Ducks Open Pac-12 Action at Arizona State

Ducks Open Pac-12 Play At ASU

For the fourth and final time, Oregon will open conference play against Arizona State.
The Ducks and Sun Devils have opened league play twice (2011, 2018) at ASU and once in Eugene (2021).
The Sun Devils swept both of the series in Arizona while UO won the series in Oregon (2-1).

Good Start To Five-Game Road Trip

Oregon opened its road trip to Arizona with a pair of impressive midweek wins at Grand Canyon.
The Ducks won 9-4 on Tuesday and 13-5 on Wednesday.
UO batted .467 in the two games with seven home runs and six doubles.
LHP Ian Umlandt pitched four scoreless innings.

Have You Heard

JR OF/DH Jeffery Heard is off to a hot start in his first season at Oregon.
The Sacramento State transfer is leading the Ducks in batting average (.447), doubles (7) and slugging percentage (.766).
He has multiple hits in eight of Oregon's 12 games.

Ducks in conference opening series

In the Mark Wasikowski era, Oregon has won two of its three series to open Pac-12 play winning two of three against both Arizona State (2021) and Stanford (2022), while dropping two of three to UCLA last year.
The 2020 Wasikowski team did not play a Pac-12 series after the season was prematurely canceled due to COVID-19.
Overall, Oregon has won five (2013, 2014, 2017, 2021, 2022) of the 14 conference-opening series it has played since 2009.
Four of those teams (2013, 2014, 2021, 2022) advanced to the postseason.
Oregon's overall record in the opening weekend of conference play is 17-25 (40.5 percent).

Home run record set again

Oregon set a new school record for home runs in each of the last three seasons.
The Ducks have increased the home run record by 53 long balls during the first three full seasons of the Mark Wasikowski era.
Last season, Oregon broke the school record of 75 home runs set during the 2022 season, which came a year after hitting 56 to break the old record of 48 that was set in 1974.
The Ducks averaged 1.6 home runs per game in 2023 and are averaging 1.4 this year.

Another assault on record books?

During head coach Mark Wasikowski's three full seasons at Oregon, the Ducks have rewritten the program's record book on offense.
Oregon's record-breaking offensive season ended in 2022 with the Ducks setting records in eight major statistical categories.
In 2022, Oregon set school bests in batting average, hits, runs, home runs, RBI, doubles, total bases and at-bats.
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).
In 2023, Oregon re-set four of the records with 101 HRs, 142 doubles, 1,057 total bases and 2,167 at-bats.
Oregon had also cracked the top 10 in RBI (2nd), runs (2nd), stolen bases (2nd) and hits (2nd).
Oregon also had a .298 team batting average, which ranked fourth all-time.
While increasing the home run record by 53 during the Wasikowski era, the Ducks have increased the runs scored record by 76 and the RBI record by 84.

Ducks have series wins over every Pac-12 opponent in Wasikowski era

Oregon's series win at Washington State in 2023 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 three series wins over Arizona State and Utah with two over Arizona, California, Oregon State, Stanford, USC and Washington during the Wasikowski era.
The Ducks are 62-43 (.590) in games vs. Pac-12 teams under Wasikowski including nonconference games vs. Oregon State and Pac-12 Conference Tournament games vs. Arizona (2), Arizona State, California, Stanford and Washington.

Walsh, eyeing Oregon home run record, named preseason All-Pac-12

After hitting two HRs at Grand Canyon, JR 1B Jacob Walsh is fourth all-time at Oregon in home runs and needs just six more to set a new school career home run record
He has also cracked the top 10 in doubles, ranking 9th after the Lafayette series, and moved into the top 10 in RBI vs. GCU.
A three-year starter at first base, Walsh has hit 26 home runs in his two-plus seasons while batting .2724 with 33 doubles and 90 RBI.
Last season, Walsh hit 16 bombs finishing one long ball short of the previous school record (Kenyon Yovan - 2021) that was broken by Sabin Ceballos who had 18 HRs in 2023.
In 2022, Walsh became just the Ducks' 10th freshman All-American after setting freshman program records for doubles (18) and total bases (103) while tying the record for home runs (6).
In addition to the home run, doubles and RBI records, Walsh is approaching the program's top 10 in starts, at-bats, runs scored, multiple-hit and multiple-RBI games.

Thompson builds on hot 2023 finish during opening weekend

Oregon JR C Bennett Thompson batted .324 (12-for-37) with three doubles, two triples and seven RBI through the first 12 games of the season.
That after he finished the 2023 season on a tear to wrap up the year slashing .348/.415/.587 with four home runs and 22 RBI.
After starting 2023 splitting time behind the plate, Thompson took control of the catcher's job the final weekend of the regular season starting the last two games of the series before starting all 10 postseason games.
In the last 13 games, Thompson went 19-for-46 (.413) with two 4-hit games, one 3-hit game and one 2 -hit game (both home runs).
Over his final 20 games played (19 starts), he batted .405 (28-for-69) with three home runs, one triple, 12 doubles, 15 RBI and 15 runs scored.
He played in 13 Pac-12 games (11 starts), batting .351 (13-for-37) with seven extra-base hits.
Of Thompson's 36 total hits, 30 went for extra bases (55.6 percent).
His strong finish led to him being named to the Pac-12 Conference All-Tournament Team.

Busting onto the scene

Oregon SO 3B Drew Smith put together an unbelievable freshman season setting a school record over his first 20 career starts.
Playing mostly DH, Smith set a program record for the longest hitting streak with hits in his first 20 career games with an at-bat (broke the old record of 18 held by current Cincinnati Red Spencer Steer).
After moving into the starting lineup in late April, Smith finished his true freshman season batting .365 (35-for-96) with three HR, 18 RBI, 14 runs scored and six stolen bases.
Named second-team All-West Region by the ABCA, 10 of Smith's 35 hits went for extra bases (3 HR, 2 3B, 5 2B) with multiple hits in 12 of 24 games started.
Starting 11 of the first 12 games of at third or second base, Smith has started the 2024 campaign strong batting .317 (13-for-41) with eight RBI.
During his two-year career, he has a hit in 30 of 36 games played with an at-bat while reaching base in all 37 games with a plate appearance.

Bryce is right

Playing both baseball and football at Oregon, SR OF Bryce Boettcher is one of just 13 players nationwide playing both sports.
The Ducks outfielder and inside linebacker has made starts in both sports during his time doing double duty.
He has started 10 of Oregon's 12 games this season, after starting all three of the Eugene Super Regional games and the Nashville Regional Tournament championship game last year.
Overall, Boettcher has started 38 games during his baseball career while playing in 144 games over the last three-plus years.
In football, Boettcher played in all 14 games for Oregon's Fiesta Bowl winning team while making two starts at inside linebacker.
He finished fifth on the team with 37.0 tackles while finishing with a sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Outfield reinforcements

After losing all but one of the team's outfielder, including all three starters, Oregon had to turn to the transfer portal to restock the position.
A senior transfer from Elon, Justin Cassella made 107 starts for the Phoenix with 102 coming in center field and two in left field.
He batted .280 in his three seasons at Elon with 25 home runs, 26 doubles, 81 RBI and 39 stolen bases.
A junior transfer from Sacramento State, Jeffery Heard made 102 starts with 99 coming in left field.
UO also added Mason Neville from Arkansas (19 GP) who was the No. 86 overall prospect out of HS.
The three transfers combined for 29 starts over the first 12 games of the season.

Anderson garners preseason recognition

Oregon reliever Austin Anderson was named a preseason second-team All-America pick by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), while also being named to the Stopper of the Year watch list.
He earned the honors after putting together a stellar season out of the bullpen in 2023.
The Roseburg, Ore., native finished his junior season with a 4-0 record and a 0.66 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .111 batting average.
The right-handed pitcher allowed just two runs on 10 hits in 27.1 innings pitched with 39 strikeouts.
The reliever is entering his second season at Oregon after spending two seasons at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg.
As a sophomore at UCC, Anderson earned second-team South Division All-Northwest Athletic Conference honors after going 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA.

Grinsell, Mercado named preseason All-Pac-12 Conference

A pair of Ducks pitchers -- LHP Grayson Grinsell and RHP Logan Mercado -- are a part of the Pac-12 preseason all-conference team selected by the league's coaches.
As a true freshman, Grinsell was second on the team in appearances with 30 while finishing 2-1 with a 4.47 ERA and one save.
The Ducks' lefty earned a spot on both the Pac-12 Conference and Nashville All-Regional teams.
In Pac-12 games, Grinsell finished with a 2.42 ERA and a 1-1 record while holding opposing hitters to a .190 batting average.
The right-handed Mercado has been a versatile member of Oregon's pitching staff for the last three seasons making 48 career appearances, including 12 starts.
He finished the 2023 season 5-1 with a 5.95 ERA with one complete game and one save, while fanning a team-best 78 hitters in a team-high 81.2 innings pitched.
He excelled in relief appearances finishing 2-0 with a 3.94 ERA and one save while holding opposing hitters to a .218 average.
As a sophomore in 2022, Mercado led Oregon in wins and earned run average while going 6-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 25 appearance out of the bullpen.

Friday night guy

After missing all of the 2023 season with an injury, JR RHP RJ Gordon got the call on opening day on the mound, as well as in game one of the Lafayette and UCSB series.
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 12 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 15 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 12 pitchers who have served as opening-day starter have a combined 10 first-team all-conference selections on the mound during their careers.

Who is next?

Oregon boasts a proud tradition of fantastic closers who have locked up wins for the Ducks with clutch performances late in games.
Coming out of the first 12 games of the season, SR RHP Logan Mercado, SR RHP Michael Freund and SR LHP Bradley Mullan have picked up saves.
In the Lafayette series, SR RHP Brock Moore came in late in a game and hit 101 mph on the radar gun.