Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Ducks head to Corvallis for Civil War series
04/18/18 | Baseball, @GoDucksMoseley
In years past, big-picture thinking has gotten the best of the Oregon baseball team. So when the 2018 season began, the Ducks didn't talk much of what they thought they could accomplish this spring.
As of this week, the Ducks have passed the halfway point of the campaign, and they're even midway through the Pac-12 slate. But with their margin for error remaining razor-thin, Oregon is still taking it one game at a time.
That's no different this weekend, even though it's rivalry week — the Ducks kick off a three-game Civil War series at Oregon State on Thursday (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
"We need to get up off the deck and play better baseball," UO coach George Horton said. "Whether it's the Beavers or anybody else."
The Ducks (19-15, 6-9 Pac-12) have lost four of their last five, after dropping two of three last week at Washington. The team continues to show flashes of postseason potential, if only in fleeting bursts.
Oregon State, meanwhile, is a consensus top-10 team. The Beavers are 26-6 overall, and 7-5 in Pac-12 play — and have done that largely without 2017 Pac-12 player of the year Nick Madrigal, who may finally return from a broken wrist this weekend when the Ducks come to Corvallis.
"If we want to be a playoff-worthy team, we've got a good barometer here," Horton said.
In at least one of baseball's three phases, the Ducks are already there. Since sophomore Kenyon Yovan joined junior Matt Mercer in the top two spots of the weekend rotation, Oregon is 6-2 in their starts. The duo is averaging better than a strikeout per inning, combined, in those appearances.
No. 3 starter Kolby Somers has been solid as well, with a 3.57 ERA on the season. But he's just 1-5, with the Ducks averaging less than a run per game in his last five starts.
"Sunday games have been an issue for us the last couple years," sophomore first baseman Gabe Matthews said. "Coach calls it 'attitude day,' but it's more than that. We've got to come out and focus and prepare better."
Figuring out how to win a series finale is definitely a priority this week — come Saturday. But given their recent inconsistencies, Horton doesn't seem inclined to look even that far ahead.
"We've done a lot of good things, just not good enough to win," Horton said. "Nobody feels good about that. …
"Our starting pitching gives us a chance to string some victories together. We've just got to figure out a way to play (defense) and hit in the clutch a little bit better."
That won't be easy in the hostile environs of Goss Stadium this week. Opponents have to take on not only a top-10 foe in the Beavers, but a hostile crowd that tries to become a factor in the outcome.
"They're gonna be ready, they're gonna be on us; it's something else," Matthews said. "But we've just gotta go in there and compete."
As a Salem native, Matthews knows he'll have a few friends from high school rooting against him. The same applies for junior pitcher Parker Kelly, of Portland.
"I've got a lot of friends at Oregon State," Kelly said. "But I know for three, four hours, they're not gonna be my friends."
As of this week, the Ducks have passed the halfway point of the campaign, and they're even midway through the Pac-12 slate. But with their margin for error remaining razor-thin, Oregon is still taking it one game at a time.
That's no different this weekend, even though it's rivalry week — the Ducks kick off a three-game Civil War series at Oregon State on Thursday (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
"We need to get up off the deck and play better baseball," UO coach George Horton said. "Whether it's the Beavers or anybody else."
The Ducks (19-15, 6-9 Pac-12) have lost four of their last five, after dropping two of three last week at Washington. The team continues to show flashes of postseason potential, if only in fleeting bursts.
Oregon State, meanwhile, is a consensus top-10 team. The Beavers are 26-6 overall, and 7-5 in Pac-12 play — and have done that largely without 2017 Pac-12 player of the year Nick Madrigal, who may finally return from a broken wrist this weekend when the Ducks come to Corvallis.
"If we want to be a playoff-worthy team, we've got a good barometer here," Horton said.
In at least one of baseball's three phases, the Ducks are already there. Since sophomore Kenyon Yovan joined junior Matt Mercer in the top two spots of the weekend rotation, Oregon is 6-2 in their starts. The duo is averaging better than a strikeout per inning, combined, in those appearances.
No. 3 starter Kolby Somers has been solid as well, with a 3.57 ERA on the season. But he's just 1-5, with the Ducks averaging less than a run per game in his last five starts.
"Sunday games have been an issue for us the last couple years," sophomore first baseman Gabe Matthews said. "Coach calls it 'attitude day,' but it's more than that. We've got to come out and focus and prepare better."
Figuring out how to win a series finale is definitely a priority this week — come Saturday. But given their recent inconsistencies, Horton doesn't seem inclined to look even that far ahead.
"We've done a lot of good things, just not good enough to win," Horton said. "Nobody feels good about that. …
"Our starting pitching gives us a chance to string some victories together. We've just got to figure out a way to play (defense) and hit in the clutch a little bit better."
That won't be easy in the hostile environs of Goss Stadium this week. Opponents have to take on not only a top-10 foe in the Beavers, but a hostile crowd that tries to become a factor in the outcome.
"They're gonna be ready, they're gonna be on us; it's something else," Matthews said. "But we've just gotta go in there and compete."
As a Salem native, Matthews knows he'll have a few friends from high school rooting against him. The same applies for junior pitcher Parker Kelly, of Portland.
"I've got a lot of friends at Oregon State," Kelly said. "But I know for three, four hours, they're not gonna be my friends."
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