One week removed from taking two out of three games from the then-No. 5 UCLA Bruins,@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&KEY=&SPID=11401&SPSID=94835@@ the Oregon baseball team travels back to California for a three-game set with No. 6 Stanford in Palo Alto.@@see above@@
The series features Oregon’s strong pitching rotation against one of the best offensive teams in the Pac-12.
The Ducks enter the game winners of seven of their last eight games and tied@@see above@@ with UCLA for second place in the Pac-12 with a 8-4 conference record.@@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/Baseball.aspx@@ The Cardinal looks to right the ship after being swept by Arizona two weekends ago — having won five of six games since then.@@http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/stan-m-basebl-sched.html@@
It’s the third-consecutive series against a ranked opponent for the Ducks,@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&KEY=&SPID=11401&SPSID=94835@@ a three-week stretch head coach George Horton said would show the team where it really stands in the conference’s pecking order — and whether they can threaten for the conference title.
Horton said high-profile matchups are a fact of life in a conference that currently has five teams ranked in Baseball America’s Top 25.@@http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/top-25/rankings/2012/2613235.html@@
“That’s why you come to the University of Oregon and that’s why I’m coaching here — to coach at Sunken Diamond against a team like Stanford,” Horton said.
The series opens Friday night, as Oregon’s Alex Keudell will put his 4-3 record and 2.06 ERA@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205382700@@ up against a Stanford team that ranks second in the Pac-12 in both runs scored and home runs.
“We do things creatively, and we manufacture runs and use the inside game,” Horton said. “Stanford goes up there with a bunch of physical guys and swings the bat.”
Stanford has seven players with a batting average of .300 or better and has a team batting average of .302.@@http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html@@
In addition to Keudell, the Ducks expect to start freshman Jake Reed on Saturday and Brando Tessar on Sunday.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205382700@@ As a staff, the Ducks’ pitchers have the second-best ERA in the Pac-12 at 2.93, but Stanford is right behind Oregon with a team ERA of 3.20.@@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/baseball/stats/2011-12/HTML/lgteams.htm@@
Oregon expects to face Mark Appel on Friday night;@@http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/041212aab.html@@ he is considered to be drafted early in the Major League Baseball 2012 Draft and has an opponents batting average of under .193.@@http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html@@
Facing a pitcher like Appel, Horton said it’s important to seize every opportunity.
“It’s very unrealistic to say that ‘We’re going to rake him’ and hit home runs and doubles and get 15 hits and get him out of the game,” he said. “You gotta find little chinks in the armor.”
The Ducks can do that, he said, by paying attention to the little things, like bunting and baserunning.
Just past the midway point in the season, Horton said he has noticed something different in the attitude of the 2012 Ducks. He says team chemistry seems to be stronger this year, and that’s paid dividends on the field.
“When they have that right mentality of driven and desire,” he said, “they can compete with anybody. The unfortunate other side of that is when they get lackadaisical and swagger sets in, and it starts to be overconfidence — then we can lose to anybody.”