The Oregon club baseball team (16-4 overall) keeps on winning no matter what the weather conditions are.
Last weekend the Ducks took three games from the Central Oregon Community College Bobcats, extending their winning streak to 14 games. Oregon outscored COCC in the first two games a combined 28-6 before winning the third game 14-13.
“The bats really showed up this weekend,” outfielder Cam Gaulke said.
But their bats were never missing, as the Ducks continued their offensive dominance from the past few weeks, getting 52 hits for a weekend batting average of .464.
Game one featured freshman Bennett Frazier on the mound for the Ducks. He went four innings, giving up two hits and one earned run with four strikeouts in the 15-4 win. Freshman Mike Loverro and junior Colton Grimes finished the game, scattering two runs over three innings.
From the plate, only two of 14 Ducks didn’t get a hit. Infielder Bryan Hansen and Gaulke led the way with three hits each and a combined seven RBIs. Junior Ben Woodcock also scored three runs.
In the second game of the doubleheader, third baseman Matt Zabriskie and Gaulke went 4-for-4 and 4-for-5, respectively. Catcher Jeb Bumpas added two runs and two RBIs, as the Ducks won 13-2. Hansen continued his success pitching, going six innings and giving up only two earned runs on four hits while striking out six Bobcats.
The finale on Sunday was a high-scoring affair, as Oregon’s pitching relapsed from the previous day. Sophomore Ross Tiernan started for the team, followed by David Tinsley, Evan Coller, Wataru Akaoka and Mike Loverro. Combined, they allowed 13 runs on 14 hits and five walks. The game was marked by a half-hour snow delay, as sub-freezing temperatures plagued the series all weekend.
First baseman Jeff Rogers said the conditions were brutally cold on Saturday as well, and the team huddled in its jackets between innings. But even the off day from the pitching staff couldn’t slow the Ducks down. Posting 17 hits in the seven-inning game, they rallied late to win 14-13. Junior Scott Marchione added to his batting average of .475, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and five RBI’s. Marchione leads the team in hits with 29 and RBIs with 28.
The team was happy with its performance against the Bobcats and is looking to keep its streak alive to close out the season.
“The games went well, albeit in sub-freezing weather. We put a lot of runs on the board, and the last game gave us a late game pressure situation and I thought we responded well. We hope to keep riding this momentum in our next couple series, then into regionals.” Gaulke said.
The cold April weather, although below normal for this time of year, is not unusual for Oregon. Many teams have to make up games from earlier in the season that were canceled due to inclement weather, making schedules packed close to playoffs. The Ducks still have a three-game series with Evergreen State College that was canceled the second weekend of the season, and as of yet no date has been set to make it up.
Next up for the team is a three-game series with Western Washington University on April 26 and 27 at Civic Stadium in Eugene.