Ducks open inaugural Pac-12 Tournament Wednesday

Well-rounded student-athletes recognized

Three Oregon student-athletes were selected as candidates for the 2022 Senior CLASS AWARD®, with two of them named finalists on May 5.
Third baseman Sam Novitske, left fielder Tanner Smith and closer Kolby Somers were among the 30 candidates.
The 10 finalists include both Smith and Somers.
and Somers both earned third-team All-America honors in 2021, while Novitske was a 2020 COSIDA first-team All-District 8 selection.
All three have been involved with Oregon's partnership with Team IMPACT, while excelling in the classroom.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

Record run of long balls ends

Oregon put a string of impressive home run streaks together before having them snapped during the two-game midweek series with San Francisco.
Oregon homered multiple times in eight consecutive games, the longest streak since the program returned.
Before the season, Oregon hadn't hit multiple home runs in more than three consecutive games before going deep more than once four times earlier this year (from Feb. 21 to Feb. 26-- vs. USD, 3x vs. SJU).
Oregon also hit at least one home run in 17 consecutive games before seeing the streak snapped in a 4-3 win over San Francisco on March 30.
The longest streak for consecutive games with a home run coming into this season was six, set by the 2021 team on two occasions.
The Ducks later homered in 11 straight games, which now ranks as the second-longest streak, and just had a seven-game streak, which is third all-time, end on Sunday.
Oregon has homered in 42 of its 56 games this season.

Ducks break school home run record

Oregon has set a new school record with 71 home runs this season.
UO hit its 56th home run of the season at Portland on April 19 in game No. 36 of the season, matching the school record set last season during Oregon's 55-game campaign.
Oregon hit its first 56 home runs in 1,267 at-bats this season, while hitting 56 in 1,890 at-bats last season (623 fewer ABs).

Single Season Home Runs
Rank        Team                 HR
1.              2022                 71
2.              2021                   56
3.              1974                   48
4.              1973                    46
5.              1965                    43

Assault on other records in progress

It is not just the home run record that has been reset this season.
With the team currently batting .307 (a mark that would set a school record), Oregon has also set new records for RBI, runs and total bases.
The Ducks have also moved into the top 10 in doubles (6th) with 103.
Heading into the Pac-12 Tournament, Oregon needs three triples to crack the top 10.

Walk it off

Oregon won in dramatic fashion on May 17 when Jacob Walsh delivered a two-RBI double to score a pair of runs and give Oregon a 5-4 walk-off win over No. 10 Gonzaga.
The walk off was Oregon's fifth of the season, matching the 2015 season for the second-most walk offs in the modern era of Oregon baseball.
The Ducks need one more walk off to tie the 2012 team for the most walk offs in modern era history.
Four different Ducks have accounted for the five walk offs this season, with Gavin Grant walking off two teams (UC Santa Barbara/San Francisco), while Tyler Ganus (Ball State), Brennan Milone (Washington State) and Walsh have one walk off.
Eight players on the current roster have had at least one walk off in their career with Bryce Boettcher, Sam Novitske, Jack Scanlon and Tanner Smith joining the four who have done it this year.

Among the best

Oregon heads into the Pac-12 Tournament among the national leaders in a number of statistical categories.
Oregon leads the Pac-12 in three major statistical categories, while ranking in the top two in five others.
The Ducks lead the league in batting average, hits and runs at the plate, while also ranking second in the conference in home runs and OBP.
Oregon is also first in RBI and total bases.

Smith named preseason All-America

Coming off a season where he claimed Collegiate Baseball third-team All-America honors, JR OF Tanner Smith has been named preseason third-team All-America by both Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA.
A junior from Newport Beach, Calif., Smith finished last season batting .324 with five home runs and 36 RBI while batting leadoff for the Ducks.
He had a Pac-12 best 24 doubles, which set a new Oregon single-season record for two-baggers, while reaching base at a .417 clip and slugging .533.
The Ducks' left fielder ranked third among all Pac-12 players with 33 extra-base hits.
His 24 doubles ranked fifth nationally and his 0.44 doubles per game were the best in the Pac-12 and 12th overall in the country.
He also tripled four times, which was good for second in the Pac-12 and 28th nationally.
is batting .320 (78-for-244) with 13 doubles and nine home runs heading into the Pac-12 Tournament.

Smith sets Oregon career runs record

In his fourth season, JR OF Tanner Smith has put together one of Oregon's baseball's marquee careers.
The Ducks' left fielder set a new career runs scored record at Oregon in game one of the Washington series.
With 152 career runs and counting, Smith broke the record shared by Gabe Matthews (2017-21) and Aaron Payne (2011-14) who both scored 135 runs during their careers.
Besides runs, Smith ranks in the top 10 in a number of other career categories at Oregon.
Against Portland, he set a new record for consecutive starts with 138 breaking the record Matthews set from 2017-2019 (streak is now 158).
He is second in hits (219), doubles (49) and multiple-hit games (63), while ranking third in at-bats (718), fourth in starts (178), fifth in walks (88) and RBI (110), eighth in home runs (20), 10th in HBP (19) and multiple-RBI games (23) and 11th in triples (7).
He will move into the career top 10 in triples with one more.
Defensively, Smith is second in the modern era in outfield assists with 11.

Cowley back after missing 21 games

Oregon's hottest hitter the first three weeks of the season before suffering an injury, JR INF Drew Cowley returned to the lineup on April 19 at Portland after missing 21 games.
Playing both third base and second base, Cowley was off to a blistering start batting .467 (21-for-45) with the nation's 13th-best OBP (.571).
He also ranked 16th nationally in batting average, and 35th in slugging percentage (.822).
In addition to batting average and on-base percentage, he led the team in slugging percentage and base on balls (9), while ranking second in doubles (5).
In 21 games since his return, Cowley is 35-for-84 (.417/.484/.536) with eight doubles, a triple, 21 runs scored and 11 RBI.
He has 12 multi-hit games since his return, including a 4-hit game and four 3-hit games.

Hall on fire in Pac-12 games

After a slow start to the season, SO RF Anthony Hall has shifted his game into another gear in Pac-12 conference games.
Hitting mostly in the six-hole, Hall is batting .357 (41-for-115) with 10 home runs, eight doubles, four triples, 33 RBI and 34 runs scored, while reaching base at a .421 clip and slugging .757 in league games.
In Pac-12 games, Hall leads the conference in triples, while ranking second in slugging percentage and runs, and third in home runs, total bases and RBI.
He leads the Ducks in runs, doubles (tied), triples, homers, RBI and slugging percentage in league games.

Power coming from slew of Ducks

While Oregon is hitting home runs at an unprecedented rate, it's not just a handful of players contributing with long balls.
The Ducks have had 13 different players hit a homer, the most ever for a modern era Ducks team.
Ten Ducks have multiple homers, the most for a Ducks team since 2009.
A school-record six players have hit five-or-more dingers, with two more hitting four.

Turn two

The old saying that a "pitcher's best friend is a double play", has been on display for Oregon this season.
The Ducks head into the Pac-12 Tournament ranked 12th in double plays (49) and 23rd in double plays per game (0.88).
After turning two double play in the Arizona series, Oregon trails only Baylor (61), New Mexico (56), New Orleans (56), BYU (55), Michigan State (53), George Mason (52), Morehead State (51), TCU (51) Arizona (50), Coastal Carolina (50) and UNC Ashville (50).
Baylor leads the country with 1.17 per game, while New Orleans (1.06) is second.
Oregon's has turned 44 conventional double plays involving the infielders, pitcher or catcher while also having three double plays with a fly out and an outfield assist and two strike-him-out, throw-him out DPs.
The most common double play has been the 6-4-3 (14 times), followed by 5-4-3 (8) and the 4-6-3 (7), then the 6-3 (4), the 1-6-3 (3), the 3-6-1 (3), and the K2-4 (2).

Making the plays

In addition to ranking in the top 20 in double plays turned and double plays per game, Oregon also ranks in the top 25 in the nation in fielding percentage.
The Ducks boast a .978 fielding percentage, good for No. 21 in the nation.
Oregon has committed just 44 errors in 2,042 chances with 1,488 putouts and 510 assists.
The Ducks have fielded even better in Pac-12 games posting a .979 fielding percentage.

Somers named to NCBWA midseason Stopper of the Year watch list

The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has named Oregon closer Kolby Somers to its midseason Stopper of the Year watch list.
Somers, who claimed first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors and NCBWA All-America honors last season, has continued his stellar work as the Ducks' stopper for the second straight season.
The lefty is 5-3 on the season and is tied for first in the Pac-12 Conference with nine saves.
He has the solo lead in the Pac-12 in saves in conference games with eight.
He has a 2.97 ERA in 24 appearances and has allowed just 10 earned runs in 30.1 innings pitched with 43 strikeouts and 15 walks.
He is holding opponents to a .237 batting average.

Somers named preseason All-America

Coming off a season where he claimed NCBWA third-team All-America honors, SR LHP Kolby Somers has been named preseason third-team All-America by both Collegiate Baseball and D1Baseball.
A senior from Hillsboro, Ore., Somers claimed first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors in addition to NCBWA All-America honors last season.
He was dominant closing out games for the Ducks in 2021.
The lefty finished the season with a 2-2 record and a 3.08 ERA with 11 saves.
He fanned 37 in 26.1 innings pitched while holding opposing hitters to a .149 batting average.
He ranked third in the Pac-12 in saves, as well as ranking sixth all-time in single-season saves at Oregon.
His seven saves in conference games were the second most in the league, one behind the leader.

Somers leads the Pac-12 in saves, moving up Oregon record books

For the second straight season, SR LHP Kolby Somers is proving to be among the nation's elite closers.
Heading into the Pac-12 Tournament, Somers is tied for the Pac-12 lead in saves with nine, while ranking 28th in the country.
He also ranks among Oregon's all-time leaders in career saves, moving into sole possession of second with a save vs. Arizona on May 19.
The Ducks' lefty is also tied for second all-time in appearances (85) and is third in games finished (39).
For the 2022 season, Somers has moved into a tie for seventh all-time with Garrett Cleavinger (2015) on the single-season saves list.
He also has moved into a tie for seventh in games finished with 39.