Every week during baseball season, our sports staff will discuss various topics surrounding an upcoming Oregon series. Today, sports reporters Chris Mosch, Andrew Bantly and Madison Guernsey discuss the implications of Cal State Fullerton’s sweep of the Ducks over the weekend and preview Oregon’s five games this week.
1) What’s your biggest takeaway from the Fullerton sweep over the weekend?
Mosch — Friday was ugly. But during the last two games, Oregon had a chance to win until the very end. Oregon’s a quality team and despite not being able to pick up a win during the weekend, they should be able to keep pace with Oregon State and UCLA come Pac-12 play. Matt Krook was impressive on Saturday despite not having his best stuff and could very well emerge as the team’s ace. The Ducks continued their aggressive baserunning over the weekend and for the most part, it paid off. There were multiple times that Oregon caught Fullerton off-guard with delayed steals that appeared to have the Titans somewhat rattled. Yes, Aaron Payne was caught stealing to end Sunday’s game, but it was a justifiable risk considering the Ducks were playing to score one run.
Bantly — The Ducks had their first big test this past weekend against Fullerton. Friday was an absolute disaster but in the final two games, the Ducks proved their ability to compete against the best. Though they didn’t end up with a win, they played really well on Saturday and Sunday and came up just short. On Saturday, the Ducks were feet away from a walkoff win against the Titans and against one of the most dominant closers in college baseball. So, though they were swept, the final two games showed that the Ducks can compete against a top team like Fullerton.
Guernsey — The loss of Cole Irvin is really going to hurt against the nation’s best and down the stretch. Oregon’s rotation has been a bit makeshift and inconsistent this season and Irvin’s 12 wins and 2.48 ERA from a season ago will be missed, as will his strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly 3-to-1. The Ducks’ staff has done a good job so far without Irvin, but until the rotation gets more solidified, Oregon has just two definite weekend starters in Krook and Tommy Thorpe. @@checked@@
2) Did the Ducks need a bump in the road like this in non-conference play?
Mosch — While being swept in your home park is certainly an eye opener, I don’t think Oregon needed Fullerton to tell them what kind of level they need to play at to make it to Omaha. This is a team that missed Omaha two years ago by the slimmest of margins and made an early exit during regional play last year. Oregon has limited the amount of miscues after every series this season. They’ve made less defensive errors after the Hawaii series and they avoided baserunning blunders against Fullerton that hurt them during the LMU series. The next task will be for the pitching staff to limit the amount of walks issued.
Bantly — Well before the Fullerton series, head coach George Horton talked about how that series will show where the team was at compared to top competition, competition similar to what they would see in Omaha if they get there. Yet, since it is so early, it shows where the Ducks need to be to get to the College World Series in mid-June. So I think this past series, especially because Oregon got swept, will set a standard of play for the Ducks on how they need to perform in order to get to their well specified goal: Omaha.
Guernsey — The Fullerton series was a definite eye-opener after Oregon swept two lesser-feared opponents. The fact that it was early in the season is a plus for the Ducks. With two more series until Pac-12 play begins, Horton and the coaching staff will harp on the little things like mental mistakes and fundamentals to ensure that Oregon is not only playing its best ball at the end of the season, but that its plays well enough in the mean time for the end of the season to matter.
3) Should the Ducks shake anything up in the rotation and/or lineup?
Mosch — A.J. Balta appears to have emerged as a starter for coach Horton and I would assume that he will get the most consistent playing time between himself, Austin Grebeck and Connor Hofmann once Scott Heineman returns. Horton has shown he isn’t afraid to play the platoon and utilize his deep bench, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hofmann and Grebeck split time until one of them runs away with the position. Porter Clayton will likely get a second start on Sunday against Ohio State and certainly doesn’t want to wait out another rain delay. Despite a rough outing against Fullerton, Clayton was dominant out of the bullpen early in the season and has a better repertoire than Oregon’s other options. He certainly deserves another shot to lock down Oregon’s Sunday slot.
Bantly — I have to assume that if Heineman returns to the starting lineup this week, then Hofmann will be the Duck to go to the bench. Hofmann is a great center fielder for the Ducks, but is struggling at the plate. The senior is hitting .222 and with Heineman returning at third base, that will push Mitchell Tolman back to first base and A.J. Balta with nowhere to go. Freshman A.J. Balta has been hitting well, not to mention almost hitting a walkoff on Saturday, and has been a strong six hitter for Oregon so far. Balta, who is normally a corner outfielder, would push Grebeck, who got time playing that position against Fullerton, to center. Overall, with Balta and Grebeck (hitting .364) in the outfield the Ducks have a better lineup, and Grebeck still can play a good center field defensively. @@checked@@
Guernsey — The lineup situation is tough because so many guys that play the same position are hitting well. Freshman outfielder Grebeck is hitting .364, but Kyle Garlick and Tyler Baumgartner are also raking in runs while Hoffmann provides more speed and defense. At shortstop, the loss of J.J. Altobelli has been a noticeable one. Kevin Minjares has already made four errors (.889 fielding percentage) and hasn’t found his swing (.167 batting average). Neither has backup Mark Karaviotis. The situation gets even trickier when Scott Heineman returns from injury. Heineman was one of Oregon’s best hitters last season, but is off to a slow start, hitting .161 through 31 at-bats. @@checked@@
4) How will the Ducks do against Seattle in Tuesday’s doubleheader and Ohio State this weekend?
Mosch — Oregon should be able to handle Seattle and Ohio State and I expect them to win both series. The matchup to watch this week will be Friday’s game when Thorpe will look to bounce back from his worst start of the season. He’ll face Ohio State ace Greg Greve (2.08 ERA and 0.81 WHIP in three starts).
Bantly— I don’t think Seattle will prove to be much of an opponent for Oregon in their doubleheader on Tuesday. Ohio State (7-3) hasn’t faced much competition so far this year, but the Buckeyes have played all their games on the road. But with the way Oregon played in the last two games against Fullerton, I think the Ducks should be able to sweep that series.
Guernsey — I think Oregon bounces back this week. They take two from Seattle on Tuesday and win two out of three against Ohio State in the weekend series. Clayton is projected to start Sunday in the finale of the Ohio State series, but struggled in his first start on Sunday against Fullerton. Jeff Gold will start game one against Seattle and could be ready by Sunday, which would give Oregon a better chance to win.
Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch
Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @abant3
Follow Madison Guernsey on Twitter @guernseymd
