The No. 9 Oregon baseball team welcomes the USC Trojans (22-21, 7-13) to the friendly confines of PK Park this weekend for the final home Pac-12 series of the year. @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html@@
Oregon (35-14, 16-8) is ranked first in the Pac-12 with just three weekends left in the season but the Ducks are sticking to the same one-game-at-a-time approach they’ve treated every game with. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205382700@@
“That’s been the formula that we’ve operated on all year,” head coach George Horton said. “And to do anything different than that, that would be my fault to let my players do that.” @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=11401&SPSID=94834@@
The series will be delayed a day due to graduation ceremonies at USC, something which head coach George Horton says plays to the advantage of a Duck team that played five games on the road last week. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=11401&SPSID=94835@@
“It might be a blessing,” he said. “We had a long week last week, a taxing week, and I think it’s fair to say that they used all their energy stores on Tuesday against a good Beaver team.”
Starting pitcher Alex Keudell has been the Ducks’ Friday night starter this year and while he admits he would rather the game be on Friday night, he says he’s attempting to tweak his practice schedule to trick his body into thinking Saturday’s start is just a routine Friday night outing. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=94833&SPID=11401&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=1599975&Q_SEASON=2011@@
“I’ve just got to try and compensate and adjust to the schedule and do what I do,” Keudell said.
Keudell will look to continue a fantastic stretch of his season in which he has won seven consecutive starts with a sub-1.0 ERA in that stretch. With the victory, Keudell would move into a tie for the Pac-12 lead.
In addition to Keudell moving his two bullpen sessions back a day each, the Ducks took a rare off day on Wednesday to capitalize on the extra day of time before the start of the series.
It’s also an extra day off for J.J. Altobelli, who will make his first start for the Ducks since April 16. Altobelli officially returned to the lineup on Tuesday as a defensive replacement but did not have an at-bat. The shortstop said the extra prep day for this series plays to his advantage. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=94833&SPID=11401&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204836035&Q_SEASON=2011@@
“I haven’t gotten a live at-bat in a while,” Altobelli said. “But I’ve been hitting in the cages and standing in the bullpen. My timing feels good.”
With the return of Altobelli and Aaron Jones a week ago, the Ducks have a little more normalcy in their lineup as they head toward the end of their season. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=94833&SPID=11401&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205072604&Q_SEASON=2011@@
“As the season gets towards postseason,” Keudell said, “it’s always good to get most of our starting lineup back.”
While the Ducks enter the series winners of eight of their last nine games, USC travels to PK Park on the second four-game losing streak of its season, but Horton was quick to point out the Trojans also took a series win from Oregon State. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=11401&SPSID=94835@@ @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/usc-m-basebl-sched.html@@
“Regardless of their record it’s still USC, and they’re a good baseball team,” Horton said.
The Trojans offense is not as intimating as the Arizona squad Oregon played last weekend, but USC pitchers have a staff ERA (3.27) that ranks third in the conference and Trojan pitcher Stephen Tarpley is one of just three pitchers in the Pac-12 yet to allow a home run this season. @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/tarpley_stephen00.html@@
“They’re gonna be a tough team like any other Pac-12 team,” Keudell said. “It’s gonna be a tough challenge.”
Oregon will host Seattle in a nonconference series next weekend before closing out the regular season in Corvallis with three games against Oregon State.