The No. 24 ranked Oregon baseball team has some work to do.
The team is bubbling on the surface of staying afloat in the national polls after an up-and-down week. The Ducks (28-16, 13-8 Pac-12) lost two competitive midweek games to No. 2 Oregon State (35-9, 15-6 Pac-12), including the first shutout loss of the Mark Wasikowski era. They won the weekend series over Cal, but a catastrophic collapse on Sunday prevented them from sweeping.
Things don’t get much easier, with three more games against the Beavers this weekend in Corvallis.
“It’s just an in-state rival, and you want to beat your in-state rival,” Wasikowski said after the team’s second consecutive loss to Oregon State. “And so our guys are looking forward to getting on the bus. If we could go right now and play them tonight, I’d love to.”
The two matchups in Eugene saw flocks of Oregon State fans fill the stands at PK Park, possibly outweighing the green and yellow in the seats. Despite Oregon losing both games, the final out was met with cheers from the crowd each time.
“For two games here, the crowd that has showed up has gotten their money’s worth,” Wasikowski said. “It’s been good, clean baseball on both sides. It looks like two very good programs playing against each other, and that’s what I would think the fans of Oregon or anywhere else want to see when they’re in their rivalry game.”
The Ducks’ first shutout loss in over three years came after they shook up the top half of the lineup. Anthony Hall rolled his ankle in Sunday’s disastrous eighth inning against Cal, so he was moved to the DH slot on Tuesday. He wasn’t running at 100%, but he still gave Oregon some competitive at-bats.
“It takes a lot of grit, after you roll your ankle, to want to play and get back in that lineup, and try to help your team win and beat their in-state rival,” Wasikowski said. “He wanted to do that… For him to not use an injury as an excuse to take a day off, good for him.”
The Ducks also sat freshman first baseman Jacob Walsh on Tuesday in favor of the hot-hitting utility player Tyler Ganus. Ganus made solid contact multiple times but went an unlucky 0-for-4. After 26 collegiate plate appearances, he still hasn’t struck out.
“We put Tyler Ganus in the lineup because he’s been hitting better than Jacob,” Wasikowski said. “When you do better than somebody else, then they play, and that’s the way it is. We don’t promise anybody playing time around here. It needs to be earned. Jacob’s a hell of a hitter, and he’ll be back in the lineup I’m sure, in due time. He just hasn’t been going as good as Tyler Ganus has. We’re trying to play the best lineup we can to win a game.”
For each Tuesday game, Oregon’s Friday pitcher RJ Gordon said he was sitting next to pitching coach Jake Angier in the dugout, studying each opposing hitter with a chart. He only experienced the two games as an invested spectator, but he’ll be facing this Beavers offense on Friday.
“Yeah, it’s fun to play good games, but we lost. I’m pissed,” Gordon said. “So I’m ready to go in there and take three from them since they took two from us at our place.”
Gordon will have a tall task ahead of him this Friday when he goes against Cooper Hjerpe, one of the top pitchers in all of college baseball and a projected first-round MLB draft pick.
“We want to be the best team in Oregon,” Gordon said. “We are the best team in Oregon. And so losing to these guys sucks right now, but when we take three from them this weekend, I’ll be happy.”
Gordon said that starters Isaac Ayon and Jace Stoffal will also be charting with Angier. Ayon will chart on Friday in preparation for Saturday’s outing, and Stoffal will chart on Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s outing.
With the Ducks traveling up to Corvallis, they’ll face an even larger swarm of dedicated Beavers fans.
“It’s just preparing for a hostile crowd up there in Corvallis, just getting back to the basics,” Oregon outfielder Tanner Smith said of the team’s mindset.
The Ducks have a lot to play for. They’re tied with Arizona for third in the Pac-12, one game behind second-place UCLA and two games behind first-place Oregon State. This weekend could make or break their season if they want to win a Pac-12 championship.
“It’s kind of fun when it’s just you against the world,” Smith said. “I think that’s gonna be really beneficial for our team, not only this weekend but preparing for the postseason, playing in front of big crowds and people that don’t want you to succeed.”
