
Photo by: Molly McPherson
Ducks host Beavers in three-game series
04/05/23 | Baseball
10 In A Row
International Flavor
Walsh earns Pac-12 honor
Ducks set program single-game home run record
Rewriting the record book
Three years running?
Ducks add Pac-12 series win over last remaining opponent in Wasikowski era
Record Setter
Smith setting PK Park records
Nishida hard to ignore
Power coming from a flock of Ducks
Stoffal leads rotation
Trio of freshman open season in rotation
Mollerus steps into closer role
- Oregon picked up its 10th consecutive win on Tuesday when the Ducks handed Portland a 9-1 loss.
- The 10-game winning streak matches the longest in Oregon baseball history since the 1964 team won 12 in a row and 21 of 22.
- The 2012 team and the 1969 team both had 10-game winning streaks.
- The current streak started in game two of the Washington State series on April 18.
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 UTL Rikuu Nishida grew up in Osaka, Japan.
Walsh earns Pac-12 honor
- Jacob Walsh earned Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week honors after leading Oregon to a road sweep at Arizona last weekend.
- Walsh finished the weekend with a blistering 1.763 OPS while batting .533 (8-for-15) with three home runs, a double and five runs scored.
- He hit a pair of homers in Oregon's 15-3 series opening win and another in the Ducks 8-5 sweep clinching win. He added three hits in Oregon's Saturday win.
Ducks set program single-game home run record
- Oregon went deep six times in the series opener against Northwestern State to set a school record for home runs in a game.
- Sabin Ceballos hit a pair of home runs, while Gavin Grant, Dominic Hellman, Tanner Smith and Jacob Walsh all went yard once.
- The six home runs in a game bested the previous record of five set vs. Central Connecticut State in the first round of the Eugene Regional Tournament on June 4, 2021.
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 have hit 43 home runs heading into the Oregon State series with long balls in 18 of the team's 26 games.
- Oregon hit six in the Xavier series (4 games), none vs. UC Santa Barbara, seven vs. San Diego (4 games), five vs. UCLA (3 games), five at Washington State (3 games), 13 vs. Northwestern State (4 games) and five at Arizona (3 games) while hitting one in each of its midweek games vs. Niagara and Portland.
- The Ducks are averaging 1.65 home runs per game and if they maintain that pace will finish with 91 in their 55-game regular-season schedule.
- Oregon hit 71 in the 56-game regular season last year, with 42 coming in the first 26 games.
Ducks add Pac-12 series win over last remaining opponent in Wasikowski era
- Oregon's series win at Washington State in mid-March allowed Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski to check the last box in regards to winning a series vs. the other teams in the Pac-12 Conference.
- The Ducks had at least one series win over the other nine Pac-12 teams during his first two seasons at the helm of the Ducks.
- Oregon has two series wins over Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon State, USC, Utah and Washington during the Wasikowski era.
- The Ducks are 48-30 (.615) in games vs. Pac-12 teams under Wasikowski including nonconference games vs. Oregon State and Pac-12 Conference Tournament games vs. Arizona and Arizona State.
Record Setter
- Heading into the Oregon State series, OF Tanner Smith already holds eight school records (5 career; 3 single season).
- He set the at-bats record and tied the RBI record Tuesday vs. Portland.
- He set the career hits record with his first of nine hits vs. Northwestern State, besting Gabe Matthews' (2017-21) career mark of 246 hits.
- 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 broke the career multi-hit games record vs. San Diego on March 3 in game two of the series against the Toreros.
- 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).
- In all, Smith could add as many as six more career records during the 2023 season.
- Heading into the OSU series, he needs just two doubles and five home runs for those marquee records.
- He ranks in the top five in career at-bats, games started, runs, hits, home runs, doubles, RBI, base on balls, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, multi-hit games, multi-RBI games and outfield assists.
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, hits, RBI, doubles, total bases and at-bats 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, added the hits record in game two of the UCSB doubleheader on Feb. 25, set the new total bases record with a home run in game three of the USD series, the at-bats record in the UCLA series finale and the doubles and RBI records in the Northwestern State series.
- With three games vs. Oregon State this weekend, there is a good chance Smith will add some records.
- Heading into the series, he needs to start two games and hit two homers to set those records.
Nishida hard to ignore
- Leading off or batting second 25 times while starting all 26 games this season, 2B/RF Rikuu Nishida has made his presence felt on the base paths.
- The Osaka, Japan native has already swiped 13 bags, including two in two separate games.
- If Nishida maintains his current pace of 1.63 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.
Power coming from a flock of Ducks
- While Oregon is continuing to hit home runs at an unprecedented rate in the Wasikowski era, it is not just a handful of players contributing with long balls.
- The Ducks have had 12 different players hit a homer, the second most ever for a modern era Ducks team and just one behind last year's total of 13.
- Nine Ducks have multiple homers, the second most for a Ducks team since 2009.
- Five players have already hit five-or-more dingers, with one more hitting four.
- Oregon's 43 home runs heading into the Oregon series already ranks in a tie for fifth in the history of the program.
Stoffal leads rotation
- When Oregon took the field on Feb. 24 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. He 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.
- Heading into the Oregon State series, Mollerus has yet to allow a run in 13.2 inning pitched covering nine appearances.
- 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.
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