Ducks open season vs. Xavier

Series History - vs. Xavier

Oregon and Xavier have met just once before, an 11-8 Ducks' come-from-behind win at the 2014 Nashville Regional Tournament.
After trailing 3-0, Xavier scored five runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to take an 8-3 lead.
Oregon rallied with three in the eighth and two in the ninth to send it into extra innings.UO won it with a three-run 10th inning.

International Flavor

Oregon's roster has a distinct international look.
In addition to featuring players from eight states, Oregon has players from four different countries. JR OF Owen Diodati and FR RHPs Matthew Grabmann and Turner Spoljaric hail from Canada, while JR INF/C Sabin Ceballos is from Puerto Rico and JR 2B Rikuu Nishida grew up in Osaka, Japan.

Young Guns

With returners Isaac Ayon and RJ Gordon sidelined to start the season, Oregon will have to lean on its No. 5 ranked recruiting class on the mound.
Three of those recruits -- RHP Leo Uelmen, RHP Matthew Grabmann, RHP Jackson Pace -- stood out during the fall season and during preseason practice and are starting rotation candidates.

Ducks undefeated vs. teams from the Big East

Oregon opens its season against Xavier with a four-game series at PK Park, looking to remain perfect against teams from the Big East.
All-time against teams currently in the Big East Conference, Oregon is 12-0 with wins over Connecticut (3-0), Seton Hall (1-0), St. John's (7-0) and Xavier (1-0).
The Xavier series marks the first time the Ducks have opened their season against a team from the Big East Conference.
While it's the first for a season-opening series, the series will mark the second consecutive season that Oregon has opened its home portion of the season vs. a Big East team (St. John's - 2022).

Rewriting the record book

During head coach Mark Wasikowski's two full seasons at Oregon, the Ducks have rewritten the program's record book on offense.
Oregon's record-breaking offensive season came to an end in 2022 with the Ducks setting records in eight major statistical categories.
Oregon set school bests in batting average, hits, runs, home runs, RBI doubles, total bases and at-bats.
The Ducks also finished in the top 10 in walks (6th) and stolen bases (T6th).
Of the eight new records, three broke school records set in 2021 when the team broke long-time records for runs (376 in 2010), home runs (48 in 1974) and RBI (332 in 2010).
While increasing the home run record by 27 during the Wasikowski era, the Ducks have increased the runs scored record by 76 and the RBI record by 84.

Three years running?

Oregon has set a new school record for home runs in each of the last two seasons.
The Ducks have increased the home run record by 27 long balls during the first two full seasons of the Mark Wasikowski era.
Oregon set a new school record with 75 home runs during the 2022 season, a year after hitting 56 to break the old record of 48 that was set in 1974.
Last 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 in 2021 during Oregon's 55-game campaign.
Oregon hit its first 56 home runs in 1,267 at-bats in 2022, while hitting 56 in 1,890 at-bats in 2021 (623 fewer ABs).

Ducks boast experienced lineup

Oregon will start the season with Division I collegiate experience at nearly every position on defense.
The Ducks have three players -- Tanner Smith (183), Gavin Grant (122), Owen Diodati (110) -- who have started more than 100 games during their Division I collegiate careers.
In total, Oregon's roster has 11 players who have started at least one game during their careers with eight of them starting at least 37 games.
By position the Ducks' roster has 200 starts in left field, 129 starts at second base, 82 starts in center field, 66 starts in right field, 61 starts at first base, 45 starts behind the plate, 29 starts at third base and 15 starts at shortstop.
The Ducks also have 100 starts at designated hitter and 43 starts on the mound.
Oregon's returning position players have combined for 596 hits, 48 home runs and 321 RBI during their Division I careers, while the Ducks' two D-1 transfers (Owen Diodati, Towns King) have combined for 215 hits, 41 home runs and 173 RBI.

Ducks a consensus top 25 team heading into season

Oregon heads into the season ranked in all six of the major college baseball preseason polls.
The Ducks checked in between 19 and 25 in all six of the polls.
Collegiate Baseball gave Oregon its highest ranking at No. 19.
Both Baseball America and Perfect Game ranked the Ducks 20th.
The NCBWA has Oregon ranked 21st, while D1 Baseball and the USA Today coaches poll gave the Ducks a No. 25 ranking.
Among the Pac-12 teams, Oregon is the third-highest rated team in four of the six polls behind Stanford and UCLA (and Oregon State in the Baseball America and coaches poll).

Smith after all the school records!

Heading into the 2023 season, OF Tanner Smith already holds four school records (1 career; 3 single season)
In 2021, Smith broke the single-season school record for doubles when he finished with 24 (breaking the old record of 20 held by Gabe Matthews, Mitchell Tolman and Ryon Healy).
Last season, Smith added the single season hits and multi-hit games records to his resume, finishing with 85 base knocks (KC Serna - 81) and 27 multiple-hit games (tied Serna).
The Ducks first career record to fall to Smith came during the 2022 season when he broke the runs scored record during game one of the Washington series (April 14).
The Ducks' left fielder could add as many as 10 more career records during the 2023 season.
He already ranks in the top five in career at-bats, games started, hits, doubles, RBI, base on balls, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, multi-hit games and outfield assists; while ranking in the top 10 in home runs and multiple-RBI games.

Smith approaching PK Park records

It is not just overall career records OF Tanner Smith is threatening.
The Ducks left fielder already owns the runs scored record at PK Park (which opened in 2009) and has a chance to set a number of others during his final season in Eugene.
Oregon plays 12 of its first 16 games at home, so there is a good chance Smith will set some records early in the season.
He needs just six hits to set a new record and is within 12 of setting new records for doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and total bases.
He needs just 38 at-bats to add that record to his resume.

Cowley drawing attention

Oregon's Drew Cowley is back for a second season in Eugene after leading the Ducks in hitting in 2022.
The Ducks' third baseman batted .424 (64-for-151) with three home runs and 29 RBI in 40 games which has garnered some attention heading into the 2023 season.
The Pac-12 coaches named Cowley to the preseason all-conference team while D1Baseballl recognized him as the sixth-ranked third baseman heading into the season.
Last year, 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) before suffering a broken hamate bone in his wrist during the fourth weekend series.
In 26 games after his return, Cowley was 43-for-106 (.406/.475/.528) with 11 doubles, a triple, 24 runs scored, 14 RBI and 12 walks.
He had 13 multi-hit games after his return, including two 4-hit games and four 3-hit games.
For the season, Cowley finished with 30 multiple hit games with seven 3-hit games and three 4-hit games.

Four Ducks named to preseason All-Pac-12 team

Four Oregon players were named to the inaugural Pac-12 preseason all-conference team as voted on by the conference's coaches.
Three position players -- SR 3B Drew Cowley, JR C Josiah Cromwick, SR LF Tanner Smith -- and one pitcher -- JR RHP Logan Mercado -- were named to the team.
Oregon' four preseason all-conference picks tied for the third most in the league with Arizona behind only Stanford (8) and UCLA (6).

Next Duck up to join accomplished list of Oregon Friday night starters

When Oregon opens the season vs. Xavier, whoever takes the mound as Oregon's Friday night starter will look to be the latest in a long-line of successful pitchers to be the opening-day starter for the Ducks.
The previous names of pitchers who have taken the mound on opening day are impressive with future Major League Baseball pitchers, a MLB all-star, an eventual Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and high MLB draft picks who have toed the rubber as series game-one starters.
Ten of the 11 previous opening day starters have been drafted with four of them playing in the big leagues.
Three of the starters (Tyler Anderson, Alex Keudell, David Peterson) earned All-America honors the season they served as the "Friday Night" guy.
Of the 14 seasons played since the return of baseball at Oregon, the Ducks' opening day starter has earned first-team all-conference recognition six times (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017).
The 11 pitchers who have served as opening-day starter have a combined 10 first-team all-conference selections on the mound during their careers.

Trio of freshman could open season in rotation

If FR RHPs Leo Uelmen, Matthew Grabmann and Jackson Pace make starts in the season-opening series vs. Xavier, they will become just the eighth, ninth and 10th Oregon pitchers in the modern era to crack the weekend rotation during the opening weekend.
The list of freshmen to start during opening weekend is impressive with six of the previous seven getting drafted and four of the seven making it to the big leagues.
Before starting a freshman during the opening weekend last year, the last freshman to start a game in the season-opening series was David Peterson, who eventually was selected in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the New York Mets with pick No. 20.

Dallas provides veteran presence out of the bullpen

While the rotation could be young, the bullpen has some experience to deal with late-inning, high-leverage situations led by SR RHP Matt Dallas.
Making 28 of his 29 appearances out of the pen, Dallas finished second on the team in appearances
He also ranked 14th in the Pac-12 and 64th in the nation in appearances.

Mollerus steps into closer role

Oregon boasts a proud tradition of fantastic closers who have locked up wins for the Ducks with clutch performances late in games.
San Francisco transfer RHP Josh Mollerus will step in as Oregon's stopper after two-time All-Pac-12 first-team selection Kolby Somers graduated.
In four seasons at USF, Mollerus worked in a variety of rolls before settling into a bullpen role in 2022 when he finished with a 4-2 record and a career-low 3.96 ERA with five saves and a career-high 52 strikeouts.
He also had a 1.07 WHIP and held opponents to a .221 batting average last season.

University of Oregon Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Isaac Ayon

Drew Cowley

Josiah Cromwick

Matt Dallas

RJ Gordon

Gavin Grant

Gabe Matthews

Logan Mercado

Tanner Smith

Kolby Somers

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