Behind the right arm of Jordan Stephens, the no. 2 seed Rice Owls beat the tournament no. 1 and national no. 8 seed Oregon Ducks 1-0 Saturday night at PK Park to take control of the Eugene Regional. Stephens struck out a career high 11 batters while allowing just two hits in a complete game shutout.
Oregon plays San Francisco on Sunday at noon in an elimination game. Should the Ducks win, they would have to beat Rice twice to advance to the Super Regionals. George Horton has slotted freshman lefty Cole Irvin to start against USF in tomorrow’s contest.
Oregon State defeated Oregon 9-0 Saturday in the second game of the Civil War series. Andrew Moore was phenomenal for the Beavs in Saturday’s game; The freshman Eugene native pitched a complete game two hitter in the win.
Cole Irvin was solid for the Ducks, battling the flu, allowing 2 runs in 7 innings. The bullpen struggled for the Ducks, allowing 7 runs in relief.
PHOTO CREDIT: Stanford Daily Stanford ace Mark Appel is projected by many experts to be the first player selected in this year’s MLB Draft.The 13th ranked Oregon baseball team hosts no. 21 Stanford this weekend in a three game series at PK Park. The DuckTV Sports staff takes a closer look at this Pac-12 battle.
In the past two series’ Coach George Horton made Tommy Thorpe the Friday starter, replacing Jake Reed. Do you think this is a permanent switch and if so is it a good move for the Ducks?
Ryan Rouillard: Jake Reed had his chance and he blew it. After spending about a month and a half as the Friday starter, Reed clearly didn’t show enough to justify leaving him in the Friday hole. One of his biggest issues was his mental composure. He would constantly let the one big inning get to him and ruin the rest of his outing. Tommy Thorpe and Cole Irvin have shown not only the skillset, but the mental makeup, to justify their promotion to Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Nick Rockwell: Tommy Thorpe I believe will be the opening series starter for the remainder of the year. He has one win and one loss in his two starts when pitching on Friday but the loss came against UCLA which was a 1-0 battle and the only run of the game was unearned.
Shannon Hartley: Both Jake Reed and Tommy Thorpe are magnificent arms up on the mound. Though Reed is definitely the more decorated pitcher, I think that Coach Horton will ultimately go with which ever pitcher has the hot arm. As of right now, it makes sense to move Reed to the Sunday spot given his struggles and grant the two hotter pitchers, Thorpe and Irvin, the Friday and Saturday gigs.
Anthony Piganelli: As I said earlier in my most recent blog post, this is an excellent move for Horton and the Ducks. Reed looked shaky and uncomfortable as the Friday starter for much of the season. Thorpe brings a more composed and controlled presence to the table and his fastball is much sharper than Reed’s. As for whether or not this will be a permanent switch, that will remain to be seen throughout a few more series.
Stanford boasts an impressive pitching staff led by highly regarded MLB prospect Mark Appel. What player(s) are going to have to step up in the Ducks lineup for Oregon to win the series? PHOTO CREDIT: OregonLive.com Ryon Healy leads Oregon in batting average (.352), slugging percentage (.594), on base percentage (.417), hits (58), doubles (13) and home runs (9).
RR: The team leader in walks (20) and hit by pitches (11), Aaron Payne has shown a knack for getting on base without using the bat. And with Mark Appel and Stanford’s dominant pitching staff coming to Eugene, this already-sub-par offense will have to find ways to get on base. Ryon Healy and Scott Heineman can’t be relied on to provide the big bats all weekend long.
NR: Ducks such as Aaron Payne, Brett Thomas and Connor Hoffman will be the key factors who will need to step up their game to beat the Stanford Cardinal. Ryon Healy will have to bring his A game like he has all season. It will be a tough task for the Ducks but those will be the guys who need to step up to be victorious.
SH: Ryon Healy has to be the one to get the bats going for the Ducks. Healy is the guy that sparks this team on offense and he will need to do so against Appel this weekend. This game could turn into a pitching fest, which means all hits will be crucial. Healy needs to step-up once again to give the Ducks the edge.
AP: Mark Appel, who was recently named a senior class award finalist, is a very talented pitcher who is 7-2 on the year and boasts a 1.54 era. With this in mind, the Ducks need to find a way to get offensive production from a good portion of their lineup if they want to win this game. Scott Heineman will be an interesting player to watch for Oregon due to his 0-9 slump against UCLA in the first two games before finally rebounding in the third. If he can transfer that momentum from the third game of the series along with some steady play from hitters such as Aaron Payne, and the usually hot Ryon Healy, the Ducks should be in good shape.
Who do you predict to win this series and why?
RR: As most Pac-12 teams will attest to, you can essentially pencil in a Stanford win on Friday with Appel on the mound. The Ducks have shown that they can be offensively explosive on Sundays, but how will they do on Saturday? Cole Irvin always gives this team a chance to win when he is on the mound, but his offense continues to find ways to not give him run support. I see that trend holding. Stanford wins this series, 2-1, leaving the Ducks still in search of a signature series win.
NR: I believe the Ducks will win the series because they are playing well despite losing 2 of 3 to the Bruins last weekend with both losses being 1-0. Despite limited success in the W/L column, their recent adjustments to the pitching rotation have paid off quite well. I see the offense getting going on Saturday and Sunday and the Ducks taking the last two games of the series.
SH: Stanford beat the Ducks in football this season and in basketball once. I think they will pick-up another win like they did in the other two sports, but Oregon takes the series 2/3.
AP: I believe the Ducks will take the series two games to one against the Cardinal at home because of their solid pitching staff. The hitting will bounce back after a rough series against UCLA and will provide plenty of run support for Thorpe and company. Look for Oregon to take games one and three, with Stanford sneaking in a win on Saturday.
For continuing coverage of this series and all other Oregon sports, stay tuned to the DuckTV Sports blog and look for this week’s episode set to air on Wednesday night.
The 13th ranked Oregon baseball team clinched a series victory over no. 21 Stanford with a 6-4 win on Saturday afternoon in Eugene. UO junior Ryon Healey went 3-3 at the plate with two opposite field home runs. The Ducks got off to a quick start, scoring all six of their runs in the first four innings. Both of Healey’s blasts were two-run HR’s, the first shot coming in the first inning and the second in the fourth.
Oregon freshman pitcher Cole Irvin (8-2) gave up four runs and 10 hits through seven innings. Closer Jimmie Sherfy retired Stanford’s final six batters to earn his 14th save of the season.
The Oregon Baseball team concluded their first home series of the season with a 6-1 victory over LMU on Sunday at PK Park.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, Oregon DH Tyler Baumgartner launched a double over the left fielder’s head, clearing the bases. Baumgartner’s first career hit was part of a four run sixth inning that would put the Ducks ahead for good. Oregon earned two insurance runs in the 7th inning without recording a hit in the frame.
Highly regarded freshman southpaw Cole Irvin (2-0) earned the win, allowing just one run in eight innings of work. The Ducks (6-1) host the University of Portland on Tuesday before hitting the road for a weekend series against George Horton’s former team, Cal State Fullerton.
