For most students, spring break meant a chance to relax from the grueling day-to-day grind of school. For the Oregon club baseball team, it meant eight games in seven days and a trip to California. It started on March 22 in Coos Bay with a doubleheader against Southwestern Oregon Community College. The team then played SWOCC three days later on March 25 in Eugene. The Ducks traded the cold weather of Oregon for the sunny temperatures of California after that, playing doubleheaders with UC Santa Cruz on March 27, and UC Davis on March 29.
Oregon broke out of its three-game losing streak in a big way, going 7-1 over the break and outscoring its opponents 63-28.
“Every year it takes a couple bad losses and a spring break trip for our team to gain some momentum,” senior Bryan Hansen said.
Hansen says the key to the team’s turnaround came from the entire lineup contributing.
“When the bottom half of the lineup hits just as well or better than the top, we become a team that is very tough to beat. Entering league play I feel very confident in our ability to play against the best teams in our conference.”
The Ducks started off by sweeping the doubleheader against SWOCC 5-1, 5-4. In game one, Hansen shut down the Lakers, going five innings and giving up no runs on three hits. From the plate, middle infielder Ben Woodcock had three hits in three at-bats and scored a run. Game two was much closer, but timely hitting and two RBIs from Hansen were the difference.
Two days later the Ducks played the Lakers again, this time in Eugene. SWOCC took the first game from Oregon 2-0, silencing the bats that had 15 hits the previous series. But the shutout did not break the team’s stride, and they bounced back, winning the second game 5-2 behind two hits from outfielder Nick Johnson, and the pitching of Mike Loverro, who gave up one run in four innings.
The team didn’t even take time to enjoy the three wins against SWOCC, traveling to the Bay Area to take on the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz.
Kyle Knapp pitched six scoreless innings in game one against Santa Cruz, giving up two hits in a 5-0 win. The second game was much of the same for the Ducks, who scored nine runs en-route to a 9-4 victory. Outfielder Corey Johnson led the way for Oregon, getting four RBIs to go along with two hits. Infielder Andrew Murphy and catcher Jeb Bumpas both had two RBIs as well.
Just northeast of San Francisco, the Ducks took on UC Davis. Oregon put up big numbers, posting scores of 19-12 and 15-3 in the sweep of the Aggies. Game one featured 17 hits by Oregon, led by third baseman Matt Zabriskie going 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Outfielder Jeff Rogers contributed three RBIs, going 2-for-5 from the plate. The finale of the week was a blowout by the Ducks, as the team hit from all parts of the lineup. David Tinsley went three perfect innings from the mound, striking out four batters.
The Ducks take their five-game winning streak into conference play this weekend at home against Eastern Washington University.