The No. 10 Oregon baseball team (27-12, 11-7 Pac-12) continues Pac-12 play this weekend with a three-game series against California (23-15, 7-8 Pac-12). Oregon enters the weekend on a three-game losing streak, but the Ducks aren’t ready to hit the panic button just yet.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205420154@@
“We’ll be fine, we’re just in a little funk right now,” senior catcher Brett Hambright said.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205072596@@
He said it’s important for leaders on the team, such as himself, to make the team’s younger players appreciate that.
“Baseball’s a weird game,” he said. “You can hit balls hard right at people and not get a hit; you can bloop-shot one in. You just gotta stay with it. You can’t get frustrated with it.”
California comes into the weekend one game under .500 in conference play, but the Golden Bears appear to be moving in the right direction, winning their last two series and six of their last seven games.@@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/cal-m-basebl-sched.html@@
“We already knew they were a college world series team last year and have some of the same personnel,” head coach George Horton said.
While he admitted that three wins against Cal would do wonders for the morale of a team riding its second three-game losing streak, Horton said he is first and foremost focused on taking care of business one game at a time.@@streak checked@@
“It’d be silly for us to talk about a sweep,” he said. “I’d like to start by winning on Friday, and we’ll worry about Saturday on Saturday (later).”
There is some good news on the injury front as Aaron Jones — who led the Ducks in home runs and RBIs before going down with an ankle sprain against Stanford — will return to the lineup this weekend, at least in a limited role. Exactly how limited, Horton says, depends on how Jones is feeling.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205072604 http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story_2nd.php?story_id=133515464842958200@@
“He’ll DH for a full three games if his ankle will allow him,” Horton said.
Shortstop J.J. Altobelli started preparations to return to Oregon’s lineup, hitting off a tee Thursday for the first time since injuring his shoulder in the game against Arkansas Pine Bluff, but Horton didn’t offer a date for his return.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204836035@@
Pitcher Brando Tessar, who began the year as the Ducks’ third starter, will begin making preparations to return to the rotation on Monday. Horton said that if he passes a medical test on Monday, there’s a chance Tessar could see limited action next weekend against Arizona.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205072830@@
While the Ducks are eagerly awaiting the return of players like Altobelli and Jones, Horton was quick to reiterate the mantra that the Ducks’ recent struggles aren’t due to injuries.
“It doesn’t take our first-string athletes for us to play good baseball,” he said.
Instead, he said, Duck batters need to be more aggressive than they were against Washington State — particularly as Sunday’s loss saw the Ducks being caught looking seven times.
“I was confused by that,” Horton said of the Ducks’ lack of urgency in the batters box. “I get it if a guy’s pitching good, you might strike out nine or 10 times — but not seven of them looking.”
Oregon will look to rediscover its offense beginning with Friday’s game against a California team ranked in the lower half of the conference in ERA and opponents’ batting average. But, as the Ducks know, no Pac-12 team can be taken lightly.@@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/baseball/stats/2011-12/HTML/lgteams.htm@@
“Certainly every conference team has that ability, and if they’re playing their best baseball, they can beat anybody,” Horton said.
After the weekend, Oregon will travel to Spokane for a pair of midweek games against Gonzaga. Next weekend, they fly to Tucson for a set with Arizona. It’s a long trip, but it’s all part of the job description for the Ducks.
“There’s nothing better than waking up and knowing that you get to play a baseball game,” Hambright said.