Head coach George Horton had a simple assessment after the Oregon baseball team fell 5-3 at the hands of Portland on Tuesday night.
“We’re not very good right now,” Horton said. “We have a moniker that we hunt and attack and try to control. We’ve got it
backwards: We swing at balls and take strikes.”
Indeed, Oregon’s bats struggled once again on Tuesday night in a fourth consecutive game with three or fewer runs. Marcus Piazzisi,
Aaron Jones and Ryan Hambright each managed two hits, but the rest of the team was rendered mostly ineffective from the plate.
“Our offense has been struggling a little bit lately all around the board,” Jones said. “Pitchers are throwing well, we just need to produce more runs.”
Junior starter Alex Keudell had a solid outing, lasting 6 1/3 innings and giving up three earned runs before being replaced by freshman Ryon Healy. The bullpen gave up two more runs in the seventh inning before junior Scott McGough came in to shut the Pilots out for the rest of the game.
It was not the bullpen’s finest outing, but freshman reliever Porter Clayton stressed that the unit is not worried.
“We’re not feeling shaky,” Clayton said. “We definitely have our mentality straight; it’s the baseball gods aren’t helping us right now … we’ll be OK.”
It was second baseman Riley Henricks who got things started for Portland in the first inning. The senior hit a solo home run to deep left field, making sure the Pilots made their presence known very early on.
It took until the third inning for Oregon to respond, as Jones hit a triple to drive Piazzisi in from second. Yet, it was the only run the Ducks managed through the first six innings. For Horton, this was unacceptable.
“The problem with getting yourself out early is not necessarily the outs,” Horton said. “The guy gets into the sixth inning with 75 pitches or something. We’re not putting a lot of pressure on the opposing pitcher.”
For his part, Jones recognized the same problem. The solution in his eyes is simple.
“Our motto is ‘control the controllable,’” Jones said. “You just have to go up there with an empty mind-set: Do your job.”
The Ducks managed to snap out of the funk in the bottom of the seventh inning. Finding themselves down 5-1 after a chaotic top half of the inning, they loaded the bases and finally forced Portland starter Kyle Kraus out of the game.
Having already reached base three times in the game, it seemed obvious that Piazzisi would hit against left-handed reliever Keeler Brynteson. Yet, Horton looked at the numbers and decided to pinch-hit Shawn Peterson in Piazzisi’s place. Peterson struck out, but Horton remained convinced it was the right move.
“He struggles against left-handers,” Horton said. “Shawn Peterson usually gives you a great at-bat, and he gave us a stinker.”
The strikeout was redeemed in part when Jones singled in a pair of runs, but the rally ended when sophomore catcher Jack Marder flew out to left field.
Despite threatening in the bottom of the eighth inning with two baserunners, Oregon failed to score again. The team went down in order in the bottom half of the ninth inning, and Horton was left to stare at a 4-4 overall record.
It is not the mark many expected for a team ranked No. 15 in the nation, and Horton pulled no punches in assessing the status of the team.
“Right now today, in what we’ve done on the field, we’re overrated,” Horton said. “Can we be a top 10 team? Can we go to Omaha? Absolutely. We have the ingredients.
“I go back to pointing the finger at myself. I’m the coach. Whatever inefficiencies that we have starts with me.”
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