Four-game series vs. San Diego starts Thursday

Oregon-San Diego series starts Thursday

Oregon and San Diego open their four-game series on Thursday at 3:05 p.m. at PK Park.
The Ducks and Toreros will play single games on Thursday, Friday (3:05 p.m.), Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (12:05 p.m.).
Oregon holds an 8-5 series lead, including winning both games played at PK Park and all three in the state of Oregon.
USD has won five of the last six including three of four last year.

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.

Fresh Arms

With returners Isaac Ayon and RJ Gordon sidelined to start the season, Oregon has turned to its No. 5 ranked recruiting class on the mound to carry the load.
Ten freshmen have taken the hill through seven games combining to toss 38.1 of the team's 61.0 innings pitched (62.8 percent).
Leo Uelmen and Jackson Pace lead the team with 9.0 innings pitched each.

Series History - San Diego

Oregon holds an 8-5 series edge but San Diego has won five of the last six meetings.
Oregon is 2-0 vs. the Toreros in PK Park and 3-0 in the state of Oregon.
The Ducks won single games in Eugene in 2010 (13-4) and 2014 (4-3) while also picking up a win in Hillsboro in 2016 (5-2).
Last season, the Ducks opened the season at USD losing the first three before rallying for a 21-11 (8-inning) win in the series finale.
The Toreros also handed Mark Wasikowski and the Ducks a 3-1 loss in his second game at the helm of the program in a 2020 tournament in Arizona.
Before that, San Diego won in the final game of the 2017 Tony Gwynn Classic.
The Ducks swept the first-ever series between the two clubs with 6-3, 10-7 and 6-4 (10-inning) wins during the 2011 season in San Diego.
Oregon won the first seven games in the series stretching from 1972 to 2016.
Oregon won 5-3 in San Diego on March 23, 1972 to open the series and the two teams didn't play again until May 11, 2010 when the Ducks won 13-4 in Eugene.

Last meeting ended with record-setting inning

Oregon scored 12 runs in the top of the eighth inning at San Diego in a 21-11 (8-inning) win on Feb. 21, 2022.
The 12 runs were the most ever scored by a Ducks' team with the 12 runs also setting a new record for most runs scored by both teams in an inning (old record of 11 both came when UO scored 11 in the sixth inning at Washington State on 4/29/19).
Oregon also set a school record for hits in an inning with 10, breaking the old record of eight set in the same game at WSU in 2019.
The Ducks also tied school records for most doubles (3) in an inning and most extra-base hits (5) in an inning.
The record-setting 12-run inning remained a record for exactly seven more innings before Oregon broke it again with a 13-run eighth inning in the series opener against St. John's on Feb. 25, 2022.
Oregon scored the 13 runs behind eight hits (2 doubles), six walks and a hit-by-pitch.

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.
The Ducks went yard six times in their season-opening series matching the number the 2022 team hit in its four-game season-opening series at San Diego.
Oregon was held without a home run in the Ducks' three-game sweep at the hands of UC Santa Barbara last season.
In 2022, the Ducks hit six homers in the second series of the season vs. St. John's.

Cromwick earns Collegiate Baseball Players of the Week recognition

It was a big first weekend against Xavier for C Josiah Cromwick.
The Ducks' backstop slashed .444/.500/1.556 while hitting three home runs and doubling once.
In game one, Cromwick doubled in Oregon's 3-2 win.
In game two, Cromwick hit a pair of home runs (the first multi-home run game of his career) and matched a career best with 5 RBI.
In that win, he hit a 3-run homer in the first to give Oregon a 3-0 lead and then blasted a 2-run shot in the third in a 9-2, 7-inning win.
In that Sunday game, with Oregon trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Cromwick ripped a leadoff home run to tie the game. Oregon added two runs in the eighth for the win.
He also had one of Oregon's three stolen bases in the series

Nishida hard to ignore

Leading off and starting all seven games this season, 2B Rikuu Nishida made his presence felt on the base paths.
The Osaka, Japan has already swiped four bags, with two coming in last Friday's game against UCSB.
If Nishida maintains his current pace of two stolen bases per series he will easily set a new Oregon single-season record.
The Ducks play 14 series during the season as well as 10 midweek games.
The Oregon record for stolen bases in a season is 18 set by Don Banderas in 1965.
The most stolen bases in the modern era of Oregon baseball came when Aaron Payne swiped 17 in 2014.

Smith after all the school records!

Heading into the San Diego series, OF Tanner Smith already holds five school records (2 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 matched the career multi-hit games record vs. UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 24 and needs just one more to set a new record.
In all, Smith 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 setting PK Park records

It is not just overall career records OF Tanner Smith is threatening.
The Ducks left fielder already owns the runs scored and hits records at PK Park (which opened in 2009) and has a chance to set a number of others during his final season in Eugene.
He set the runs record during the 2022 season and added the hits record in game two of the UCSB doubleheader on Feb. 25.
Oregon plays its next eight games at home, so there is a good chance Smith will set some records over the next two weeks.
Heading into the USD series, he needs just five total bases to set a new park record while also needing less than 10 RBI, home runs, triples and doubles.
He needs just 18 at-bats to add that record to his resume.

Stoffal returns to rotation

When Oregon took the field last Friday afternoon against UC Santa Barbara, JR RHP Jace Stoffal was on the mound after missing the Xavier series.
Last year's Sunday starter for the final half of the season, Stoffal put together his best outing in his last regular-season start of 2022.
On May 21 vs. No. 25 Arizona, Stoffal recorded both his first career win and first official quality start in a dominating performance against the Wildcats.
He allowed just one run on three hits in 7.0 innings while striking out three and walking just one ... Retired 16 straight batters at one point.
Oregon is hoping Stoffal, who was scratched from his start in the season-opening series, has the success the previous pitchers experienced who have taken the mound on "Friday nights" for the Ducks.
Of the 11 pitchers who have entered the season as the team's No. 1 starter, four have played Major League Baseball, nine were selected in the MLB Draft (2 - 1st Rounders) and one claimed Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year honors.

Trio of freshman open season in rotation

When FR RHPs Leo Uelmen, Matthew Grabmann and Jackson Pace made starts in the season-opening series vs. Xavier, they became 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.

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 has stepped in as Oregon's stopper after two-time All-Pac-12 first-team selection Kolby Somers graduated.
He found immediate success in the role, earning his first win as a Duck in the season opener and his first save at Oregon in the series finale against Xavier.
Against UCSB, Mollerus worked a scoreless 0.2 innings in the series finale.
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.