Oregon Hosts Hornets; Starts Pac-10 Play With Civil War
THIS WEEK
Oregon plays five games this week, starting things off by hosting Sacramento State Tuesday (3 p.m.) and Wednesday (1 p.m.) at PK Park. The Ducks then open Pac-10 play for the first time in 28 years, reviving the Civil War baseball series with the two-time national champion Oregon State Beavers. Oregon will host Oregon State at 3 p.m., Friday at PK Park, before the final two games of the series move to PGE Park in Portland for a 6 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.
BROADCASTS/MEDIA
All five games this week will be aired on the O-Zone, which offers a live video and audio broadcast.
Over the radio airwaves, the team of Jerry Allen and Brian Prawitz will broadcast all five games on KUGN 590 in Eugene. Live stats for all five games will be linked to www.GoDucks.com.
OSN on CSNNW
The Oregon Sports Network will broadcast two of Oregon’s five games this week, starting with Friday’s opening game of the Civil War Series and Pac-10 play at 3 p.m., from PK Park. The second broadcast will be Sunday’s 1 p.m. start and Civil War series finale from PGE Park in Portland. Both games will be aired on Comcast SportsNet Northwest with the team of Rob Closs and Joe Giansante handling the broadcast duties.
O-ZONE
Oregon baseball fans can now watch all home games live on the O-Zone at www.GoDucks.com. All home games will offer live video and audio. Live stats will also be available for all home games at www.GoDucks.com.
SACRAMENTO STATE
Oregon will face its third opponent from the Western Athletic Conference this week when the Sacramento State Hornets visit PK Park on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sacramento State enters the week on a six-game winning streak with victories over UC Davis, San Francisco and a four-game sweep of Cornell. The Hornets opened their season with a 1-2 series loss at Arizona, and split their series 2-2 with Saint Mary’s, both like opponents of Oregon.
Sacramento State is led by Preseason All-American Tim Wheeler. The junior outfielder was also named to the Brooks Wallace Player of The Year Watch List and was listed as the 38th best collegiate draft prospect by Baseball America. Wheeler is currently hitting .394 on the year with 24 RBI, five home runs, six doubles and one triple. As a team, Sacramento State is batting .291 with four players over .300; Wheeler (.394), Blake Crosby (.377), Hunter Martinez (.361) and Brent Hottman (.351).
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
Tickets remain available for the Oregon-Sacramento State games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Duck fans can purchase tickets 90 minutes prior to game time at the North Ticket Office.
MUSGRAVE TO THROW OUT FIRST PITCH
Former Oregon quarterback and current Atlanta Falcons assistant coach Bill Musgrave is scheduled to throw out the first pitch before Tuesday’s game between Oregon and Sacramento State. Musgrave played football at the UO from 1987-90, and remains the school’s career record holder for passing and total offense.
CROSSING THE PLATE
Oregon finished 1-3 at last week’s inaugural Rose City Invitational. The Ducks went toe-to-toe with Portland, Washington and Hawai’i. In four games, Oregon totaled 28 hits, while the Ducks’ pitching staff surrendered 28 hits as well. The difference was made at the plate as Oregon scored only eight runs on 28 hits, while the Ducks had 16 runs scored against them on 28 hits. In the span of four games, Oregon left 36 runners on base.
KO
Last Friday, freshman Tyler Anderson made the start against Portland to open Oregon’s play at the inaugural Rose City Invitational. Despite getting the loss, the lefty set a new season high issuing 12 strikeouts in his fifth outing of the season. The Las Vegas native struck out 12 over 5.0 innings of work, before being relieved by junior Geoff Nichols. The 6-foot-5 right-hander dealt four strikeouts of his own over three innings, setting a new season high for the Oregon pitching staff with 16 strikeouts in one game.
WHERE ON THE DIAMOND IS DANNY PULFER?
Oregon has used 16 different position lineups this season, and freshman Danny Pulfer leads the team having played in all 20 games this year at three different positions. With an injury to starting shortstop KC Serna keeping him out of the Rose City Invitational, Pulfer started Oregon’s last three games at shortstop. The native of Cypress, Calif., started the first game of the series at third base. This season, Pulfer has started 15 games at second base, three at shortstop and two at third base. After getting off to a slow start offensively, Pulfer is also hitting .368 (7-for-19) over his last eight games, collecting his first career triple as well as three RBI. He has been walked five times and struck out only once, while dealing 21 assists and committing just one error.
FILLING IN
While Danny Pulfer fills in at shortstop for an injured KC Serna, junior Josh Hogan has stepped in nicely at second base. The Eugene native is batting .294 on the year, including leading the team last week with a .357 (5-for-14) effort in four starts at the Rose City Invitational.
ON THE MOUND
This week Oregon freshman Chris Garrison is expected to make his first collegiate start on Tuesday vs. Sacramento State. The native of Rocklin, Calif., has appeared three times in relief this season, and has pitched effectively in his limited time on the mound. In each of his appearances (at Washington, Santa Clara, vs. Hawai’i), Garrison got in just one inning of work, but the right-hander has held opponents hitless, dealing three strikeouts and issuing just one walk.
ON THE MEND
Oregon had to play last week at the Rose City Invitational with out two regular starters. Catcher and part-time first baseman Eddy Rodriguez is currently out of action for 3-4 weeks with a right knee sprain suffered on March 14 in the third game of the Nevada series.
Freshman shortstop KC Serna is currently day-to-day with a hip pointer injury.
BACK IN ACTION
Oregon pitchers Justin LaTempa and Zack Thornton made their first appearances of the 2009 season at the Rose City Invitational last week. Both pitchers were recovering after suffering shoulder injuries prior to making their way to Oregon. Thornton pitched the final inning’s of Oregon’s 3-1 loss to Hawai’i last Saturday, retiring the side in order and striking out one. LaTempa pitched the ninth in Oregon’s 5-1 loss to Washington last Sunday, facing the minimum and striking out one.
LEADING OFF
Fifth-year senior Caleb Tommasini made the switch from the gridiron to the diamond as a fifth-year senior at Oregon. The Tenmile, Ore., native has started all 20 games in the leadoff spot and in left field. He currently leads Oregon in batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.409), runs scored (11), hits (24), triples (2), total bases (31) and stolen bases (10). He also has had six multiple-hit games.
CATCHING UP
With Eddy Rodriguez injured, sophomore Mitch Karraker and freshman Paul Eshleman have been sharing catching duties. Eshleman got his first career start behind the plate last Saturday in Oregon’s 6-4 come-from-behind win against Washington. The Yucaipa, Calif., native has made three more starts this season, all at designated hitter.
Karraker caught three games in Portland last week, but his real work at the plate was done on offense. The sophomore hit .333 in the four games, and was responsible for Oregon’s game-tying and go-ahead runs with a two-run double to right center vs. Washington on Saturday. He currently leads the Ducks on the year with a .412 slugging percentage, 11 RBI, five doubles, six multiple-hit games and three multiple-RBI games.
FIRST OF MANY
Oregon began its modern era on Friday, Feb. 20 at Saint Mary’s, and the 2009 Ducks began to log some firsts for the program in 28 years...freshman left-hander Tyler Anderson will go down in the record books with the first pitch, first strikeout and first win on the mound...Senior Caleb Tommasini led off the game with the first at-bat and hit of the season, as well as the first walk drawn and the first run scored...The first RBI and double of the new era belong to freshman shortstop KC Serna...The first defensive assist and putout belong to freshman Danny Pulfer and Mitch Karraker....Jett Hart’s two-run triple in the fifth was the first triple of the modern era on Feb. 20, and in the first game of the Feb. 21 doubleheader, Hart slugged a two-run homer to left field in the fourth to go down in the record books...With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh on Feb. 20, junior left-hander Ryan Fleckenstein, junior catcher Eddy Rodriguez and freshman first baseman Darrell Hunter turned the first double play, 1-2-3, of 2009.
HOME OPENER
Oregon played its first home baseball game in 28 years on Friday, Feb. 27, christening PK Park and a soldout crown of 2,777 with a dramatic 1-0 victory over the defending College World Series champion Fresno State Bulldogs. A pitching duel between Oregon freshman left-hander Tyler Anderson and Fresno State’s Holden Sprague left the game scoreless headed into the ninth. Oregon junior left-hander Ryan Fleckenstein retired the side in the ninth to set up the Ducks victory. Junior catcher Eddy Rodriguez started the rally in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out single, and junior Jett Hart continued with another single that advanced Rodriguez to third. Senior Andrew Schmidt, pinch-hitting, secured the victory with a walk-off single to score the game-winning run.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Trailing Fresno State by eight runs entering the ninth on March 1, redshirt freshman Antony Kreitz entered the game as a defensive replacement in right field. In the bottom of the inning, the Eugene native received his first at-bat of the season and promptly made history. Kreitz hit the first-ever Oregon home run out of PK Park over the left field wall.
2008-09 ACCOLADES
The 2008-09 Oregon baseball recruiting class received two top-10 rankings during the fall. First, Collegiate Baseball’s annual evaluation ranked the Ducks’ recruiting class second in the nation, while Baseball America put Oregon’s class at No. 10.
The 2008-09 class includes nine players that were taken in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, but chose to instead attend the UO.
RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT PORTLAND CLASSIC AT PGE PARK...THE RETURN OF THE CIVIL WAR
Tickets for the historic return of the Civil War baseball series remain available through Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (503) 224-4400.
The second and third games of the series will be played at PGE Park in Portland at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 29.
Duck fans will be on the first baseline, and Beaver fans on the third.
The first game of the series will be played at PK Park on Friday, March 27, and is now sold out.
STANDING ROOM ONLY
Standing Room Only tickets for University of Oregon home baseball games are still available through the UO Athletic Ticket Office announced today.
Tickets can be purchased on www.GoDucks.com, via telephone (541-346-4461 or 1-800-WEBFOOT) and in person at the Casanova Center Ticket Building.
Standing Room Only tickets for all home contests will cost $8 each. Standing Room Only tickets for the matchups against Sacramento State and Portland will cost $6. There is a limit of four Standing Room Only tickets per customer per game.
For more information, please visit www.GoDucks.com or call 541-346-4461 or 1-800-WEBFOOT.
DUCKS ON CSNNW
The Oregon Sports Network announced that it will broadcast 13 games during the season.
“My staff, the student-athletes and the program are delighted about the news that OSN will be producing a 13-game schedule this season,” head coach George Horton said. “The University and the Athletics Department has made a great step to reach out to all of our fans.”
All 13 games broadcast during the year will be aired on Comcast SportsNet Northwest (37) as well as CSN’s new HD channel (737).
OSN will cover the entire season from March through May, broadcasting three non-conference games and 10 conference games, including the Civil War Series from PK Park and PGE Park.
Two Oregon opponents on the television schedule competed in the 2008 College World Series; Fresno State (March 1) and Stanford (April 4), with the Bulldogs winning the championship.
The first broadcast of the season will be March 1, when Oregon hosts Fresno State, the defending CWS champions, at PK Park.
OSN will also broadcast three games against opponents that competed in last year’s Regionals and Super Regionals; UCLA (May 3) and Arizona (May 23-24).
OSN’s first Pac-10 broadcast of the year will be the conference opener and first Civil War baseball game in 28 years, when the Beavers visit PK Park on March 27. Oregon will also broadcast the third game of that series, Sunday, March 29, from PGE Park in Portland.
Oregon plays five games this week, starting things off by hosting Sacramento State Tuesday (3 p.m.) and Wednesday (1 p.m.) at PK Park. The Ducks then open Pac-10 play for the first time in 28 years, reviving the Civil War baseball series with the two-time national champion Oregon State Beavers. Oregon will host Oregon State at 3 p.m., Friday at PK Park, before the final two games of the series move to PGE Park in Portland for a 6 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.
BROADCASTS/MEDIA
All five games this week will be aired on the O-Zone, which offers a live video and audio broadcast.
Over the radio airwaves, the team of Jerry Allen and Brian Prawitz will broadcast all five games on KUGN 590 in Eugene. Live stats for all five games will be linked to www.GoDucks.com.
OSN on CSNNW
The Oregon Sports Network will broadcast two of Oregon’s five games this week, starting with Friday’s opening game of the Civil War Series and Pac-10 play at 3 p.m., from PK Park. The second broadcast will be Sunday’s 1 p.m. start and Civil War series finale from PGE Park in Portland. Both games will be aired on Comcast SportsNet Northwest with the team of Rob Closs and Joe Giansante handling the broadcast duties.
O-ZONE
Oregon baseball fans can now watch all home games live on the O-Zone at www.GoDucks.com. All home games will offer live video and audio. Live stats will also be available for all home games at www.GoDucks.com.
SACRAMENTO STATE
Oregon will face its third opponent from the Western Athletic Conference this week when the Sacramento State Hornets visit PK Park on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sacramento State enters the week on a six-game winning streak with victories over UC Davis, San Francisco and a four-game sweep of Cornell. The Hornets opened their season with a 1-2 series loss at Arizona, and split their series 2-2 with Saint Mary’s, both like opponents of Oregon.
Sacramento State is led by Preseason All-American Tim Wheeler. The junior outfielder was also named to the Brooks Wallace Player of The Year Watch List and was listed as the 38th best collegiate draft prospect by Baseball America. Wheeler is currently hitting .394 on the year with 24 RBI, five home runs, six doubles and one triple. As a team, Sacramento State is batting .291 with four players over .300; Wheeler (.394), Blake Crosby (.377), Hunter Martinez (.361) and Brent Hottman (.351).
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
Tickets remain available for the Oregon-Sacramento State games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Duck fans can purchase tickets 90 minutes prior to game time at the North Ticket Office.
MUSGRAVE TO THROW OUT FIRST PITCH
Former Oregon quarterback and current Atlanta Falcons assistant coach Bill Musgrave is scheduled to throw out the first pitch before Tuesday’s game between Oregon and Sacramento State. Musgrave played football at the UO from 1987-90, and remains the school’s career record holder for passing and total offense.
CROSSING THE PLATE
Oregon finished 1-3 at last week’s inaugural Rose City Invitational. The Ducks went toe-to-toe with Portland, Washington and Hawai’i. In four games, Oregon totaled 28 hits, while the Ducks’ pitching staff surrendered 28 hits as well. The difference was made at the plate as Oregon scored only eight runs on 28 hits, while the Ducks had 16 runs scored against them on 28 hits. In the span of four games, Oregon left 36 runners on base.
KO
Last Friday, freshman Tyler Anderson made the start against Portland to open Oregon’s play at the inaugural Rose City Invitational. Despite getting the loss, the lefty set a new season high issuing 12 strikeouts in his fifth outing of the season. The Las Vegas native struck out 12 over 5.0 innings of work, before being relieved by junior Geoff Nichols. The 6-foot-5 right-hander dealt four strikeouts of his own over three innings, setting a new season high for the Oregon pitching staff with 16 strikeouts in one game.
WHERE ON THE DIAMOND IS DANNY PULFER?
Oregon has used 16 different position lineups this season, and freshman Danny Pulfer leads the team having played in all 20 games this year at three different positions. With an injury to starting shortstop KC Serna keeping him out of the Rose City Invitational, Pulfer started Oregon’s last three games at shortstop. The native of Cypress, Calif., started the first game of the series at third base. This season, Pulfer has started 15 games at second base, three at shortstop and two at third base. After getting off to a slow start offensively, Pulfer is also hitting .368 (7-for-19) over his last eight games, collecting his first career triple as well as three RBI. He has been walked five times and struck out only once, while dealing 21 assists and committing just one error.
FILLING IN
While Danny Pulfer fills in at shortstop for an injured KC Serna, junior Josh Hogan has stepped in nicely at second base. The Eugene native is batting .294 on the year, including leading the team last week with a .357 (5-for-14) effort in four starts at the Rose City Invitational.
ON THE MOUND
This week Oregon freshman Chris Garrison is expected to make his first collegiate start on Tuesday vs. Sacramento State. The native of Rocklin, Calif., has appeared three times in relief this season, and has pitched effectively in his limited time on the mound. In each of his appearances (at Washington, Santa Clara, vs. Hawai’i), Garrison got in just one inning of work, but the right-hander has held opponents hitless, dealing three strikeouts and issuing just one walk.
ON THE MEND
Oregon had to play last week at the Rose City Invitational with out two regular starters. Catcher and part-time first baseman Eddy Rodriguez is currently out of action for 3-4 weeks with a right knee sprain suffered on March 14 in the third game of the Nevada series.
Freshman shortstop KC Serna is currently day-to-day with a hip pointer injury.
BACK IN ACTION
Oregon pitchers Justin LaTempa and Zack Thornton made their first appearances of the 2009 season at the Rose City Invitational last week. Both pitchers were recovering after suffering shoulder injuries prior to making their way to Oregon. Thornton pitched the final inning’s of Oregon’s 3-1 loss to Hawai’i last Saturday, retiring the side in order and striking out one. LaTempa pitched the ninth in Oregon’s 5-1 loss to Washington last Sunday, facing the minimum and striking out one.
LEADING OFF
Fifth-year senior Caleb Tommasini made the switch from the gridiron to the diamond as a fifth-year senior at Oregon. The Tenmile, Ore., native has started all 20 games in the leadoff spot and in left field. He currently leads Oregon in batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.409), runs scored (11), hits (24), triples (2), total bases (31) and stolen bases (10). He also has had six multiple-hit games.
CATCHING UP
With Eddy Rodriguez injured, sophomore Mitch Karraker and freshman Paul Eshleman have been sharing catching duties. Eshleman got his first career start behind the plate last Saturday in Oregon’s 6-4 come-from-behind win against Washington. The Yucaipa, Calif., native has made three more starts this season, all at designated hitter.
Karraker caught three games in Portland last week, but his real work at the plate was done on offense. The sophomore hit .333 in the four games, and was responsible for Oregon’s game-tying and go-ahead runs with a two-run double to right center vs. Washington on Saturday. He currently leads the Ducks on the year with a .412 slugging percentage, 11 RBI, five doubles, six multiple-hit games and three multiple-RBI games.
FIRST OF MANY
Oregon began its modern era on Friday, Feb. 20 at Saint Mary’s, and the 2009 Ducks began to log some firsts for the program in 28 years...freshman left-hander Tyler Anderson will go down in the record books with the first pitch, first strikeout and first win on the mound...Senior Caleb Tommasini led off the game with the first at-bat and hit of the season, as well as the first walk drawn and the first run scored...The first RBI and double of the new era belong to freshman shortstop KC Serna...The first defensive assist and putout belong to freshman Danny Pulfer and Mitch Karraker....Jett Hart’s two-run triple in the fifth was the first triple of the modern era on Feb. 20, and in the first game of the Feb. 21 doubleheader, Hart slugged a two-run homer to left field in the fourth to go down in the record books...With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh on Feb. 20, junior left-hander Ryan Fleckenstein, junior catcher Eddy Rodriguez and freshman first baseman Darrell Hunter turned the first double play, 1-2-3, of 2009.
HOME OPENER
Oregon played its first home baseball game in 28 years on Friday, Feb. 27, christening PK Park and a soldout crown of 2,777 with a dramatic 1-0 victory over the defending College World Series champion Fresno State Bulldogs. A pitching duel between Oregon freshman left-hander Tyler Anderson and Fresno State’s Holden Sprague left the game scoreless headed into the ninth. Oregon junior left-hander Ryan Fleckenstein retired the side in the ninth to set up the Ducks victory. Junior catcher Eddy Rodriguez started the rally in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out single, and junior Jett Hart continued with another single that advanced Rodriguez to third. Senior Andrew Schmidt, pinch-hitting, secured the victory with a walk-off single to score the game-winning run.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Trailing Fresno State by eight runs entering the ninth on March 1, redshirt freshman Antony Kreitz entered the game as a defensive replacement in right field. In the bottom of the inning, the Eugene native received his first at-bat of the season and promptly made history. Kreitz hit the first-ever Oregon home run out of PK Park over the left field wall.
2008-09 ACCOLADES
The 2008-09 Oregon baseball recruiting class received two top-10 rankings during the fall. First, Collegiate Baseball’s annual evaluation ranked the Ducks’ recruiting class second in the nation, while Baseball America put Oregon’s class at No. 10.
The 2008-09 class includes nine players that were taken in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, but chose to instead attend the UO.
RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT PORTLAND CLASSIC AT PGE PARK...THE RETURN OF THE CIVIL WAR
Tickets for the historic return of the Civil War baseball series remain available through Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (503) 224-4400.
The second and third games of the series will be played at PGE Park in Portland at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 29.
Duck fans will be on the first baseline, and Beaver fans on the third.
The first game of the series will be played at PK Park on Friday, March 27, and is now sold out.
STANDING ROOM ONLY
Standing Room Only tickets for University of Oregon home baseball games are still available through the UO Athletic Ticket Office announced today.
Tickets can be purchased on www.GoDucks.com, via telephone (541-346-4461 or 1-800-WEBFOOT) and in person at the Casanova Center Ticket Building.
Standing Room Only tickets for all home contests will cost $8 each. Standing Room Only tickets for the matchups against Sacramento State and Portland will cost $6. There is a limit of four Standing Room Only tickets per customer per game.
For more information, please visit www.GoDucks.com or call 541-346-4461 or 1-800-WEBFOOT.
DUCKS ON CSNNW
The Oregon Sports Network announced that it will broadcast 13 games during the season.
“My staff, the student-athletes and the program are delighted about the news that OSN will be producing a 13-game schedule this season,” head coach George Horton said. “The University and the Athletics Department has made a great step to reach out to all of our fans.”
All 13 games broadcast during the year will be aired on Comcast SportsNet Northwest (37) as well as CSN’s new HD channel (737).
OSN will cover the entire season from March through May, broadcasting three non-conference games and 10 conference games, including the Civil War Series from PK Park and PGE Park.
Two Oregon opponents on the television schedule competed in the 2008 College World Series; Fresno State (March 1) and Stanford (April 4), with the Bulldogs winning the championship.
The first broadcast of the season will be March 1, when Oregon hosts Fresno State, the defending CWS champions, at PK Park.
OSN will also broadcast three games against opponents that competed in last year’s Regionals and Super Regionals; UCLA (May 3) and Arizona (May 23-24).
OSN’s first Pac-10 broadcast of the year will be the conference opener and first Civil War baseball game in 28 years, when the Beavers visit PK Park on March 27. Oregon will also broadcast the third game of that series, Sunday, March 29, from PGE Park in Portland.
