits (and three RBI) in the win over Seattle before getting his fourth multi-hit game of the season in game two vs. FAU and his fifth vs. Gonzaga.
He had his first two multi-hit games at the Marucci Desert Classic.
Steer went 3-for-5 with a home run in a win over Indiana State. It was his third career three-hit game (he added his fourth against Seattle).
opened the season going 2-for-4 in a win over Loyola Marymount.
has run his career total to 21 multi-hit games.

Steer and Matthews earn freshman All-America honors in 2017 while playing corner infield positions

SO 3B Spencer Steer and SO 1B Gabe Matthews led a talented group of freshman who saw significant action during the 2017 season.
Both Steer and Matthews were named freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball following the 2017 season.
finished second on the team in batting average, hitting .282 with three home runs and 26 RBI.
was also named to the all-tournament team at the Tony Gwynn Classic after batting .571 with a .667 on-base percentage.
hit .262 with a team-high (and Oregon freshman record) 12 doubles and a team-best 35 RBI.

Nelson breaks out vs. UC Davis

SO SS Ryne Nelson put some early season struggles to rest with a big series against UC Davis, batting .500 (6-for-12) with a double, four runs scored and three RBI.
raised his average in the UC Davis series by .72 points going from .158 to .240.
He put together his second and third multi-hit games of the season, as well as his second three-hit game.
He added his fourth multi-hit game in the second game of the Cal doubleheader on March 24 when he went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
got his fifth multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 effort with a RBI in a 5-2 win at USF on April 2.
His sixth multi-hit game came in game two of the WSU doubleheader when he was 2-for-4 in a 4-2 Oregon win.
His other three-hit game came at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 25 when he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in a 9-7 Oregon win.

Yovan makes move from closer to starter

SO RHP Kenyon Yovan made his first start of the season against California, before earning Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week recognition after his second start at No. 3 Stanford.
In his last start against Washington State, Yovan picked up the win allowing just one run on six hits in 7.0 innings with eight Ks and two walks.
Against Stanford, Yovan threw six scoreless innings allowing just three hits while striking out a career-high nine and walking just one.
picked up the win in the Cal start allowing just one run on five hits in 5.0 innings with four Ks and three walks.
In three games as a starter, Yovan is 3-0 with a 1
started his career with 33 straight appearances out of the bullpen, with 11 of those coming this season.
He has 20 career saves and a 1-2 record with a 2.61 ERA as a reliever.
longest career outings out of the bullpen came against both Mississippi State and Arizona State last season when he tossed three scoreless innings in both games.
He has six two-inning relief outings this year.

Yovan named Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week

After just his second start of the season, SO RHP Kenyon Yovan earned Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week honors.
tossed six scoreless innings in a 10-1 win over No. 3 Stanford allowing just three hits.
struck out a career-high nine batters and walked just one.
The honor was the first of Yovan's career and the second for an Oregon pitcher this season. JR RHP Parker Kelly earned the honor earlier this season.

Yovan earns spot on preseason Stopper of the Year watch list

SO RHP Kenyon Yovan is on the preseason Stopper of the Year watch list after putting together an All-American season as a freshman in 2017.
finished 2017 with 15 saves, which tied for fourth nationally following the regular season, and had a 1.97 ERA with a 1-1 record.
He was a finalist for the 2017 Stopper of the Year Award and earned NCBWA first-team All-America honors.
became the second Oregon pitcher to be named a finalist for the Stopper of the Year Award. Jimmie Sherfy was a finalist in both 2012 and 2013.

Yovan named first-team preseason All-America by both Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA

SR RHP Kenyon Yovan was named a first-team preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball heading into the season.
is one of two relief pitchers named to the Collegiate Baseball team.
is one of five relief pitchers named to the NCBWA team.
He earned the honor after putting together a stellar freshman season where he with 15 saves, which tied for fourth nationally following the regular season, and had a 1.97 ERA with a 1-1 record. The Ducks' stopper struck out 36 and walked just six in 32 innings pitched. He picked up a save in half of Oregon's 30 wins and finished with the fourth-most saves in school history.
was named first-team All-American by the NCBWA, while claiming second-team All-America recognition from Collegiate Baseball. The right-handed pitcher was one of five finalists for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award, while also being named one of four National Freshmen of the Year by Collegiate Baseball, a first-team Freshman All-American by Baseball America and a second-team freshman All-American by D1Baseball.
was one of three Ducks named first-team All-Pac-12 Conference in 2017.

Yovan in the top 10 in single-season and career saves and games finished at Oregon

He's only appeared in 36 games, but SO RHP Kenyon Yovan has already put his name in Oregon's single-season and career record books with 20 saves.
passed Stephen Nogosek (2014-16) for second on the all-time saves list with his 17th career save at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 24. Jimmie Sherfy (2011-13) is the all-time leader with 40 saves, 20 more than Yovan.
On the single-season list, Yovan (2017) ranks fourth, one shy of Nogosek (2016).
is first (2013) and second (2012) on the list with 21 and 19.
is sixth in career games finished with 29. He needs three more to tie Scott McGough (2009-11) for fifth.
finished his freshman season sixth in single-season games finished with 20.

Yovan finishes freshman year second in Pac-12, sixth in the nation in saves

RHP Kenyon Yovan finished second in the Pac-12 with 15 saves while ranking in a tie for sixth in the country.
picked up saves in 15 of his 22 outings, while getting a win in another appearance.
The Ducks' closer, who didn't give up an earned run in his first 19.1 innings pitched, finished just four saves behind the national leader.

Nelson next up in long line of great closers, gets saves in both games of doubleheader

With Kenyon Yovan moving to the starting rotation, SO RHP Ryne Nelson has moved into the closers role for the Ducks.
Nelson, who is also the team's starting shortstop, has four saves in 10 relief appearances. Since becoming the team's closer, he has two saves in six appearances.
In the Washington State series, Nelson picked up saves in both games of a doubleheader on April 6.
He also picked up a save at Loyola Marymount (Feb. 25) and vs. UC Davis (March 10).

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 six seasons.
With SO RHP Kenyon Yovan moving to the weekend rotation on March 24, the 2018 season will be the first "closer by committee" season since 2011 when three Ducks -- Kellen Moen (8), Scott McGough (5) and Madison Boer (3) -- had multiple saves.
Yovan saved five games before moving into the rotation, while SO RHP Ryne Nelson has four saves and JR RHP Parker Kelly has two saves and a team-high 17 appearances.
was the latest in a string of dominant closers last year when the freshman finished as a finalist for the Stopper of the Year Award after finishing the season with 15 saves and a 1.97 ERA.
picked up his 20th career save vs. Gonzaga while throwing two scoreless innings.
followed four closers who combined for a 19-8 record with 78 saves and a 1.85 ERA in the previous 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 next 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.

Oregon Closers
Kelly earns national and conference honors

It was a good week for JR RHP Parker Kelly against FAU and UC Davis March 5-11.The Ducks' reliever was named a Collegiate Baseball Player of the Week and the Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week after making three appearances.
struck out 14 batters in seven innings while not allowing a run. He allowed just one walk and one base on balls. Opponents batted just .048 against him in the three games.
In first outing vs. FAU, inherited a no-out, runners on second and third situation with UO leading 5-3. He proceeded to get out of the inning with only one run scoring while striking out final hitter.
In second outing vs. UC Davis, he entered a tie game with no outs and a runner on first. Kelly got out of the inning without allowing a run while fanning two. He struck out the side in the eighth and fanned two more in the ninth to pick up his fourth win.He struck out seven of the 10 hitters he faced, while setting a new career high for Ks.
In third outing vs. UCD, he struck out six of the 10 batters he faced.

Ducks' bullpen has been a strength

Thirteen different Ducks have pitched out of the bullpen this season with JR RHP Parker Kelly leading the team with 17 appearances. SO RHP Kenyon Yovan made 11 appearances out of the bullpen before moving into the weekend rotation.
Five freshmen have seen the first action of their careers during the season. RHP Cullen Kafka, RHP Peyton Fuller, RHP Brett Walker, LHP Kolby Somers and RHP Hunter Breault all have made their college debuts.
Seven different Ducks (SR LHP Jesse Hobaica, Kelly, SO SS/RHP Ryne Nelson, SO LHP Zack Noll, SO LHP Nico Tellache, SO RHP James Acuna and Yovan) in the bullpen spent time on the mound in 2017, while one more (SO RHP Jacob Bennett) was a part of the 2016 bullpen before suffering an injury that forced him to miss last season. All seven who pitched last year have made at least one appearance in 2018.
JR RHP Isaiah Stolp also made his Oregon debut against San Francisco on March 26 after redshirting in 2017 after transferring from Puget Sound.
was a consensus freshman All-American while also being named first-team All-America by the NCBWA and second-team All-America by Collegiate Baseball.
was a Stopper of the Year finalist after finishing the season with 15 saves, a 1-1 record with a 1.97 ERA and 36 Ks in 32.0 IP.
has made 43 career appearances including 17 this season. He has a 5-0 career record with a 3.34 ERA while fanning 77 in 62 career innings.
is 4-0 with two saves and a 1.88 ERA in 17 appearances this season with 43 Ks in 28.2 innings pitched. He struck out a career-high seven batters while getting a win over UC Davis.
started fast in 2017 before hurting his arm. He didn't allow a run in three February late inning set-up appearances for Yovan before being shut down until May 9.
Nelson has made 10 appearances this season heading into the Washington series and has a 2.77 ERA while fanning 25 in 13.0 inning pitched.
picked up his first career save in UO's win over LMU on Feb. 25 fanning two in 0.2 IP. He got his second save, a two-inning outing, against UC Davis on March 10. He struck out five in the game.
got saves three and four on the same day after closing out wins against Washington State in both games of a doubleheader.

Mercer one of the top prospects for 2018 MLB Draft
JR RHP Matt Mercer is the latest pitcher on the Oregon staff to appear prominently on the radar of Major League Baseball teams.
Mercer was No. 24 on College Baseball Daily's Top 100 Countdown.
Mercer ranked No. 42 on D1Baseball's College Top 100 Prospects.
Mercer checked in at No. 53 on Baseball America's March 1 update of the magazine's top 300 MLB draft prospects.
Oregon has had 29 pitchers drafted in the MLB Draft since the sport returned in 2009.
Of those 29, 15 were drafted in the top 10 rounds while nine were picked in the top five rounds.
Tyler Anderson (2011) and David Peterson (2017) were both first-round picks. Both were the 20th overall pick in their respective drafts.

Mercer brings experience to Friday nights

JR RHP Matt Mercer made his 28th career start against Washington State last Friday where he got the win allowing just one run in 6.0 innings vs. the Cougars.
The previous week, Mercer took the loss against No. 3 Stanford allowing just two earned runs on six hits in 5.2 innings with two strikeouts and two walks.
Two starts ago against Cal, he picked up a win allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 6.0 innings with eight strikeouts and two walks.
In his first 2018 Pac-12 start vs. ASU, Mercer picked up a no-decision after leaving the game with a 4-2 lead after six innings.
He fanned eight and walked four while giving up just four hits to the Sun Devils.
On March 9, Mercer struck out a career nine while getting a no-decision vs. UC Davis.
He also picked up a win in his first start of the 2018 season allowing just one run on three hits in 6.1 innings against Loyola Marymount with four Ks and three walks. LMU turned the tables on Mercer scoring three runs (two earned) on five hits in six innings pitched in a 4-2 LMU win.
got his second win of the season against FAU allowing just one run on three hits in seven-plus innings.
was Oregon's Saturday starter for all 15 weekends in 2017, finishing 6-7 with a 3.16 ERA and 59 Ks in 88.1 IP. He held opponents to a .241 batting average against.
made five starts as a freshman in 2016 including the last four weekends of Pac-12 Conference play. He finished with a 2-2 record and a 4.28 ERA.

Somers solidifies Sunday starter role

Four weeks into his role as the Sunday starter, FR LHP Kolby Somers had has best outing of the seasons against No. 3 Stanford.
Despite getting tagged with the loss, Somers was dominant making his first quality start allowing just one run on three hits in six innings with a season-high six strikeouts.
Somers followed that with a solid effort against Washington State where he allowed three runs on six hits in 5.1 innings with four Ks and three walks.
In his five starts, Somers is 1-4 with a 3.55 ERA allowing 10 earned runs on 24 hits with 18 strikeouts and just 6 walks.

Young arms competing for a spot as mid-week starter

With three strong starts against No. 3 Stanford where SO RHP Kenyon Yovan, JR RHP Matt Mercer and FR LHP Kolby Somers combined for a 1.53 ERA allowing just three earned runs on 12 hits in 17.2 innings pitched with 17 Ks and three walks, Oregon's rotation has taken form.
In the WSU series the three starters combined to allow just five runs in just 18.1 innings (2.45 ERA).
SO RHP James Acu made his first three weekend starts pitching on Sundays before moving into the Saturday role against UC Davis and Arizona State. After getting no decisions in his first two starts, he picked up back-to-back wins against FAU and UC Davis. Acuña got roughed up at ASU allowing six runs, five earned, on six hits in 1.1 innings.
He returned to the mound in a starter's role at San Francisco on April 2 and was impressive in a win over USF allowing no runs on two hits in four innings with five Ks and a walk.
made two starts in 19 appearances as a true freshman last year. His best outing as a starter came in his first career start when he held Santa Clara scoreless through four innings while allowing just three hits and striking out four.
FR RHP Cullen Kafka got his first three career starts, and first two career wins, during Oregon's 10-game homestand that wrapped up with Gonzaga.
The Ducks' righty picked up his first career win vs. Seattle on Feb. 27 allowing no runs on two hits in three innings pitched.
Win number two came five days later when he beat FAU while allowing three runs on four hits in 5.1 innings with three Ks.
Kafka was credited with the win in relief of Acuña at USF despite allowing the Dons' only two runs on four hits in two innings.

Ten Ducks on D1Baseball's list of the Pac-12's top prospects/freshmen

Oregon placed 10 players on D1Baseball's list of top prospects from the Pac-12 Conference for the 2018 Draft, the 2019 Draft and a list of the conference's impact freshmen.
In the 2018 draft prospect list, the Ducks placed two players. JR RHP Matt Mercer was the seventh-ranked prospect and the fourth-ranked pitcher. SR 2B Kyle Kasser checked in at No. 36 on the list.
Oregon had four sophomores on the 2019 draft list. RHP Kenyon Yovan was eighth overall and the fourth-ranked pitcher. SS/RHP Ryne Nelson was 10th on the list, while 3B Spencer Steer was 20th and 1B Gabe Matthews was 27th.
Oregon also had four players on the impact freshmen list. OF Jonny DeLuca was fourth, RHP Cullen Kafka was 16th, OF Evan Williams ranked 23rd and RHP Hunter Breault was 30th.

Ducks 28-21 all-time against ranked teams at PK Park

Despite going 2-5 against ranked teams in 2017, Oregon has been successful against ranked teams at PK Park.
The Ducks have played 49 games against teams ranked in the Baseball America top-25 and compiled an impressive 28-21 record in those games.

Oregon will play 14 games on Pac-12 Network

The Pac-12 Network will televise a total of 14 Oregon baseball games in 2018.
Four Pac-12 series will have all three games broadcast with three of those coming on the road. The series at Washington (April 13-15), at Oregon State (April 19-31) and at UCLA (May 18-20) will all be televised.
The season-ending series against Arizona (May 24-26) is Oregon's lone Pac-12 series televised at home.
All five Oregon State games will be broadcast including the two non-league games vs. Oregon State (May 1, May 8).
All Oregon home games will be streamed live on Pac-12 Conference's Oregon live stream (http://pac-12.com/live/university-oregon).

Ducks join Team IMPACT and sign 15-year old James Dahl

Oregon Baseball joined Team Impact and signed 15-year old James Dahl of Eugene to a letter of intent on Friday, Feb. 9.
has been bravely living with Rasmussen's Encephalitis, a rare inflammatory neurological disease, since 2012.
At the signing ceremony, Dahl was presented with season tickets for his family and was given his own locker inside the Ducks' locker room.
Since 2011, Team IMPACT has matched more than 1,400 children with over 500 colleges and universities in 47 states, reaching more than 40,000 participating student-athletes.