Harber Will Make First Start For Ducks on Friday Vs. ASU
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
All along, UO baseball coach George Horton figured his weekend rotation would eventually feature JC transfer Conor Harber along with veteran ace Cole Irvin and standout freshman David Peterson. As the Ducks play their conference home opener Friday night, the future is now.
With Sunday starter Jack Karraker sidelined by an arm injury, the inclusion of Harber into the rotation has been fast-tracked. The junior from Astoria, by way of Western Nevada College, will make his first career start Friday when the No. 15 Ducks kick off a series with No. 16 Arizona State in PK Park at 6 p.m.
Featuring a fastball with movement and a developing breaking ball, Harber is 3-0 with a 2.88 ERA in five appearances in 2015, all piggy-backing on starts by Irvin in his return from elbow surgery. Harber opened the year with 20 scoreless innings before allowing three runs in his final frame against St. John's at PK Park two weeks ago, and then five runs in 4 2/3 innings at Cal last week.
"Conor is a Friday guy, (or) has all the makings of a Friday guy," Horton said. "He's pitched extremely well for us. … We feel he's got Friday night stuff, and that this new role will not affect him; it will excite him. He'll step in and be the next Duck up."
Two years ago, Irvin set Oregon's single-season wins record, and he's been the Friday starter in the early going this spring, piggy-backed by Harber in long relief. But as Irvin's still on a pitch count while returning from Tommy John surgery, and with Harber needed to start in Karraker's absence, Irvin will move back to Sunday, to avoid taxing the UO bullpen right out of the gate in a three-game series.
"It's very exciting, if we're sitting 1-1, 2-0 or 0-2 (in the series), to hand the ball to a guy like Cole Irvin on Sunday," Horton said.
Harber's first career start comes at a potentially critical juncture in the season for the Ducks (14-6, 1-2 Pac-12). Two weeks ago, Oregon was a consensus top-10 team in the nation, flying high at 13-2 after a sweep of St. John's.
What followed was a 1-4 week, kicked off by a listless Tuesday loss to San Francisco, which completed a sweep of the midweek series one day later. Then the Ducks went to California, which won twice before Oregon salvaged a Sunday victory.
"We had a miserable week, there's no question about it," Horton said. "So for a lot of reasons, this will be an interesting weekend."
Arizona State sits one spot below Oregon in the Baseball America top 25, and is a battle-hardened team already. The Sun Devils' 12-6 start, prior to a Wednesday night meeting with New Mexico, included taking two of three from then-No. 5 Oklahoma State, one of three from then-No. 1 Texas Christian and, last week, two of three from then-No. 24 Oregon State.
ASU's Friday starter, Seth Martinez, ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in ERA at 1.61, and third in opposing batting average at .156. Offensively, the Sun Devils are hitting .305, which ranks 25th nationally.
But with due respect to Arizona State and its storied tradition, Horton is most interested to see what he'll get from his own team this weekend after last week's bump in the road.
"We just got knocked on our rear end," Horton said. "We hit for the five games under .200, our ERA was up close to 5.00 and we got outcoached. I'm going to take the bullet — it's easy to point fingers at the team and say they're not performing, but it starts with the head coach, and that's me. We need to get off the deck and do something about it."
After wrapping up a stretch of eight games in 10 days with Sunday's win at Cal, Horton hoped the onset of finals this week and the lack of midweek games would help the Ducks clear their heads for a couple of days. But also, he'd like to see the team maintain some momentum from the victory Sunday.
Horton has raved all season about his team's character and dugout demeanor, and he thought a rare slip took place last Tuesday, perhaps setting the tone for what became a 1-4 week. The Ducks will try to set a different tone Friday night against the Sun Devils, which kicks off another stretch of eight games in 10 days for Oregon.
"Every day we get a chance to be with this team, in practice or games, just about every time they have our respect," Horton said. "They get after it pretty good. There isn't a group of athletes I'd rather go to work and try to turn it around with than this 2015 Duck team."
