So much for the notion that it would take Oregon’s baseball team several years to acclimate to competition in the juggernaut known as the Pacific-10 Conference.
Instead of struggling with normal growing pains after a 26-year hiatus from Division-I competition, Oregon is already among the nation’s elite teams — after only two seasons of play.
Oregon earned top-15 pre-season rankings from four of the more established college baseball polls: the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches’ poll, the Baseball America Preseason Top-25 Poll, the National Collegiate Baseball Association Writers’ Poll, and the Collegiate Baseball Top-40 Preseason poll. The team was also voted fourth in the Pac-10 in the conference’s preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Ducks coach George Horton admits Oregon’s rise has been even faster than he expected.
“The mission when we came up here was to build a legitimate baseball program, to operate at the highest level nationally,” Horton said. “I think we’re a little bit ahead of the curve.”
That doesn’t mean Horton and the Ducks are running from the higher expectations fueled by last season’s 40-24 record and abundance of returning players, however. Instead, they’ve accepted the challenge.
“A lot of people in a lot of different areas have worked to put us in this situation where we’re now respected nationally and now it’s our obligation to fulfill those expectations, and I embrace that,” Horton said.
Oregon’s players seem to be taking the increased attention in stride. They don’t plan on altering their style of play that has been successful thus far.
“Honestly, we don’t care about what people think about us,” said sophomore infielder-turned-catcher Jack Marder. “We know the kind of baseball that we play, which is hard-nosed, in-your-face, fast, great defense kind of baseball.”
And, borrowing from Oregon’s football team, the Ducks plan to take the season day by day, and practice by practice.
“We’re going to win today, we’re going to win this pitch and do everything we possibly can to prepare for the upcoming series,” Marder said.
There’s no question Oregon has the talent to win the day — and the game — more often than not. The Ducks return 12 position players and six position starters from last year’s team, including the leader in hits (KC Serna), stolen bases (Serna), doubles (Danny Pulfer), walks (Marcus Piazzisi) and triples (Piazzisi).
Infielder Shawn Peterson (who boasted a .350 average last season), outfielder Andrew Mendenhall (who hit .318 in limited duty) and infielder J.J. Altobelli, who was a Pac-10 all-conference honoree in 2010, also return.
Despite the abundance of offensive talent returning to Eugene, the strength of the 2011 Ducks resides in their pitching.
Last year, Oregon’s pitchers combined to register a 3.29 earned run average, good for second in the Pac-10 and third in the nation. Seven pitchers return from last year’s squad, including Baseball America preseason All-American Tyler Anderson, who had a 7-5 record and staff-leading 2.98 ERA as the Ducks’ No. 1 starter. Also coming back is the team’s bullpen ace, Scott McGough, who earned Pac-10 honorable mention honors after notching four saves and a 2.45 ERA last year.
McGough and Anderson are joined by Kellen Moen (5.1 innings pitched, 1.68 ERA in 2010), Joey Housey (3-2, 1.88 ERA), Madison Boer (3-1, 2.44 ERA), Christian Jones (2-2, 3.71 ERA) and Alex Keudell (5-6, 4.14 ERA).
Oregon’s season begins next Friday, Feb. 18, when the Ducks fly to Hawaii for a four-game series against the Rainbows.
Serna Suspended
Amidst excitement about the upcoming start of the season, Coach Horton announced that Oregon’s presumed starting shortstop, KC Serna, was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. While Serna will continue practicing with the team, there is no timetable for his return.
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