In The Dugout With The Ducks: Sights and Sounds From Saturday's Win At UCSB
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
This past Saturday began with the Oregon baseball team being pulled prematurely from pregame warmups because coaches didn't like the focus they were seeing. It ended a few hours later with the No. 20 Ducks posting a resounding 11-3 victory on the road against another ranked team, No. 22 UC Santa Barbara.
In between, the Ducks demonstrated the mix of talent, camaraderie, grit and resilience that has them poised to make the program's first push to Omaha for the College World Series under head coach George Horton.
Those traits and more were on display in the UO dugout Saturday. For a first-time observer, it was a revealing look at the makeup of this Oregon baseball team, which returns home to PK Park for a three-game series with St. John's beginning Friday.
PREGAME
When the team arrived at Caesar Uyesake Stadium in Goleta, Calif., the host Gauchos were taking batting practice. Once the Ducks unpacked their equipment, they had some time to kill. For a few, out came the football.
Nolan Ryan popularized the use of a football by baseball players. It helps with arm strength in the offseason, and reinforces mechanics in-season. At this point prior to Saturday's game, though, the Ducks weren't focused on much of that.
This was pickup football, with scheduled starter David Peterson taking snaps from catcher Josh Graham. Peterson was dropping back and — this is Oregon, of course — running the option out of a shotgun set with center fielder Nick Catalano and designated hitter Phil Craig-St. Louis.
It will be another hour or so before Peterson gets into his pregame pitching routine. He'll further pass the time shagging balls in the outfield during batting practice. Reliever Trent Paddon does so as well, by going to the ground to "body up" balls rolling to a stop with his chest or legs. After much prodding, he gets Peterson to do the same. "Attakid," Paddon says approvingly. "Body up."
Later, Paddon will be asked the explanation for trying to "body up" a baseball. He's mystified by the need for a reason. It's just another way for ballplayers to pass the time and stay loose, physically and mentally.
In front of the pitcher's mound throwing batting practice is assistant coach Jay Uhlman. With each throw, he coaches the batter on his swing — "Nice pass, Phil," he tells Craig-St. Louis — then turns to critique the infield defense. "The longer that thing's on the ground, the worse things can go wrong," Uhlman says, urging shortstop Mark Karaviotis to employ a quicker first step. Uhlman does all that while firing strike after strike.
After batting practice, the Gauchos return for "infield-outfield," relaying the ball in from the outfield and throwing it around to various bases. Then the Ducks do the same, looking to improve on a sloppy infield-outfield session prior to Friday afternoon's 5-1 victory.
"I want you to slow it down, and I want you to focus," assistant coach Mark Wasikowski tells the team. Unfortunately, Saturday's infield-outfield doesn't go much better. At one point, second baseman Mitchell Tolman — maybe the team's biggest "red ass," in baseball parlance — barks at the rest of the infield to tighten it up. Finally Uhlman has seen enough, and cuts the session short before angrily expressing his frustration in the dugout.
Wasikowski addresses the UO position players again prior to first pitch. "There's nothing scientific going on now," he tells them. "You've got to see if you can show up mentally now — more focused." (The Ducks will go on to commit just one error in the game, after they'd taken an 8-2 lead. The runner is wiped out by a double play.)
The vibe is better in the bullpen, where Peterson is getting loose under the watchful eye of pitching coach Dean Stiles.
The heralded recruit has had two good starts already, but has yet to get enough offense to earn a victory. In the days leading up to Saturday, Peterson has rediscovered his slider, and that pitch plus Peterson's two-seam fastball have Stiles encouraged in the bullpen. "That's as good as I've seen you, Petey," Stiles says. "As good as I've seen you."
After his warmup pitches, Peterson takes a few minutes to focus his thoughts.
As the minutes tick down to first pitch of the second game in the series between Oregon and UCSB, things looks good for the Ducks from a pitching perspective, at least.
FIRST INNING
In a baseball dugout, chatter in the early innings revolves around two subjects: the repertoire of the opposing pitcher, and the vagaries of the home-plate umpire's strike zone.
Third baseman Matt Eureste singles to lead off the game, but the Ducks then go down in order. Between innings, Eureste and Tolman trade impressions of UCSB starter Shane Bieber.
In the bottom of the inning, Peterson hits the leadoff batter, and the Gauchos use a single and a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead, their second of the series. Peterson strikes out two of the last three hitters, but he doesn't get every call. "This umpire isn't giving anything down (in the zone), either way," says Tolman, who has both taken an at-bat and observed the strike zone from his position at second base.
"He's throwing strikes," Tolman says of Peterson.
SECOND INNING
Karaviotis, who has been scuffling at the plate to start the year, singles in the top of the second. He's stranded, though, and takes his position at shortstop in the bottom of the inning.
The first batter drives a ball low and hard up the middle. Karaviotis ranges behind second base, dives and leaps to his feet to throw out the runner.
"Hell of a play," Wasikowski says after the inning. Uhlman harped on Karaviotis having a quicker first step prior to the game, and perhaps it paid off here. "Last year, no shot," a teammate says. Another agrees: "That ball's through."
THIRD INNING
After the Ducks go down in order, UCSB opens with a chopper high over Eureste's head, down the third-base line. The base umpire signals fair ball while leaping out of the way, causing the UO dugout to protest that the fair-foul call should have been made by the home-plate umpire.
Horton at least is able to goad the crew into discussing the play, before letting it stand. He doesn't win this battle, and the Gauchos eventually tack on another run. But perhaps Horton has at least been able to plant a seed with the umpires that could serve the Ducks later.
FOURTH INNING
Now down 2-0, the Ducks are in the not unfamiliar position of having to come from behind. It's something they've done several times already in 2015, including the day before. So spirits remain high. "Hey, keep grinding out there," backup outfielder Spencer Smith says. "Let's go."
Tolman responds with a leadoff single. Catcher Shaun Chase then beats out an infield hit to the shortstop, who had to range deep in the hole. "Good job, wheels!" someone hoots from the dugout. Horton, however, doesn't miss a thing. The first baseman is trying to bait Chase into stepping off the bag. "He's got the ball!" Horton yells.
Up next is first baseman Brandon Cuddy, who drove in the winning runs Friday. He's tasked with bunting the runners over, but can't get one down. Swinging away with two strikes, Cuddy gets a nice consolation prize: a two-run triple just inside the left-field line. He scores on a sacrifice fly by Craig-St. Louis, and the Ducks lead, 3-2.
Peterson gets the first two hitters in the bottom of the inning before walking the third. "Absolutely nothing to lose by running here," Uhlman yells, warning the UO defense to be alert for a stolen base attempt. "With an 'absolutely' for good measure!" Wasikowsi crows, acknowledging Uhlman's usual coaching point in that situation, and also some sort of inside joke between the two — of which there are seemingly thousands.
Two pitches later, the runner breaks for second, and Chase throws him out. Point taken, coach.
FIFTH INNING
With two on and one out, Tolman is intentionally walked. Like anything else, it's a chance for the dugout to have some fun with a teammate. "Nice eye, Mitch, good boy, great at-bat," a teammate says earnestly while clapping his hands, rich with sarcasm.
Now the bases are loaded for Chase, who hits another groundball to shortstop. It's a tailor-made inning-ending double-play ball — until Eureste gets tangled up with the fielder and is ruled out for interference. The runner who scored has to return to third base, but the inning continues with the bases loaded. Cuddy follows with a grand slam, breaking the game open.
In the dugout, backup catcher Tim Susnara — who will start Sunday's game — has his chest puffed out. He predicted Cuddy's home run. "I'm gonna put that on my résumé," he says. "'What did you bring to the team this year?' I called home runs. No big deal."
SIXTH INNING
For the second time, Peterson hits the leadoff batter, and the Gauchos load the bases with two one-out singles. Freshman Brac Warren had been throwing in the UO bullpen, given the comfortable 8-2 lead. But with UCSB threatening to put up a crooked number, the veteran Paddon gets loose in a hurry.
A fielder's choice brings in the third run for UC Santa Barbara. With two out and the bases still loaded, Peterson coaxes a groundball out, and the Ducks are out of the inning. They'll answer in the bottom of the sixth when Catalano triples and scores, on a sacrifice fly by Austin Grebeck that would have gone for extra bases if not for a tremendous diving catch.
SEVENTH INNING
The Ducks go down quickly in the top of the inning, and Peterson shakes hands all around after being told he's done for the day. Paddon will replace him for the bottom of the seventh.
The inning begins with two groundball outs to third base. On one of them, the first baseman Cuddy has to pick the baseball out of the dirt to complete the play. On Friday, Karaviotis was credited with two throwing errors on balls Cuddy later admitted he should have been able to pick for outs. Prior to Saturday's game, he had his former junior college teammate Craig-St. Louis throw him short-hoppers (below). The extra work pays off later during the game.
The third out in the bottom of the seventh is a strikeout looking for Paddon.
The big right-hander was in the starting rotation to open the season, but after two inconsistent appearances he was relegated to the bullpen. This was his first relief effort of the spring, and the 1-2-3 inning is an encouraging sign. "There he is!" one teammate shouts as Paddon returns to the dugout. "Welcome back, Trent," yells another. A third says simply, "He's ba-aaaack ..."
EIGHTH INNING
Both pitchers face the minimum. Paddon ends the top of the inning by pouncing on a bunt up the third-base line, wheeling and throwing to first for the out.
"Look at the big cat move!" a teammate hoots. "That's an athlete right there, baby."
NINTH INNING
Cuddy drives in his seventh run of the day, and Craig-St. Louis follows with an RBI double to make it 11-3. But the real winner of the late innings is student manager Nolan Rogers.
In the dugout, the Ducks store the baseballs they use for practice in cylindrical bags sturdy enough to remain upright even when empty. When full of balls, they make a handy stool. When empty, they're the perfect prop for a prank.
Rogers sits on one bag, filled with balls, and stands up an empty bag next to him. Then, he offers the seat to Peterson. The big lefty is a few outs away from earning his first victory as a college pitcher, but first he finds himself squatting to take a seat next to Rogers, then falling on his backside as the empty bag collapses beneath him.
That corner of the dugout erupts in laughter. "Just making sure he stays humble," UO left-hander Cole Irvin says with a smile. Peterson can at least take heart in the fact he was the second of three different Ducks who fell for the same trick late in the game.
POSTGAME
The Ducks have wrapped up an 11-3 win, their eighth in a row and second straight over UCSB. They did so by being mentally tough enough to overcome the sloppy pregame warmups, by being resilient enough to weather the early 2-0 deficit and thanks to chemistry that helped them string together both hits on offense and one-liners in the dugout.
Afterward, the entire staff offers its thoughts on the game. "I just hope you're not content," Stiles tells them. "I know you're not. I just want to re-emphasize that."
Over the course of this Saturday, the Ducks demonstrated repeatedly their ability to take coaching and improve. This is one point they'll have to take to heart all season, for weeks and weeks of Saturdays to come.
