Oregon baseball’s skid continues. The team was swept last weekend versus Michigan State and now welcomes Oregon State to PK Park for a weekend series. Emerald staff reportersKenny Jacoby and Andrew Bantly preview the upcoming matchup, offering insights, predictions and more.
With Conor Harber going down last weekend, the Oregon rotation is down  two regular weekend starters. Following David Peterson and Cole Irvin, who would you have round out the starting rotation?
Jacoby: With Joe Reta down as well, I suspect Trent Paddon will be the heir to Harber’s spot in the rotation. He started three games as a freshman and five this year, and Horton seems to have more faith in him than the freshman Jacob Corn. Paddon has the worst opposing batting average on balls in play (.415) on the team while Corn has the worst FIP (5.01). Either way, it should be… interesting.
Bantly: I’d give Cooper Stiles a shot. He’s different. With his near-submarine arm angle, he presents a different look. Not to mention he’s got a better ERA than both Trent Paddon and Jacob Corn – it’s not really close. He pitched four shutout, one-hit innings on April 7 against Portland in relief and came in when the Ducks were losing. He kept him in the game – something Corn and Paddon have failed to do on numerous occasions.
Oregon’s downward spiral hit a rare bright spot on Tuesday against Portland – a sign of better things to come?
Jacoby: Finally seeing Oregon capitalize on its opportunities was a sight for eyes. Still, I don’t put too much stock into the win. Portland came into the match-up last week having lost 13 of its last 14 games. This is a team that Oregon must beat — handedly — if it wants to stay up to par with its competition. I won’t be a believer until I see double-digit runs on the scoreboard versus a Pac-12 squad.
Bantly: So yeah, it’s Portland. Its 7-26 record entering the game can explain their sovereignty or lack there of. But wait, it beat Oregon about a week ago? In Eugene? Yeah… Listen, Portland, who scored six runs against Oregon in its previous meeting, was silenced offensively by the bullpen on Tuesday. Whereas Oregon knocked around 15 hits, including two home runs, and only struck out four total times. And the Ducks were sound defensively. To me, it’s a newborn baby-step in the right direction.
The all important question: who wins the Civil War?
Jacoby: Oregon State sweep.
The Ducks are far too cold for me to choose over a fundamentally sound program like Oregon State. They’ll need to play near perfect baseball to win, and their fielding percentage is worst in conference whereas Oregon State’s ranks 20th nationally. Oregon will face two of the best pitchers in the country in Eugene-native Andrew Moore and freshman Drew Rasmussen, who threw a perfect game not long ago. Oregon is hitting just .253 collectively and I don’t see this series being its turning point.
Bantly: The Michigan State series, among many, made me realize how un-godly my predications really are. I’m colder than Oregon baseball in March (7-11) after picking it to win two of three against MSU instead of getting swept, as what happened.  I have no idea now. Oregon could show up as the team it can (should) be or it could be the kind of team that loses to Portland and swept by San Francisco — both at home. Surely being wrong: Oregon State takes two of three.
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