Ducks 31st in Collegiate Baseball Preseason Fabulous 40

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon is ranked 31st in the Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I preseason poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

The Ducks open their season on Feb. 15 with a four-game series at No. 4 Texas Tech. Oregon will play 21 games against teams ranked in the top 40 by Collegiate Baseball. Of those games against ranked teams, 12 are home games. The Ducks host Pac-12 series against No. 3 UCLA, No. 5 Stanford, No. 7 Oregon State and No. 36 Arizona State. UO also hosts Washington, which received votes and was the first team out of the top-40 poll.

In addition to the four-game series at Texas Tech, Oregon will also play two non-conference road games at the seventh-ranked Beavers and three games at No. 26 Arizona. The Ducks also have road games at California and USC, the sixth and 11th teams in the receiving votes list.

Previewing the 2019 Ducks' season

Oregon returns 17 lettermen (8 position players, 9 pitchers), including six every-day starters and two starting pitchers.
Oregon Friday night starter Kenyon Yovan was named a preseason second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball on Monday.
Yovan is one of just five Ducks named first-team All-Pac-12 Conference in back-to-back seasons since baseball returned to Eugene.
Weekend projected starters Kenyon Yovan (#25) and Ryne Nelson (#40) are ranked in the PrepBaseballReport Draft Top 100.
D1Baseball ranks Yovan as the No. 7 college pitching prospect, Nelson as the No. 18 prospect and Jonny DeLuca as the No. 36 hitting prospect.
Overall, D1Baseball ranks Yovan as the No. 14 college prospect, Nelson as the No. 41 prospect, DeLuca as the No. 72 prospect and Spencer Steer as the No. 102 prospect.
Baseball America ranks Nelson as the No. 11 overall prospect and Yovan as the No. 25 prospect.
The Ducks return three of their top four hitters in Jakob Goldfarb (.308/.397/.487, 6 HR, 29 RBI); Spencer Steer (.275/.381/.407, 4 HR, 37 RBI) and Gabe Matthews (.265/.381/.403, 4 HR, 27 RBI).
Oregon's strong freshman class includes probable starters at second base, shortstop and in the outfield.