The Oregon club baseball team ended the regular season in a big way this past weekend, sweeping last place Evergreen State College 27-3, 13-0 and 13-0 in Olympia, Wash. The Ducks finished the regular season 21-5 and 14-1 in the Northern Pacific Conference to wrap up their fourth consecutive league championship.
“We just went out there and did what was expected of us,” senior Bryan Hansen said.
As the scores indicate, the team put up huge numbers, outscoring the Geoducks 53-3. In the first game, junior Colton Grimes highlighted the offense with three hits, two runs and five RBIs. Oregon only had 12 hits, but it walked 19 times in a five-inning game.
Offensive highlights against Evergreen (three games)
Jeff Pollack: | 4-for-6, 5 runs, 8 RBIs, 3 BB |
Nick Johnson: | 3-for-6, 3 runs, 4 RBIs, 1 BB |
Colton Grimes: | 3-for-5, 2 runs, 5 RBIs, 1BB |
Tim Kasal: | 2-for-6, 4 runs, 4 RBIs, 3 BB |
Bryan Hansen: | 3-for-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs |
Grimes also started on the mound, going three innings and striking out four batters before giving way to juniors Jeff Rogers and Brad Terada.
The remaining two games featured pitching. Sophomores Kyle Knapp and Ross Tiernan combined to throw a one-hitter in the second game and juniors David Tinsley, Wataru Akaoka and freshman Dustin Tanquary threw a two-hitter in the series finale. From the plate, Hansen filled up the stat line, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs in game two. Sophomore Jeff Pollack and freshman Mike Loverro both got two hits in the last game of the sweep.
“Overall it was a fun and productive weekend.” Rogers said.
The wins wrapped up a dominant run for the Ducks, who hit their way to the conference title. Oregon has a .357 batting average going into regionals this weekend and it outscored its opponents 264-92. Junior Scott Marchione leads the team in batting with a .480 average, but he is only one of five Ducks hitting over .400 who have at least 20 at-bats.
Going into regionals, Hansen is confident the team is ready, saying that it is taking this week like any other week.
“It is really important that we treat this week just like any other week of practice. At the same time, we all know that this is the week of baseball we have all been waiting for. If we go into regionals and play our style of high octane ball, nothing will stop us.”
Oregon is the No. 1 seed in the Western Division and it is playing the No. 2-seed Utah State from the Eastern Division on Thursday at noon in La Grande. The Ducks go in as the favorite, but they can ill-afford to let up. Rogers says they can’t overlook anyone, but Hansen thinks the season has prepared them for this weekend.
“I really think our team is ready for whatever is thrown at us.”
Oregon will have a target on its back after winning another conference title. It is only a year removed from losing in the title game, and other teams will want to beat the Ducks, especially rival Weber State that Oregon beat on a walk-off home run last year to advance. Regionals is where the Ducks start their bid for a return trip to the National Club Baseball Association World Series, and Rogers says this is familiar ground for them.
“We know what it takes to get the job done,” he said.