Ducks and Huskies renew rivalry at PK Park

Photo by: Deborah Mundorff

03/22/17 | Baseball

6 Washington 2017 Complete Oregon game notes for Washington series

Ducks face Washington in Pac-12 home opener: Oregon opens the home portion of its Pac-12 schedule this weekend when No. 22 Washington visits PK Park. Both the Huskies and Ducks won their first Pac-12 series last weekend. UW swept defending champion Utah in Seattle by scores of 3-1, 4-3 and 4-1. Oregon took two of three on the road at Cal, winning the first two before dropping the finale. Overall, the Ducks hold an all-time series lead of 146-131-1 with the Huskies holding a 17-13 edge in games played since baseball returned to Oregon. The two teams have split the 14 games played in Eugene since 2009, with the Ducks winning six of the last seven at PK Park. Last season, the Huskies won the series 2-1 with wins on Friday and Sunday.

Oregon-Washington series televised on Pac-12 Network: This weekend's series marks the first three of 16 Oregon regular-season games that will be televised. The Pac-12 Networks, who will broadcast 15 of UO's 16 TV games, will carry the Washington series with Joe Castellano calling the play-by-play and Ben Francisco providing color commentary.

TV broadcasts change normal game times: Oregon and Washington will play night games on both Friday and Saturday, before wrapping up the series with a Sunday afternoon first pitch. The first two games of the series start at 7:05 p.m., while Sunday's game gets underway at 2:05 p.m.

Ducks 26-17 all-time against ranked teams at PK Park: The Ducks will look to continue their success against ranked teams at PK Park this weekend when No. 22 Washington comes to town. In eight-plus seasons, the Ducks have played 43 games against teams ranked in the Baseball America top-25 and compiled an impressive 26-17 record in those games.

Ducks open Pac-12 play with series win at Cal: Oregon opened Pac-12 play last weekend with a series win at Cal. The Ducks won the first two games outscoring the Golden Bears 20-3 before losing the finale 4-1. Overall, UO batted .296 in the series while the Ducks pitching staff finished with a 2.42 ERA. SR OF Jake Bennett paced the Ducks on offense batting .538 (7-for-13) with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored. FR OF/C Matthew Dyer batted .500 (6-for-12) with three RBI and three runs scored. JR OF A.J. Balta batted .375 (3-for-8) with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. On the mound, JR LHP David Peterson and SO RHP Matt Mercer both gave Oregon quality starts. Peterson held Cal without a run in six innings with just one walk while scattering nine hits. Mercer allowed two runs in six innings on just three hits.

Horton wins number 300 at Oregon, closing in on 800 Division I wins: Head coach George Horton won his 300th career game at Oregon on March 11 when the Ducks beat Santa Clara 10-0. The Ducks skipper moved his Oregon wins total to 303 with a series win at Cal last weekend while running his record to 303-200-1 in his first eight-plus years in Eugene. Horton, who has 1,019 career wins as a head coach, also needs just seven wins to reach the 800-win plateau as a Division I head coach. Horton has compiled a 793-412-2 record in 19-plus seasons as a Division I head coach at Cal State Fullerton (11 seasons) and Oregon.

On Deck: The Ducks hit the road to play five games in seven days starting Tuesday at Portland. After the single game against the Pilots, Oregon returns to Pac-12 play with three games at defending conference champion Utah starting on Thursday. After wrapping up the series with the Utes on Friday and Saturday, Oregon plays at BYU on Monday in a non-league game.
Peterson's scoreless streak reaches 22.1 innings pitched: In his last three starts, JR LHP David Peterson has been dominant leading Oregon to three wins, a pair at PK Park and one at California. The Ducks' lefty, who is 3-0 with wins over Mississippi State, Santa Clara and Cal, combined to throw 21.1 scoreless innings (22.1 including his final inning in UC Irvine game) on just 15 hits in the three games with 39 strikeouts and only two walks. With the commanding appearances, Peterson has placed himself among the national and Pac-12 leaders in a number of categories. Nationally, he is in the top 13 in four separate categories ranking seventh in strikeouts (48), ninth in victories (4), 12th in strikeouts per nine innings (14.21) and 13th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (12.00). In the Pac-12, Peterson leads the conference in all three of those four categories.

Peterson's 39 combined strikeouts the best three-game stretch in Oregon history: No pitcher in Oregon history has been better when it comes to striking out opposing hitters in three straight starts than JR LHP David Peterson. The Ducks' lefty has combined to strikeout 39 hitters in Oregon's last three games with 17 against Mississippi State, 14 against Santa Clara and eight at California. Peterson's total is one better than Tyler Anderson fanned in a three-game stretch in 2011.

Peterson's 31 Ks vs. Mississippi State and Santa Clara also best two-game stretch in Oregon history: In addition to his three game stretch, JR LHP David Peterson put together the most dominant strikeout effort in Oregon history in back-to-back starts. The Ducks' lefty combined to strikeout 31 hitters in two games with 17 against Mississippi State and 14 against Santa Clara. Peterson's total was five better than Tyler Anderson fanned in a two-game stretch in 2011.

Peterson named a national player of the week in back-to-back weeks, also earns first career Pac-12 weekly honor: 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. 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 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 anchors young Ducks' rotation: Oregon heads into the Washington series still relatively inexperienced in the starting rotation. The Ducks have 56 combined starts on their staff, with Friday's starter JR LHP David Peterson accounting for 32 of those. Saturday starter SO RHP Matt Mercer has made 10 career starts with eight of them coming in the weekend rotation. SO LHP Cole Stringer, who has made Oregon's five Sunday starts this year, made three mid-week starts as a freshman, including a win against Oregon State in a non-league game. SO RHP Isaiah Carranza started a pair of games as a freshman as well as the finale of the Fresno State series, while FR LHP Zack Noll and FR RHP James Acuna both made their first career starts last week. JR RHP Brac Warren, who is a key arm in the back end of the Ducks' bullpen, started one game during his freshman season.

Peterson in the Oregon record book: In his third season in the Ducks' weekend rotation, JR LHP David Peterson is already making his mark in Oregon's record book. The Ducks' lefty is seventh all-time in career starts with 32 and needs one more to catch Tommy Thorpe (2002-14) for sixth. Peterson also moved into sixth in strikeouts with his eight K performance against Cal. The Ducks' lefty has 190 and needs eight more to pass Cole Irvin (2013-16) for fifth. Peterson should also move into the all-time innings pitched list soon as well. He needs just 26 innings pitched to pass Madison Boer (2009-11) for 10th on the career list.

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 leads Oregon's starters in a number of categories including ERA (1.84) and batting average against (.173). The sophomore, who moved into the starting rotation for the last four weekends of his freshman season, leads Oregon with four quality starts (each of his last four) this season. Mercer has pitched in the weekend rotation nine times in his career and has given the Ducks a quality start in seven of those games. In his last four outings, he has a 1.38 ERA in 26.0 innings pitched and has allowed just four earned runs on 15 hits with 18 strikeouts and just five walks. Mercer ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in ERA, fourth in opposing batting average, 10th in innings pitched (29.1) and fourth in WHIP (0.89).

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.

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. Seven different freshmen have made starts with FR INF Morgan McCullough starting all 18 games. FR INF Spencer Steer has started 17 games, while FR C/OF Matthew Dyer (9 in RF, 4 at catcher) and FR INF/DH Gabe Matthews have made 13 starts. FR DH/RHP Kenyon Yovan has four starts while serving as the team's closer (1-0, 6 saves). RFR OF Braden Stutzman has started three games, two 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, FR LHP Zach Noll and FR RHP James Acuna made their first career starts earlier this year with Noll picking up a win and Acuna leaving after four innings with a 6-0 lead. Acuna did get his first career win in relief in the Fresno State series finale. Noll also threw three innings in game two at Fresno State, while the two combined for four scoreless innings at Cal last weekend. FR RHP Ryne Nelson has made three appearances, including a pair of crucial scoreless eighth innings in one-run wins over Fresno State and Seton Hall. FR LHP Nico Tellache hasn't allowed a run in his first two appearances.

Yovan off to good start in quest to continue 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 has taken advantage of the opportunity as the team's closer with a series of strong outings with the game on the line. Whether it continues to be Yovan or Warren in the back end of the bullpen, whoever holds the job will follow 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 career saves at Oregon: He's only appeared in seven games, but FR RHP Kenyon Yovan has already put his name in Oregon's career record book with six saves. Yovan is ninth on the all-time saves list. He needs two more to tie Madison Boer (2009-11) and Kellen Moen (2010-11) for seventh on the list. Jimmie Sherfy (2011-13) is the all-time leader with 40 saves, 24 more than any other Duck.

Yovan leads Pac-12, seventh in the nation in saves: Heading into this weekend's games against Washington, FR RHP Kenyon Yovan leads the Pac-12 with six saves while ranking in a tie for seventh in the country. Yovan has picked up saves in six of his seven outings, while getting a win in the other appearance. The Ducks' freshman, who hasn't given up a run in 10.0 innings, sits just two saves behind the national leaders who have eight saves.

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 23, and needs seven more to pass Kyle Garlick (2011-14) for third. He is eighth in RBI (82) and needs two more to pass Guy Krause (1971-74) for seventh. 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. Before the season ends, Balta should also rank among the career leaders in at-bats, games started, doubles, home runs and walks if he continues the pace set during his first two seasons.

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.

Ducks have 14th-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 (218) 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, Florida State, Virginia, Florida, TCU, Oregon State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Miami, North Carolina and Louisiana in total wins.

Pitching staff ranks among nation's best in six categories, including four top 10 rankings: Oregon's pitching staff has been dominant early in the season compiling a 2.53 ERA through 18 games with 160 strikeouts and just 38 walks in 160 innings pitched, while compiling four shutouts. The Ducks rank among the national leaders in ERA (7th), shutouts (9th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2nd), strikeouts per nine innings (28th), WHIP (13th) and walks allowed per nine innings (4th). The Ducks' staff is second or higher in all six of those categories in the Pac-12, including leading the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.45) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.5).

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 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 play 20 games against teams in one of the preseason polls: Once again, Oregon headed into the 2017 season with a tough schedule. The Ducks will play 20 games against teams ranked in one of the preseason polls with 15 of those coming in Pac-12 Conference play. UO gets its first test against a ranked team when SEC power Mississippi State visits Eugene for the Ducks home-opening series (March 3-5). Oregon's next games against a team ranked in the preseason polls comes in its Pac-12 home opening series against Washington (March 24-26). Between April 13 and May 2, the Ducks play 11 games against preseason ranked teams in a 12-game span. The Ducks travel to Arizona, last year's national runner-up and ranked as high as seventh in the polls, for a Pac-12 series (April 13-15), before hosting Stanford (April 21-23) and Arizona State (April 28-30) in back-to-back series. Between the Stanford and ASU series', the Ducks travel to Oregon State (April 25) for the first of two non-league games against the Beavers. Game two of the Civil War is the Tuesday (May 2) after the ASU series. Oregon wraps up its games against preseason ranked teams with a three-game set vs. OSU (May 11-13) at PK Park.

Ducks' schedule features 15 games against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams, including two Super Regional teams and a College World Series participant: Whether you look at the predicted success for 2017 or achieved success in 2016, Oregon's schedule is loaded with tough games. The Ducks play 15 games against teams this season who advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year, including three against College World Series runner-up Arizona (April 13-15). UO also has three games against Super Regional participant Mississippi State (March 3-5) and three games against Regional teams Washington (March 24-26), Utah (March 30-April 1) and Arizona State (April 28-30).

Ducks picked eighth in preseason Pac-12 coaches poll: The Oregon Ducks were picked to finish eighth in the 2017 Pac-12 Preseason Baseball Coaches' Poll. UO received 45 points, just nine points fewer than fifth-place UCLA. Oregon State is the preseason favorite besting Stanford by eight points, while getting six more first-place votes. The Ducks are coming off a 29-26 season that saw them miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five seasons. UO returns six position player starters in 2017. Offensively, the Ducks will be led by a pair of honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference picks from last season. SR OF Jake Bennett led the team with a .312 batting average, while JR OF A.J. Balta led the Ducks in home runs (9), RBI (47), and slugging percentage (.455). JR C Tim Susnara (.268, 14 doubles, 24 RBI), JR INF Kyle Kasser (.266, 21 RBI) and JR INF Daniel Patzlaff (.239, 23 RBI) also return for the Ducks. The Ducks will feature a young pitching staff with only one player having more than five Division I starts on the mound. JR LHP David Peterson, a member USA Baseball's College National Team last summer, returns for his third season in Oregon's weekend rotation. He will be joined by SO RHP Matt Mercer, who finished the 2016 season in the weekend rotation as a freshman. Peterson finished last year with a 4-5 record and a 3.63 ERA, while Mercer was 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA in 16 appearances (five starts).

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.