To call what Oregon did to Evergreen State’s pitchers on Sunday extended batting practice would be an insult to batting practice pitchers everywhere.
The Ducks (17-4 overall, 7-2 Pacific Northwest Baseball Conference) lit the visiting Geoducks up for 25-0, 31-0 and 17-0 wins in an early morning doubleheader at Sheldon High School and an afternoon game, played on the varsity field at Hamlin Middle School.
The best example of Oregon’s offensive onslaught came in the first inning of game two. During the nearly hour-long frame the Ducks sent 30 hitters to the plate and scored 22 runs on 13 hits, including six for extra bases. First baseman Travis Brown went 3 for 3 with five runs batted in and cleanup man Bryan Hansen had a double, a triple and a walk – all before two outs were recorded in the first inning. Catcher Brad Terada came to the plate four times during the frame. And this all happened with usual starters Cam Gaulke and Andrew Murphy sitting on the bench.
But the offense wasn’t the only thing shining for the Ducks on Sunday. Game one starter Jay Tlougan shined, blanking the Geoducks on two hits and eight strikeouts over four innings of work. The weekend also afforded Oregon the chance to give some fresh arms a chance to prove themselves. Murphy and Gaulke made their debuts on the mound, each tossing a hitless inning in relief of game two starter David Tinsley.
Gaulke said that he was pleased with his overall performance and although he came in during the last throes of a blowout, his outing was by design.
“(It went) fairly well, I was a little wild. I need to get ahead of batters and not go down 2-0 like I did on a couple of guys… Coach has been saying he’s wanted to get me in, get me a couple of innings, see what I can do and today was a good day to do that,” Gaulke said.
Another looming question after Sunday’s series is whether or not the Ducks’ bats will be affected by three games of pitching clearly beneath the level they will see for the rest of the year and into the postseason.
Brown doesn’t believe his team will have any trouble getting back to speed once it resumes play next weekend with conference foe Eastern Washington University.
“We practice soft toss versus pitching hard in the cages, so it’s kind of like we’re doing it every day. So, we’re used to it.”
After the three-game tilt with the Eagles, Oregon continues its tour of the Evergreen State with a second series with Western Washington to close out the regular season. Oregon swept a four-game set against the Vikings at Civic Stadium earlier in the season.
Twelve days after the season ends, regionals begin. If everything goes according to plan, Gaulke believes, Oregon should be a major player in the final outcome.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good shot. We’ve got to sweep our next two series, and then I think we can make some noise in regionals. We showed Western that we can take four from them. We’ve got to take it to Seattle in regionals.”
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