Ducks host undefeated ASU

Series history vs. Arizona State

Oregon trails the all-time series 23-11 with ASU but leads 7-5 in games played at PK Park.
ASU holds a 21-10 edge in games played since baseball returned to Oregon in 2009.
The Ducks have won two of the four series between the teams in Eugene with a sweep in 2012 and a series win in 2017.
In the last meeting between the two teams in Eugene, the three games were decided by a combined four runs.
Oregon won game one 2-0, behind 20 David Peterson strikeouts, and game three 3-2. ASU won game two 4-3.
Eight of the 12 games played in Eugene have been decided by one run with two of those ending in extra innings.
Ten of the 12 games in Eugene have been decided by one or two runs.
ASU has won all six series played in Arizona including three sweeps.

Cardiac kids

Oregon has made a habit of playing close games with 13 of its 18 games decided by one or two runs.
In the one-run games, Oregon is 7-3 with a pair of walk-off wins and another ninth inning come-from-behind road win.
The Ducks won game one of the Saint Mary's series with a walk-off sacrifice fly while winning the Washington finale with a 10th-inning walk-off single.
In the Hawaii finale, UO scored three ninth-inning runs to win 8-7.
Overall, Oregon has come from behind to win six games.

Ducks win game three vs. Washington in walk-off fashion

Oregon won game three of the series with Washington with its second walk-off of the season.
SO CF Jonny DeLuca delivered an RBI single into right field with two outs on a 3-ball, 2-strike pitch to give Oregon a 1-0 win in 10 innings.
The walk-off was the second of the season for Oregon.
FR LF Tanner Smith gave Oregon a 3-2 win against Saint Mary's on Feb. 22 with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly.

Comeback falls short at No. 6 Oregon State

Oregon had the tying run at second and the go-ahead run at first on March 12 at No. 6 Oregon State but could not score.
The Ducks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 4-2 lead and then cut a 7-4 OSU lead to one run.
SR RF Jakob Goldfarb had three hits and scored two runs for Oregon, while JR 1B Gabe Matthews finished with two hits and two runs scored.

Matthews leads Ducks to series win at Hawaii

Oregon won three of four games at Hawaii to claim their first road series of the season.
JR 1B Gabe Matthews batted .571 (8-for-14) to lead the Ducks to the series win.
JR SS Spencer Steer hit .400 (6-for-15) while FR DH/RF Aaron Zavala batted .353 and FR 3B Sam Novitske hit .300.

Ducks sweep Saint Mary's and Loyola Marymount

Oregon won all six games against Saint Mary's and Loyola Marymount earlier this season.
The Ducks batted .287 in the SMC series with two home runs.
FR DH Aaron Zavala led Oregon batting .636 with a pair of 3-hit games.
SO CF Jonny DeLuca hit .400 and swiped two bases.
Ducks' pitchers held SMC to a .168 batting average and finished with a 2.33 ERA.
Oregon's three starters -- JR LHP Cole Stringer, JR RHP Ryne Nelson and SO RHP Cullen Kafka -- combined to allow just four earned runs in 18 innings (2.00 ERA) against Saint Mary's.
JR 1B Gabe Matthews and FR LF/RF Tanner Smith led the Ducks against LMU with both batting .500.
Matthews went 4-for-8 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored, while Smith was 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored.
JR SS Spencer Steer batted .455 with two home runs, 4 RBI and four runs scored against LMU
JR LHP Cole Stringer threw 6.1 scoreless innings allowing just two hits in Oregon's Saturday shutout of LMU.
JR LHP Nico Tellache picked up his first two career saves in game one and three vs. LMU.

Offense impressive in season-opening series at No. 8 Texas Tech

Despite losing two of three games at Texas Tech to open the season, Oregon's offensive output was impressive scoring 24 runs.
Oregon's 24 runs are the most in a series against a top 10 team in school history.
The Ducks had 15 hits in game one, 14 hits in game two and 13 hits in game three.
The 42 combined hits were the most in a series against a top-10 team in program history and the second-most hits against any ranked team (45 at Arizona State in 2013).
It was the most hits in a three-game stretch since 2013 against Arizona State.
The Ducks' hit .372 (42-for-113) against TTU.
Six starters hit over .370 for the weekend (Zavala .462, Matthews .455, DeLuca .438, Steer .417, Smith .417, Adams .375).

Ducks tie 70-year old school record in stolen bases

Oregon stole nine bases in the season opener at Texas Tech to tie a school record that was set on March 30, 1949 against Linfield.
Oregon swiped 15 bags in the series, the most in three consecutive games since baseball returned in 2009.
The Ducks stole 13 bases over three straight games twice since 2009 (vs. Nevada March 20-21, 2010 and at Arizona State April 4-7, 2013).
Six of the 10 Pac-12 players that had multiple SBs during the first weekend were Oregon players.

Ducks among national leaders (as of 3/19/19)

Oregon is ranked in the top 31 in the nation in two team categories after five weeks of play.
Oregon is 19th in fielding percentage (.979).
The Ducks are 31st in shutouts (2).
JR 1B Gabe Matthews is 31st in on base percentage (.526).

Oregon plays 14 games against preseason top 10 teams

Oregon will play 14 games against teams ranked in the preseason top 10 of the Baseball America poll with nine of those being played at PK Park.
The Ducks opened the season with three games at No. 8 Texas Tech (a fourth game was cancelled because of cold).
Oregon plays three games, all at PK Park, against No. 3 UCLA.
UO will host No. 8 Stanford in a three-game series.
The Ducks play five Civil War games against No. 10 Oregon State with the three Pac-12 Conference games taking place at PK Park.
UO and OSU play two midweek non-conference games in Corvallis (OSU won game one 7-6 no Tuesday).

Ducks home schedule loaded with quality opponents

Oregon hosts 27 games at PK Park during the 2019 season, including five Pac-12 Conference series.
The Ducks opened their home season with back-to-back sweeps of Saint Mary's (Feb. 22-24) and Loyola Marymount (March 1-3), teams from the West Coast Conference.
Oregon's five Pac-12 series are against Washington (March 15-17), Arizona State (March 22-24), Stanford (April 18-20), Oregon State (May 10-12) and UCLA (May 23-25).
The Ducks also host a four-game series against Fresno State (April 4-7).
Oregon plays a pair of single midweek games against WCC teams.
UO hosts Portland on May 7 and Gonzaga on May 14. The Zags finished the 2018 season 33-24 with a 16-11 WCC record.

Ducks will play 13 TV games in 2019

Oregon will play 13 games on the Pac-12 Network in 2019.
All five of Oregon's games against Oregon State will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
The Ducks' midweek game at OSU on March 12 was their first televised game.
Oregon's second midweek game in Corvallis on April 9 is its second game broadcast by the Pac-12 Network.
All three games of Oregon's Pac-12 Conference series against Oregon State (May 10-12), at USC (May 17-19) and vs. UCLA (May 23-25) will be on the Pac-12 Network.
The first two games of Oregon's series against Stanford at PK Park (April 18-19) will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
Oregon's remaining home games will be available through the Oregon live stream at GoDucks.com.

Ducks roster features a blend of experience and youth

Oregon returns 18 players from the 2018 team, including six position player starters (counting DH) and two starting pitchers from the weekend rotation.
The Ducks returned their starters at first base (Gabe Matthews), shortstop (Ryne Nelson -- pitcher only in 2019), third base (Spencer Steer) center field (Jonny DeLuca), right field (Jakob Goldfarb) and designated hitter (Kenyon Yovan).
Two other Ducks (Evan Williams, Jason Drees) were part-time starters in the outfield last season, while two redshirts (Taylor Adams, Cameron Campbell) are contributing in 2019.
Oregon returned its Friday (Yovan) and Sunday (Kolby Somers) starters, as well as its closer (Nelson).
In addition to Nelson, the Ducks also returned five members of the 2018 bullpen (Hunter Breault, Peyton Fuller, Cullen Kafka, Nico Tellache, Brett Walker) and their Sunday starter from 2017 (Cole Stringer), who redshirted in 2018 after making three appearances.
The Ducks added 16 newcomers, including 13 freshmen. Five of the newcomers are pitchers, while 11 are position players.

Rotation has some options

Oregon has options on the mound to start games.
The Ducks have eight pitchers on the staff that have started games, with three of those boasting double-digit starts.
JR RHP Kenyon Yovan started 10 games last season, all series openers, and compiled a 6-3 record with a 2.77 ERA in those starts. He has one start this season at Texas Tech, but has not pitched since.
JR LHP Cole Stringer has started 20 games during his two-plus seasons at Oregon, with 11 of those starts coming in 2017. He started the Friday night game against Saint Mary's, the Saturday game vs. LMU and the Sunday game at Hawaii. He missed his start vs. Washington last weekend.
, who redshirted last season after making three starts, has made 16 weekend starts.
SO LHP Kolby Somers made 11 starts as a true freshman, all as a member of the weekend rotation, and has made two Tuesday starts this season.
SO RHP Cullen Kafka has made 11 starts in his career, including eight as a member of the weekend rotation.
Kafka also made a midweek start against Oregon State, holding the eventual national champs to one run on four hits in 4.2 innings with a season-high five Ks.
JR RHP Ryne Nelson, who was Oregon's starting shortstop and closer last season, made one midweek start as a freshman and has four weekend starts this season.
SO LHP Robert Ahlstrom has added depth to Oregon's rotations starting games each of the last two series against Hawaii and Washington.
SO RHP Hunter Breault started a midweek game as a freshman.

Yovan named to Golden Spikes Award watch list and three preseason All-America Teams

JR RHP Kenyon Yovan earned a number of preseason honors heading into the 2019 season.
Yovan is one of 55 players on the preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list.
He was named second-team preseason All-America by both D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball and third-team preseason All-America by the NCBWA.
entered his junior season with a 7-5 career record and a 2.70 ERA with 20 saves.
His 98 strikeouts last season were the fourth most in school history, trailing only two Major League Baseball first-round draft picks (David Peterson, Tyler Anderson-twice).
15 saves during his freshman season are the fourth most in school history.
ranks second all-time in career saves at Oregon with 20 and is sixth in games finished with 30.
has 135 career strikeouts with just 45 base on balls, while holding opposing hitters to a .206 batting average.
is one of just five Ducks to be named first-team All-Pac-12 Conference in back-to-back seasons since baseball returned to Eugene.
He was named an All-American following his freshman season by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Collegiate Baseball.
Named a freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, D1Baseball, the NCBWA and Perfect Game after 2017 season.

Nelson named preseason All-American

JR RHP Ryne Nelson was named third-team preseason All-America by Baseball America in a vote of MLB scouting directors.
Baseball America ranks Nelson as the No. 11 overall collegiate prospect and Kenyon Yovan as the No. 25 prospect.
has made five career starts including his four starts this season.
In his first start, he threw one inning as a freshman in 2017 in a midweek game at Oregon State.
other 23 appearances have come out of the bullpen, including a scoreless 5.2 inning stint against Washington on March 17 where he allowed just three hits while fanning eight and walking one.
picked up saves in both games of a doubleheader against Washington State on April 6, 2018.
In both games of the doubleheader, Nelson touched 99 miles per hour on the radar gun.
fanned a career-high six hitters in each of his two three-inning relief outings.

Kafka makes move into weekend rotation

After spending most of his freshman season pitching out of the bullpen, SO RHP Cullen Kafka is a part of Oregon's rotation this season.
allowed four runs on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks in his first start of the season.
He went six innings allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and seven Ks in a win over Saint Mary's in his second start.
made his first Friday night start vs. LMU allowing one run on four hits with 7 Ks and four walks.
In his second Friday night start at Hawaii, he got the win after allowing just one run on six hits in seven innings with five Ks.
Last Friday, Kafka gave up seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits in 4.2 innings.
was 3-2 as a true freshman appearing in 16 games while making six starts.

Goldfarb returns to lead Ducks offense

C/OF Jakob Goldfarb returns for his senior season after leading the Ducks in hitting in 2018.
The Ducks' three-year letterman batted .308 with six home runs, 29 RBI and a team-high 14 stolen bases as a junior.
has made 132 career starts with 111 in right field, nine at DH, seven at catcher and five in left field.
started 53 games last season, 44 as a freshman in 2015 and 19 as a sophomore in 2016.
He has started 16 games this season, nine in right field and seven at catcher.
He redshirted in 2017.
is Oregon's active leader in at bats (503), runs (79), hits (140), doubles (29), home runs (9) and stolen bases (20).
He earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference honors last season.
14 stolen bases in 2018 tied for the ninth most in a single season at Oregon, and he needs five more to crack the career top 10 at Oregon.

Steer returns to give Ducks experience in the infield

JR INF Spencer Steer has started 132 games in the infield during his two-plus seasons at Oregon, with 107 starts coming at third base and 18 at shortstop.
The Long Beach, Calif., native is the Ducks' active leader in triples (5), RBI (81), HBP (29), multi-hit games (32) and multi-RBI games (23).
ranks fifth all-time at Oregon in multiple-RBI games with 23 and needs two more to pass A.J. Balta (2014-17) for fourth.
His 11 multi-RBI games last season ranks in a tie for sixth all time, while his 10 in 2017 is tied for 10th. He has two this season and needs two more to crack the career top 10.
He is fourth all-time in HBP with 29 and needs 10 more to pass Jack Marder (2010-11) for third.
moved into a tie for ninth in career RBI in the Washington series with 81.

Matthews has started 106 straight games

JR 1B Gabe Matthews heads into the Arizona State series with 106 straight starts, 56 more than any other active Duck.
has started 99 of those games at first base with the other seven coming at designated hitter.
The Salem, Ore., native has a career .291 batting average with nine home runs, 64 RBI, 25 doubles and 56 runs scored.
As a freshman he batted .282 with three home runs.
As a sophomore, he hit .265 with four homers.

DeLuca sets freshman home run record at Oregon

SO CF Jonny DeLuca set an Oregon freshman record for home runs last season with six.
started 54 of Oregon's 55 games in center field last season, including the last 32. He has started all 18 games in 2019 in CF.
He tied for the team lead with six home runs, while finishing second with 32 RBI last season.

Zavala making instant impact

The Salem, Ore., native leads the team in RBI (11) and multi-RBI games (4), while ranking second in hits (22), multi-hit games (6) and third in doubles (4).
Five of Zavala's multi-hit games are 3-hit games.
His first four 3-hit games came in Oregon's first six games, marking the first time in modern Oregon history that a Duck player has had four 3-hit games in any 6-game stretch.

Novitske excelling in leadoff spot

True FR 3B/2B Sam Novitske has provided a spark at the top of the Oregon lineup.
has reached base in 17 of 18, including 15 games where he has reached base multiple times.
In seven of the 18 games, he has reached base three times.
reached base by hit, walk, HBP in 10 games before reaching on an error in game 11. He followed reaching via H/BB/HBP in the next four.
After not reaching base in the Washington series opener, he got three hits in game two and reached three times (hit, 2 walks) in game three.
Novitske's stretch of 10 straight games of reaching base (H, BB, HBP) to start a season is the third longest by a leadoff hitter since baseball returned in 2009.
Austin Grebeck reached base safely (H, BB, HBP) in 18 straight games to start the season in 2016 and Matt Eureste did it in 13 straight in 2015.
has a .526 on base percentage.

Smith delivers in the clutch

Just a handful of games into his career, FR OF Tanner Smith has already shown he has the clutch gene.
The Ducks' lefty delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in a 3-2 win in game one of the series against Saint Mary's.
Ten games later, Smith broke a 7-7 tie in the top of the ninth inning with a RBI base hit in an 8-7 win in game four of the Hawaii series.

Young guns make big contribution

Seven freshmen have started games for Oregon in 2019, including four who have started at least 14 games.
3B/2B Sam Novitske and DH Aaron Zavala have started all 18 games this season.
RF/LF Tanner Smith has started 15 games split between two outfield spots.
2B Max Foxcroft has started 14 games.
3B/2B Kyle Froemke has started four games, while LF Vinny Tosti and DH A.J. Miller have one start.
C James Bell saw his first action of the season against Washington playing in all three games.
Oregon's eight freshmen position players have combined to bat .250 (67-for-268) with nine doubles, one triple, 31 runs scored, 35 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
They have 14 multi-hit games, including eight 3-hit games.
Since baseball returned in 2009, 24 freshmen have been in the opening day lineup for the Ducks.
The 2019 team's four opening day starters tied the 2011 team for the most, while both 2009 and 2010 teams had three freshmen starters.