Nishida Has Been Oregon's Spark Plug
06/09/23 | Baseball, @GoDucksMoseley
Leadoff hitter Rikuu Nishida sparks Oregon at the top of the lineup and also with his contagious energy.
When the Oregon baseball team clinched the Nashville Regional of the NCAA Championship tournament by beating Xavier on Sunday, ESPN marked the moment with a post on the network's main Twitter account.
The wording was simple: "The Ducks are feeling super!"
The image was striking: The jubilant face of UO junior outfielder Rikuu Nishida, the Ducks' leadoff hitter.
The reach was astounding: ESPN's main Twitter account has more than 46 million followers.
Yes, the face of Oregon baseball during its run to the Pac-12 Tournament title, and now a Super Regional series at PK Park against Oral Roberts beginning Friday (5 p.m., ESPN), is a 5-foot-6 pest of a player from Osaka, Japan. Even if Nishida dismisses the idea he's suddenly a player others admire.
THE DUCKS ARE FEELIN SUPER??@OregonBaseball is heading to the Super Regional for the first time in 11 years ?? pic.twitter.com/4VnCBlF0VP
— ESPN (@espn) June 5, 2023
"They want to be like Saba, a four hitter, or Drew Cowley," Nishida said, mentioning the two players leading Oregon in home runs this year, Sabin Ceballos and Cowley. "Not me though."
But when the Ducks arrived back in Eugene from Nashville on Monday, and a group of fans was at the Eugene Airport to greet them, it was Nishida that a young boy in the group wanted to meet. The boy's favorite player was Oregon's effervescent right fielder, who slaps balls into the ground and also opposite-field home runs, who ignites chaos on the basepaths and also joyous celebrations when a teammate succeeds.
After going 6-for-12 with seven runs in Nashville, and also a clutch three-run double in the regional final against Xavier, Nishida was named MVP for the weekend. His teammates are only too happy to see his contributions appreciated, whether by the MVP voters at Vanderbilt or the millions who follow that ESPN Twitter account.
"He deserves it," said Cowley, Oregon's understated shortstop, who leads the Ducks with a .342 average and is tied for the team lead along with Ceballos at 16 homers. "Just the type of guy he is, the way he plays the game, he brings so much energy. It's pretty cool."
B1 | ????????????????!@A5D0l gives the Ducks the early lead with a solo tater to the opposite field. #GoDucks
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) March 5, 2023
San Diego 0
Oregon 1 pic.twitter.com/huganioHjK
Nishida first gained the attention of the nation on March 5, when the transfer from Mount Hood Community College hit an opposite-field home run against San Diego – with a wood bat. On display in that moment were a couple of his most notable quirks: Not only did Nishida use the wood bat, but he slowed as he approached home plate before leaning over and touching it with his hand.
This is a player who believes in the "juju" and "magic" associated with the game of baseball, who is so superstitious he'll rearrange his furniture if his team loses a series. He's known to take a right-handed swing before settling into the batter's box – as a left-handed hitter – and with two strikes he crouches down into a deep squat before the pitcher begins his delivery.
Both of those habits, Nishida said, are "resets." He says he's resetting his mind, but perhaps he's also resetting the "juju," the "magic" of the moment that's about to transpire.
Nishida talks about his relationship with home plate in almost mystical terms – he's the leadoff hitter, and it's his job to get around the bases and reunite with the plate. If Cowley is waiting at home to take an at-bat as Nishida scores, he'll have to catch himself and wait to give Nishida a high-five. Wait until after the solemn reunion between player and plate, as Nishida gently reaches down to touch it.
"Home base is home," Nishida says simply as a way of explanation. "I'm always saying, 'I'm coming back.' "
But if a teammate slugs a home run? There's nothing solemn about those moments. If Nishida isn't on base he'll be the first guy out of the dugout, his long hair flowing as he leaps into the air for a chest bump with the aforementioned slugger.
"His energy just brings everyone else up," senior second baseman Gavin Grant said. "You wouldn't know if he's hitless, or he's 4-for-4. He's just that type of guy that, whenever the team does well, he's gonna be happy."
Watching Nishida on the field, it's clear he takes to heart that baseball is a game, which is to be played. And he wants his teammates to share in his joy at getting to do so.
That stems, Nishida said, from his parents.
His mother? She didn't know the first thing about the sport.
"She doesn't know first base, second base, shortstop – anything," Nishida said with a chuckle.
His father? He wants to know the names of all Nishida's teammates, and roots for them just as hard as he does his own son. His only demand is that Nishida never forget to have fun playing the game.
"He's never mad at me, like, if I get struck out in a big moment," Nishida said. "I've never been like this, but if I was being selfish during a game – if I threw a helmet or something – my father would be mad. I've never done that before, but he would be mad."
In high school, Nishida got used to playing in the spotlight. The pressure of an NCAA Regional, he said, can't compare to single-elimination high school tournaments, which he played before thousands of fans in professional stadiums.
A double-elimination regional? That's nothing when a high school season, played in a tournament format, could last all of one game.
"No matter how many people are there, what the score is, it doesn't matter," said UO pitcher Grayson Grinsell, one of several freshmen whose performances under pressure have been vital to extending Oregon's season the last few weeks. "He's always gonna have the same smile on his face, bring the same joy to the game. It really helps all of us kind of reset and say, OK, we're just playing baseball. We're here to have fun."
On the field, failure is going to happen; why fear it, then? After all, Nishida said, "I know that I can hit only .300 or .400. So, other .600, I miss. So that's why I don't feel, like, negative pressure."
Earlier this year, though, came a tragedy Nishida still can't bring himself to talk about publicly. Over the university's holiday break, his mother passed away. Baseball season effectively starts as soon as players return to campus for winter quarter. When the Ducks reunited, Nishida was with them.
"You could tell he was down," Grant said. "But you could also tell he didn't want other people to feel sorry for him. I think he dealt with it as best as I could imagine."
Oregon's players talk about using the game as a "getaway" from other challenges life can present. Nishida was facing the ultimate challenge. Baseball, and his UO teammates, were a getaway.
"As a team we just wanted to let him know that we're here for him, and that we would do anything for him," Cowley said. "Him coming back and playing still, after going through all that, it spoke a lot about him as a person. We love him, and we'd do anything for the guy."
Those feelings are mutual. Nishida has been the ultimate team player for the Ducks this season, and one of the faces of the program entering this weekend's Super Regional.
"He plays with such a genuine care for the people around him, the coaches, his teammates," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "He's just neat. He wants others to enjoy this maybe even more than himself. He's a selfless kid – and he's really one heck of a player."
For the season Nishida is hitting .322, with a team-high 25 steals. He began the year at second base before moving to right field, where he has made several spectacular, diving catches. His ability to get his bat to the ball and get up the baseline puts immense pressure on opposing infields, and he's a nightmare for catchers trying to catch him stealing.
And that's not all.
"Before the season he was graded out as a 20 power guy," Grant said, referring to the baseball scouting scale that rates skills on a spectrum between 20 and 80. "And he's got five home runs now. People wouldn't think of that; they thought he was just going to be a slap guy and hit singles and stuff. But he can do just about everything."
Nishida's skill and his spirit have the UO baseball team two wins away from reaching the College World Series. The Ducks hope the drive they're taking that passes through PK Park this weekend will carry them all the way to Omaha. And in Oregon's engine, Nishida is the spark plug.
