Sunday, June 4
Nashville, Tenn.
7:15 PM
University of Oregon
40-20
11
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2
Xavier
39-25
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9
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Xavier
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Oregon
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X
11
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2
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Coming Home As Regional Champs
06/04/23 | Baseball
Oregon beat Xavier on Sunday night, 11-2, to win its regional and advance to the NCAA Super Regional round.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two weekends, two championships.
A week after winning the Pac-12 Tournament to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship tournament, the Oregon baseball team is Nashville Regional champs and has claimed one of 16 spots in the Super Regional round. The Ducks finished off a 3-0 run through the regional hosted by Vanderbilt by beating Xavier in the regional final late Sunday night, 11-2.
For the second day in a row, Oregon got a lights-out start from a freshman pitcher, in this case Grayson Grinsell. And the top of the lineup continued to be the catalysts, with Rikuu Nishida scoring three times and driving in three runs, Drew Cowley homering and driving in four, and Sabin Ceballos homering for Oregon's first hit to jump-start the offense — and help propel the Ducks into Super Regionals for the first time since 2012.
"Just really excited that I get a chance to be with these guys every day," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "None of us, the coaches and the players, we don't have to take our uniforms off now. We get a chance to go back home and get a chance to play in a Super Regional next week, and it's a thrill."
How It Happened: The Ducks awaited the winner of Sunday afternoon's elimination game between Xavier and Vanderbilt, which the Musketeers won 2-1 to eliminate the nation's third-ranked team and the NCAA Championship tournament's sixth overall seed. That meant Oregon would face Xavier for the sixth time this year and the second time this weekend, looking to go 6-0 against the Musketeers and advance to Super Regionals.
Oregon's offense went scoreless through the first three innings, but Grinsell kept Xavier off the board as well. He ended each of the first three innings with a strikeout to strand runners on base, including the third after the Musketeers led off the inning with a double and bunted the runner to third base.
Grinsell ultimately threw four shutout innings before giving the ball to fellow freshman Ian Umlandt (1-0), who pitched a 1-2-3 fifth to earn his first career win. Their contributions came a day after freshman Turner Spoljaric started against the host Commodores and threw six innings before leaving with an 8-4 lead.
"(Pitching coach Jake) Angier was pitching 10 freshmen (this spring), and we're going to a Super Regional," Wasikowski said. "No, it wasn't perfect throughout the course of the year. And he knew it wasn't perfect, and we knew it wasn't perfect. And all we asked for was improvement. … And you saw development, real development, throughout the course of the year with those young arms."
Oregon left runners on base each of the first two innings. Entering the fourth the Ducks still didn't have a hit, but Ceballos changed that in a big way — a monster shot to left-center field that made it 1-0 and opened the floodgates for the UO offense.
"I think 'Saba's' first hit was huge," Nishida said. "We struggled with Xavier's pitchers. And then yeah, he did a good job."
The Ducks added three runs in the fourth, the first on a stolen base by Nishida that induced a throwing error which allowed Bennett Thompson to score from third. Nishida later scored on a balk, and an RBI double by Cowley scored Bryce Boettcher to make it 4-0.
After Xavier scored in the top of the sixth, Oregon blew the game open in the bottom of the inning. Nishida came up with the bases loaded and two out, and brought home all three runs with a double to the gap in right-center. After Boettcher was hit by a pitch, Cowley hit a three-run homer for a 10-1 lead.
The Musketeers hit a solo homer in the eighth, but again the Ducks answered, with a sacrifice fly by Ceballos that scored Nishida. Logan Mercado pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off a four-inning relief appearance and send the Ducks home to begin preparing for Super Regionals.
Notable: The start of Sunday's game was delayed 75 minutes until 9:15 p.m. CT, after the previous game was delayed nearly four hours by lightning. … Nishida finished the regional 6-of-12 with seven runs scored. … Cowley was 6-of-14 with six RBIs and three runs. … Cowley and Ceballos each have 16 home runs this spring, one shy of Kenyon Yovan's school record set in 2021.
MVP: RF Rikuu Nishida
All-Regional Team: 3B Sabin Ceballos, SS Drew Cowley, RF Rikuu Nishida, P Grayson Grinsell
Quotable:
Freshman pitcher Grayson Grinsell on dealing with the delayed start
"It really didn't affect my preparation at all. I have a routine that I've got (given the) time before the game. So once I got the start time I knew what I was going to do. Really just being around the guys, I really wasn't too nervous or anything. They really helped, just kind of hanging out with the guys and just staying ready for the game."
Head coach Mark Wasikowski on having George Horton in attendance
"We love Coach Horton and he, I think it was a five-year stretch there where only two teams won more college baseball games than coach Horton's Oregon program did. And he took a leap of faith to come here with … Pat Kilkenny and Joe Giansante and the others, and with Rob Mullens and Eric Roedl and that whole crew, and he took a leap of faith to do what he did. His reason why he came to Oregon was to get Oregon to Omaha, and that was probably one of the things that just was kind of left on the table for him, that I know still bugs him to this day. And we love coach dearly … and for them to watch these kids play and play their hearts out, with a lot of adversity going on, and still be able to pull that off, that's really special."
Up Next: The Ducks will face Oral Roberts in the best-of-three Super Regionals.
A week after winning the Pac-12 Tournament to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship tournament, the Oregon baseball team is Nashville Regional champs and has claimed one of 16 spots in the Super Regional round. The Ducks finished off a 3-0 run through the regional hosted by Vanderbilt by beating Xavier in the regional final late Sunday night, 11-2.
For the second day in a row, Oregon got a lights-out start from a freshman pitcher, in this case Grayson Grinsell. And the top of the lineup continued to be the catalysts, with Rikuu Nishida scoring three times and driving in three runs, Drew Cowley homering and driving in four, and Sabin Ceballos homering for Oregon's first hit to jump-start the offense — and help propel the Ducks into Super Regionals for the first time since 2012.
"Just really excited that I get a chance to be with these guys every day," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "None of us, the coaches and the players, we don't have to take our uniforms off now. We get a chance to go back home and get a chance to play in a Super Regional next week, and it's a thrill."
How It Happened: The Ducks awaited the winner of Sunday afternoon's elimination game between Xavier and Vanderbilt, which the Musketeers won 2-1 to eliminate the nation's third-ranked team and the NCAA Championship tournament's sixth overall seed. That meant Oregon would face Xavier for the sixth time this year and the second time this weekend, looking to go 6-0 against the Musketeers and advance to Super Regionals.
Oregon's offense went scoreless through the first three innings, but Grinsell kept Xavier off the board as well. He ended each of the first three innings with a strikeout to strand runners on base, including the third after the Musketeers led off the inning with a double and bunted the runner to third base.
Grinsell ultimately threw four shutout innings before giving the ball to fellow freshman Ian Umlandt (1-0), who pitched a 1-2-3 fifth to earn his first career win. Their contributions came a day after freshman Turner Spoljaric started against the host Commodores and threw six innings before leaving with an 8-4 lead.
"(Pitching coach Jake) Angier was pitching 10 freshmen (this spring), and we're going to a Super Regional," Wasikowski said. "No, it wasn't perfect throughout the course of the year. And he knew it wasn't perfect, and we knew it wasn't perfect. And all we asked for was improvement. … And you saw development, real development, throughout the course of the year with those young arms."
Oregon left runners on base each of the first two innings. Entering the fourth the Ducks still didn't have a hit, but Ceballos changed that in a big way — a monster shot to left-center field that made it 1-0 and opened the floodgates for the UO offense.
?????????????????????? #GoDucks | @20_sabin pic.twitter.com/h1s3q5sZST
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) June 5, 2023
"I think 'Saba's' first hit was huge," Nishida said. "We struggled with Xavier's pitchers. And then yeah, he did a good job."
The Ducks added three runs in the fourth, the first on a stolen base by Nishida that induced a throwing error which allowed Bennett Thompson to score from third. Nishida later scored on a balk, and an RBI double by Cowley scored Bryce Boettcher to make it 4-0.
After Xavier scored in the top of the sixth, Oregon blew the game open in the bottom of the inning. Nishida came up with the bases loaded and two out, and brought home all three runs with a double to the gap in right-center. After Boettcher was hit by a pitch, Cowley hit a three-run homer for a 10-1 lead.
????????, ????????, ????????@A5D0l brings three home. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/JVcBCfZ6R5
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) June 5, 2023
The Musketeers hit a solo homer in the eighth, but again the Ducks answered, with a sacrifice fly by Ceballos that scored Nishida. Logan Mercado pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off a four-inning relief appearance and send the Ducks home to begin preparing for Super Regionals.
Notable: The start of Sunday's game was delayed 75 minutes until 9:15 p.m. CT, after the previous game was delayed nearly four hours by lightning. … Nishida finished the regional 6-of-12 with seven runs scored. … Cowley was 6-of-14 with six RBIs and three runs. … Cowley and Ceballos each have 16 home runs this spring, one shy of Kenyon Yovan's school record set in 2021.
MVP: RF Rikuu Nishida
All-Regional Team: 3B Sabin Ceballos, SS Drew Cowley, RF Rikuu Nishida, P Grayson Grinsell
Quotable:
Freshman pitcher Grayson Grinsell on dealing with the delayed start
"It really didn't affect my preparation at all. I have a routine that I've got (given the) time before the game. So once I got the start time I knew what I was going to do. Really just being around the guys, I really wasn't too nervous or anything. They really helped, just kind of hanging out with the guys and just staying ready for the game."
Head coach Mark Wasikowski on having George Horton in attendance
"We love Coach Horton and he, I think it was a five-year stretch there where only two teams won more college baseball games than coach Horton's Oregon program did. And he took a leap of faith to come here with … Pat Kilkenny and Joe Giansante and the others, and with Rob Mullens and Eric Roedl and that whole crew, and he took a leap of faith to do what he did. His reason why he came to Oregon was to get Oregon to Omaha, and that was probably one of the things that just was kind of left on the table for him, that I know still bugs him to this day. And we love coach dearly … and for them to watch these kids play and play their hearts out, with a lot of adversity going on, and still be able to pull that off, that's really special."
Up Next: The Ducks will face Oral Roberts in the best-of-three Super Regionals.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Umlandt, Ian (1-0)
L: BELL, Luke (1-4)
S: Mercado, Logan (1)
Batting:
2B: HOUSINGER, Jack 1 ; CUSHING, Jared 1
HR: McCORMICK, Matt 1
RBI: McCORMICK, Matt 1 ; CUSHING, Jared 1
SH: DEPREY, Matthew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McCORMICK, Matt 1 ; SCHULTZ, Garrett 1
SB: SCHULTZ, Garrett 1
HBP: STEPHENSON, Grant 1
Batting:
2B: Nishida, Rikuu 1 ; Cowley, Drew 1 ; Thompson, Bennett 1
HR: Cowley, Drew 1 ; Ceballos, Sabin 1
RBI: Nishida, Rikuu 3 ; Cowley, Drew 4 ; Ceballos, Sabin 2
SF: Ceballos, Sabin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nishida, Rikuu 3 ; Boettcher, Bryce 2 ; Cowley, Drew 1 ; Ceballos, Sabin 1 ; Smith, Tanner 1 ; Thompson, Bennett 2 ; Grant, Gavin 1
SB: Nishida, Rikuu 1
HBP: Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Smith, Drew 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballINF/C
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP/INF
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