Photo by: Deborah Mundorff
Steer Looking to Finish Strong
05/10/18 | Baseball, @GoDucksMoseley
Spencer Steer's season was thrown off-track after he was hit twice by pitches, but the sophomore is surging as the Ducks return to action against Utah at PK Park on Friday.
The weather was nice, the faces in the stands were familiar, and Spencer Steer was finally starting to feel healthier.
It was within that convergence of circumstances that Steer, Oregon's sophomore third baseman, enjoyed a breakout weekend in the Ducks' recent weekend series at UC Irvine. In the three-game set, Steer went 6-for-14, with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs.
In the process, Steer raised his batting average 17 points. He also made a loud statement about what might have been for Oregon earlier this season, and what's still to come in his career.
"I feel like I had been seeing the ball well, but there was just something else off," Steer said. "I'd been tweaking little things here and there, and obviously it clicked last weekend."
Steer will look to maintain that feeling this weekend at home, as the Ducks (22-24, 8-13 Pac-12) resume Pac-12 play in PK Park with a three-game series against Utah beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
It helped that, at Irvine, Steer was playing just about 30 miles from his hometown of Long Beach; on Saturday, he was able to spend the night at home with his family, before bashing his third homer in three games to help Oregon win 10-5 on Sunday. It helped, too, that he's regained some timing and some confidence after his season with derailed by a couple of errant pitches earlier this spring.
Entering a March 24 game against California, Steer was batting .315 on the season, with hits in 14 of his previous 15 games. That day against the Golden Bears, he was hit on the hand; in the next six games, Steer had just a single hit.
Finally, during a doubleheader against Washington State on April 6, Steer looked to be recovering. He had three hits across the two games, and drove in a run in each.
But in the series finale, Steer was hit again, on the knee. Hitting .270 entering that April 8 game, Steer saw his average drop to .241 prior to the big weekend at Irvine.
"When you've got to compensate for something that's bothering you, it can mess with your mechanics, which ultimately messes with your timing and your confidence," UO assistant coach Jay Uhlman said. "He was going real well there for a long time, and it's just taking him a while to get that back."
The impact of being hit on the hand and knee wasn't enough to keep Steer off the field; his cat-like quickness and rocket arm at third base remained a huge asset. But they had a profound impact at the plate.
"I'd been getting a lot of good pitches and just missing them — fouling them off, or popping them up," Steer said. "(At Irvine) I was able to get a good pitch, and hit it. That was big."
Steer said the hand injury will linger through the end of the season, until he can take some significant time off. But it's clear he's feeling better, a positive development for an Oregon baseball team desperate for production at the plate to complement its strong pitching.
Before Steer was first hit, against Cal, the Ducks were 12-7; they've gone 10-17 since, a reflection of the tougher conference opponents later in the year but also a record that a completely healthy Steer could have impacted.
"He's got good strike-zone awareness, he knows how to conduct an at-bat, what he's looking for, and he can get to a multitude of pitches," Uhlman said. "His swing plane is that of a guy who has a chance to hit a lot of doubles. And as he gets bigger and stronger, those doubles will turn into homers."
Last week at Irvine, Steer provided a hint of that with his three-homer weekend. That was a welcome turn for a team struggling with the emotions of recent losses.
"It's hard to have fun when you're losing, but I think everyone plays their best when they're loose and having fun," Steer said. "We've been playing like every game's life or death, so the focus of the next three series is having fun, playing baseball, being out there with your friends. For some of the seniors, this could be the last three weeks of baseball ever. So we're playing for them, and playing for each other, trying to have a good time."
For underclassmen like Steer, there's a chance as well to set the tone for the future.
"I think we'd all feel a lot better about the season if we're playing better at the end," Steer said. "It'll set a tone for next year, going into the fall, and get us back that winning culture."
It was within that convergence of circumstances that Steer, Oregon's sophomore third baseman, enjoyed a breakout weekend in the Ducks' recent weekend series at UC Irvine. In the three-game set, Steer went 6-for-14, with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs.
In the process, Steer raised his batting average 17 points. He also made a loud statement about what might have been for Oregon earlier this season, and what's still to come in his career.
"I feel like I had been seeing the ball well, but there was just something else off," Steer said. "I'd been tweaking little things here and there, and obviously it clicked last weekend."
Steer will look to maintain that feeling this weekend at home, as the Ducks (22-24, 8-13 Pac-12) resume Pac-12 play in PK Park with a three-game series against Utah beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
It helped that, at Irvine, Steer was playing just about 30 miles from his hometown of Long Beach; on Saturday, he was able to spend the night at home with his family, before bashing his third homer in three games to help Oregon win 10-5 on Sunday. It helped, too, that he's regained some timing and some confidence after his season with derailed by a couple of errant pitches earlier this spring.
Entering a March 24 game against California, Steer was batting .315 on the season, with hits in 14 of his previous 15 games. That day against the Golden Bears, he was hit on the hand; in the next six games, Steer had just a single hit.
Finally, during a doubleheader against Washington State on April 6, Steer looked to be recovering. He had three hits across the two games, and drove in a run in each.
But in the series finale, Steer was hit again, on the knee. Hitting .270 entering that April 8 game, Steer saw his average drop to .241 prior to the big weekend at Irvine.
"When you've got to compensate for something that's bothering you, it can mess with your mechanics, which ultimately messes with your timing and your confidence," UO assistant coach Jay Uhlman said. "He was going real well there for a long time, and it's just taking him a while to get that back."
The impact of being hit on the hand and knee wasn't enough to keep Steer off the field; his cat-like quickness and rocket arm at third base remained a huge asset. But they had a profound impact at the plate.
"I'd been getting a lot of good pitches and just missing them — fouling them off, or popping them up," Steer said. "(At Irvine) I was able to get a good pitch, and hit it. That was big."
Steer said the hand injury will linger through the end of the season, until he can take some significant time off. But it's clear he's feeling better, a positive development for an Oregon baseball team desperate for production at the plate to complement its strong pitching.
Before Steer was first hit, against Cal, the Ducks were 12-7; they've gone 10-17 since, a reflection of the tougher conference opponents later in the year but also a record that a completely healthy Steer could have impacted.
"He's got good strike-zone awareness, he knows how to conduct an at-bat, what he's looking for, and he can get to a multitude of pitches," Uhlman said. "His swing plane is that of a guy who has a chance to hit a lot of doubles. And as he gets bigger and stronger, those doubles will turn into homers."
Last week at Irvine, Steer provided a hint of that with his three-homer weekend. That was a welcome turn for a team struggling with the emotions of recent losses.
"It's hard to have fun when you're losing, but I think everyone plays their best when they're loose and having fun," Steer said. "We've been playing like every game's life or death, so the focus of the next three series is having fun, playing baseball, being out there with your friends. For some of the seniors, this could be the last three weeks of baseball ever. So we're playing for them, and playing for each other, trying to have a good time."
For underclassmen like Steer, there's a chance as well to set the tone for the future.
"I think we'd all feel a lot better about the season if we're playing better at the end," Steer said. "It'll set a tone for next year, going into the fall, and get us back that winning culture."
Players Mentioned
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Jack Marder | Postgame vs. USC (Game 3)
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Devin Bell | Postgame vs. USC (Game 3)
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Jonah Barkoff | Postgame vs. USC (Game 3)
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