5 game week includes Pac-12 opener
Oregon wraps up homestand against San Francisco Tuesday and Wednesday: The Ducks will play a pair of games against San Francisco Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to California for their Pac-12 opener against the Golden Bears Friday through Sunday. The Ducks and Dons have met every year since the 2011 season. The Ducks won the first five meetings, including a 6-1 win in the 2013 NCAA Eugene Regional, before splitting a doubleheader at San Francisco last season. The matchup will include the return of outfielder Connor Hofmann to Eugene. The former Duck (2012-14), who is listed as a probable starter in right field, is batting .302 with one home run, two RBI and five stolen bases for the Dons.
Ducks open conference play at California this weekend: After playing a pair of midweek games against San Francisco on Tuesday and Wednesday at PK Park, the Oregon heads to the Bay Area to open Pac-12 Conference play this weekend at California. The Ducks dropped two-of-three games to the Golden Bears in their regular-season finale last season at PK Park. Oregon does lead the all-time series 23-22 including a series sweep the last time it visited Berkeley in 2013. In that series, Scott Heineman keyed Oregon’s effort batting .462 (6-for-13) with three home runs, six RBI and three doubles while scoring four runs. The Ducks outfielder was rewarded by being named the Pac-12 Conference Hitter of the Week. Oregon’s sweep of Cal was its first road conference sweep since 1976. The Ducks followed with another road sweep at Washington State three weeks later, while also sweeping UCLA on the road last season.
Ducks’ 13-2 start is best since return of baseball at UO: Oregon is off to its best start through 15 games since the return of the sport at Oregon for the 2009 season. The Ducks enter Tuesday’s game against San Francisco with a 13-2 record, one game better than the 12-3 start in 2012 when UO finished with 46 wins. Oregon started the 2014 season 11-4, while opening the 2013 and 2010 season 10-5. The 2009 and 2011 teams both were 8-7 after 15 games.
Oregon looks to stay unbeaten at home: The Ducks head into this week’s games with San Francisco with an 8-0 record. UO picked up a four-game sweep over New Mexico State in the home series opener in late February before handing Portland a midweek loss and sweeping St. John’s last weekend. SO OF Austin Grebeck leads Oregon at PK Park batting .360 (9-for-25) with a home run, a triple and a double while sporting a .484 on-base percentage. JR 3B Matt Eureste (.323), JR 2B Mitchell Tolman (.321) and SR C Shaun Chase (.300) are all hitting .300 or above, while Tolman (11), Eureste (9), Chase (8), Grebeck (8), JR 1B Brandon Cuddy (7) and JR DH/OF Phil Craig-St. Louis (6) all have at least six RBI at home. The Ducks have a .279 batting average at PK Park, while the pitching staff boasts a 2.54 ERA. The starters in the eight games have combined for a 2.23 ERA with JR RHP Jack Karraker (0.69), FR LHP Jacob Corn (1.29), SO LHP Cole Irvin (1.29) and FR LHP David Peterson (2.92) all owning sub-2.00 ERAs.
Ducks picked second in preseason Pac-12 Coaches Poll: The Oregon Ducks are picked to finish second in the 2015 Pac-12 Preseason Baseball Coaches’ Poll. UO received 84 points behind only preseason favorite UCLA. The Ducks won 44 games in 2014 before ending their season with a loss to eventual National Champion Vanderbilt in the Nashville Regional. UO returns five position player starters this season plus a starter from the 2013 season that redshirted last season. Offensively, the Ducks will be led by 2014 first-team All-Pac-12 players Shaun Chase and Mitchell Tolman who combined for 16 home runs, 48 extra base hits and 86 RBI. The Ducks will feature a young pitching staff with only one player having more than 10 Division I starts on the mound. Cole Irvin, a 2013 freshman All-American, returns from a redshirt season and should develop into the team’s ace as he returns to full strength around the beginning of Pac-12 play.
Ducks ranked in top eight of all six polls; move up to as high as fifth: Oregon’s series sweep of St. John’s led to Oregon climbing in five of the six national polls with an 11-spot jump in Baseball America (19 to 8). The Ducks also gained three spots in the USA Today Coaches poll (9 to 6), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll (8 to 5) and the Perfect Game poll (9 to 6). UO climbed one spot in the Collegiate Baseball poll (9 to 8) while maintaining a No. 8 ranking in the D1Baseball.com poll.
Oregon one of only eight teams to win 40 or more games in each of previous three seasons; Ducks fourth among those teams in total wins: Oregon is one of just eight teams in the country with a chance for a fourth consecutive 40-win season. The Ducks’ 44 wins in 2014 came after UO won a school-record 48 games in 2013 season after winning a then school-record 46 games in 2012. Oregon’s 151 wins since the beginning of the 2012 season are the fourth most during that time and trails only LSU, Louisville and Florida State on the total wins list.
Irvin has strong start in return to mound: LHP Cole Irvin has had a successful return to the mound through four starts after missing the entire 2014 season with Tommy John surgery. He has served as the Friday night starter during all four weeks of the season allowing just one earned run (0.60 ERA) on 10 hits in 15 innings pitched with 10 strikeouts. Irvin, limited by a pitch count, didn’t allow any runs on just two hits while striking out four in his first outing at Hawaii. He followed that with a three-inning stint at home against New Mexico State that saw him give up a run on three hits with a strikeout. In his next start, Irvin allowed one run on three hits in four innings. In his last start, the Ducks’ lefty allowed no runs on just two hits in four innings. Irvin will return to the mound this Friday when he makes the start at California. As a true freshman in 2013, Irvin set a school record in wins finished 12-3 with a 2.48 ERA in 16 starts. He tossed 116.0 innings, striking out 60 while walking just 22.
Chase named to Golden Spikes Award watch list: Oregon SR C Shaun Chase is one of 50 players on the watch list for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award. Chase, a first-team All-Pac-12 pick as a junior, was named to the list after putting together one of the top power seasons in college baseball in 2014. The Ducks catcher finished second in the country in home runs per at bat hitting a homer every 10.36 at bats, while tying an Oregon single-season record with 14 dingers. Chase, who led the Pac-12 in homers, ranked seventh nationally in home runs and home runs per game (0.26) while leading the Pac-12 in long balls. He batted .283, third on the Ducks’ team, while finishing with nine doubles and 37 RBI. His .634 slugging percentage set a new single-season record at Oregon.
Oh what a relief it is: Oregon’s bullpen has been exceptional through 15 games. The Ducks’ relief pitchers are 8-0 with a 2.11 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched. UO’s first five wins were credited to relief pitchers before SO RHP Trent Paddon got the win in Oregon’s 22-run explosion in a Feb 21 win over New Mexico State. JR RHP Conor Harber (3 wins) and SO RHP Stephen Nogosek (3 wins) each have multiple wins with Nogosek sporting a 0.00 ERA and Harber checking in with a 1.33 ERA after having his 20.1 inning scoreless streak snapped in last Friday’s win over St. John’s. JR RHP Josh Graham has become a force in the back end of the bullpen with a 1-0 record, a save and a 0.00 ERA in three appearances. Four (Nogosek, Graham, JR RHP Joe Reta, FR RHP Brac Warren) of the nine Oregon pitchers who have worked in relief have yet to allow an earned run out of the bullpen.
Cleavinger sets Oregon career record for appearances: JR LHP Garrett Cleavinger became the school’s all-time leader in appearances when he took the mound in Friday’s win over St. John’s. Cleavinger pitched in his 77th career game moving past Jimmie Sherfy, who appeared in 76 games from 2009 to 2011. Cleavinger added appearance number 78 when he picked up the win on Sunday over St. John’s. The win was his 13th, which ranks 10th all-time at Oregon.
Harber named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week: JR RHP Conor Harber was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for Feb. 16-22. Harber threw six no-hit innings of relief to help Oregon post its third come-from-behind victory of the season, 3-1 over New Mexico State in the Ducks’ home opener at PK Park on Feb. 19. It was the second time in two weeks the Ducks threw Harber in relief of Cole Irvin, who remained on a pitch count as he built up his arm strength. After five two-hit innings in a shutout of Hawaii to open the season, Harber upped the ante by going six against NMSU and not allowing a hit.
Slow starts, strong finishes: Oregon has struggled early in games this season. The Ducks’ opponents have scored first in 10 of the 15 games. The Ducks have been outscored 9-5 in the first inning and 8-7 in the second inning, but have been dominant from the fourth inning on outscoring their opponents 89-26 in the final six frames plus extra innings. Oregon has a 17-run (23-6) advantage in the eighth inning while outscoring its opponent by 15 (22-7) runs in the sixth inning and 10 runs (10-0) in the fifth inning. The Ducks, who have been outscored 17-12 in the first two innings, have matched its opponent’s third inning scoring (3-3).
Ducks schedule features 15 games against five teams ranked in preseason polls: Oregon will play 15 games against teams ranked in one or more of the preseason polls, with 12 of those games played at PK Park. The Ducks will meet their first ranked team on the road when UO travels to play at UC Santa Barbara during the season’s third weekend (Feb. 27-March 1). The Gauchos are ranked 16th in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll. The Ducks return home from UCSB to face St. John’s (Collegiate Baseball No. 29) in a three-game series (March 6-8) to make it six straight games played against teams in the polls. The Ducks host Arizona State (March 20-22) in a crucial early season Pac-12 series. The Sun Devils are ranked in every preseason poll and check in as high as No. 18 in the Baseball America poll. Stanford appears in three polls and will visit PK Park on May 1-3 with the Cardinal ranked as high as number 18 in Baseball America. The Ducks finish the season at home against Pac-12 preseason favorite UCLA with the Bruins boasting a top 10 ranking in four of the polls including a No. 4 ranking by D1Baseball.com, No. 5 Perfect Game, No. 9 USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 10 Collegiate Baseball and No. 11 Baseball America.
Ducks 20-12 all-time against ranked teams at PK Park: Oregon is no stranger to hosting ranked teams at PK Park. During the program’s five seasons playing in the park, the Ducks have played 32 games against teams ranked in the Baseball America top 25 and compiled an impressive 20-12 record in those games.
Ducks will play 20 TV games: The Ducks will make 20 appearances on television during the 2015 regular season. Nine of the team’s 31 games at PK Park will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks while six of the Ducks’ 10 Pac-12 series will have all three games televised. The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast all three games at Arizona (March 27-29), the three-game series against Washington (April 24-26) in Eugene, the three-game set at Washington State (May 8-10), the three-game series at Utah (May15-17) and the final series of the season against UCLA (May 22-24) at PK Park. Oregon’s three-game conference series against Oregon State (April 10-12) will also be broadcast with ESPNU televising the Friday series opener and the Pac-12 Networks carrying the final two games. In all, five Civil War games against Oregon State will be televised with the Pac-12 Networks broadcasting non-conference games in Corvallis on May 5 and May 19.
Three Ducks named to preseason All-America Teams: Three Ducks were named to preseason All-America Teams heading into the 2015 season. SR C Shaun Chase, JR INF Mitchell Tolman and SO LHP Cole Irvin each earned a spot on at least one of the preseason teams.
Chase was named to two preseason All-America Teams earning Louisville Slugger second-team honors from Collegiate Baseball and third-team recognition from D1Baseball.com. Chase, a first-team All-Pac-12 pick as a junior, was named to the teams after putting together one of the top power seasons in college baseball in 2014. The Ducks catcher finished second in the country in home runs per at bat hitting a homer every 10.36 at bats, while tying an Oregon single-season record with 14 dingers. Chase, who led the Pac-12 in homers, ranked seventh nationally in home runs and home runs per game (0.26) while leading the Pac-12 in long balls. He batted .283, third on the Ducks’ team, while finishing with nine doubles and 37 RBI. His .634 slugging percentage set a new single-season record at Oregon.
Irvin also was named to a pair of preseason All-American teams. He joined Chase as a second-team pick on the Louisville Slugger team, while also being named third-team by the National Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Irvin was named to the teams despite missing the entire 2014 season after suffering an elbow injury and having Tommy John surgery. The 6-foot-3 left-handed pitcher was Oregon’s Saturday starter during the 2013 season and finished with a school-record 12 wins while wrapping up his freshman season with a 2.48 ERA, a 12-3 record and four complete games. He claimed freshman All-America honors by both the NCBWA and Louisville Slugger, while earning honorable mention all-league recognition. Irvin claimed Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors twice, while being named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week once. He won both the national and conference award after throwing his first career complete game, a 6-0 shutout of Washington where he struck out a season-high 11. His second Pac-12 award came after he shut out Ohio State in a 4-0 win with seven strikeouts. Irvin was also named to the Eugene Regional All-Tournament Team after holding San Francisco to just one run on six hits with nine strikeouts. The Yorba Linda, Calif., native started the 2013 season as Oregon’s Sunday starter but moved to Saturday’s in early April. After the change, Irvin went 6-2 with a 1.92 ERA and three complete games in eight starts. He finished the season with seven straight quality starts, while tying teammate Tommy Thorpe with a team-high 12 quality starts during the season.
Tolman was named third-team preseason All-America by Perfect Game. The Ducks junior was named as a third baseman, the position he played for a bulk of his sophomore season. He batted .315 with two home runs and 49 RBI. Tolman also had a .438 on-base percentage and a .470 slugging percentage with 18 doubles and five triples.
Seven Ducks on D1Baseball.com’s list of Pac-12 top prospects: D1Baseball.com released its list of the Pac-12 Conference’s top 20 prospects per class in February and seven Ducks made the list. LHPs Garrett Cleavinger and Cole Irvin ranked among the prospects eligible for the 2015 MLB Draft. Cleavinger, Oregon’s closer, was the top ranked UO player at No. 5, while Irvin, who is battling back from Tommy John surgery, ranks 10th. Three Ducks who are eligible for the 2015 Draft made the list. Former first-round draft pick LHP Matt Krook, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and may miss the season, is ranked second while RHP Stephen Nogosek is ranked 12th in the class and SS Mark Karaviotis is 17th. D1Baseball also ranks the impact freshmen with UO LHP David Peterson checking in at No. 2 on the list and C/RHP Tim Susnara ranking 18th.
