The first year Mark Wasikowski coached at Oregon in 2012, the Ducks went 16-11 in conference play and hosted the Super Regional tournament, ultimately falling 7-6 to Kent State in a ninth inning walk-off. They would advance to the regional three of the following four years of Wasikowski’s tenure as an assistant coach, accumulating a .709 conference winning percentage in all five years.
Before that, Wasikowski made five regional appearances, a Super Regional appearance and a College World Series appearance in 10 years as an assistant coach at Arizona.
It’s the type of resume you look for in a new head coach.
Most of the players on the current Oregon roster, on the other hand, have little in the way of success at the Division I level. None of the current players have NCAA Tournament experience, and Oregon’s record since Wasikowski left to take the head coaching job at Purdue is just 34-55.
“What I see is a group that’s eager and lacks a lot of experience in terms of being successful at this level,” Wasikowski said. “Not all the way through, but in parts. They’re embracing that and understanding that’s just a fact. We get a chance to take those facts and make a positive out of them as much as we can.”
A new head coach and little past success means a blank slate for the Ducks. Everybody has an equal chance to play and prove themselves to the new coach — a coach that knows what type of players need to be on the field to win.
The roles set last year by coach George Horton are out the window; there are no favorites. It’s all about competition. And where there’s competition, there’s usually progress.
“When you get a new coaching staff in — even all the upperclassmen and sophomores and stuff — were all like freshman again,” sophomore infielder Sam Novitskesaid. “We gotta earn everything, come in here and keep working hard and try to earn our spots. You can really see the competitiveness that has gone about this ball club.”
The Ducks get somewhat of a fresh start this year, but given Wasikowski’s — or Coach Waz, as the players call him — history with the program, it won’t take him long to get acclimated, which means the team can hit the ground running.
Along with the coaching change, Oregon baseball is bringing in new technology to help with player development. This includes video improvements and advanced data analytics that allows players to break down their swings immediately after a round of batting practice or take a deeper look at pitching mechanics after a bullpen.
“With the analytics and all that with how the game is changing in that direction, for me personally, on individual swings knowing what I’m doing right or wrong and being able to feel it or repeat it is the biggest thing for me,” senior infielder Gabe Matthews said. “Just having numbers behind it is a big help.”
Matthews is one of just four seniors on the team this year and will be a go-to guy when it comes to leadership; he’s one of the few who has had past success. Matthews is entering his senior season tied for fifth in school history in on-base percentage at .389 and ninth in at-bats (580), hits (162), RBIs (87) and slugging percentage (.410). On top of that, he feels he has increased his ability to hit to the opposite field as well as improved his power to all fields.
He’s shown signs of early success this year. Through 11 games, Matthews is hitting .357 with four doubles, highlighted by a walk-off home run in the victory over Milwaukee on Feb. 28.
But what is perhaps even more promising is the potential of redshirt junior pitcher Kenyon Yovan. In 2017 and 2018, Yovan was nominated to the All-Pac-12 team and was the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week twice in 2018.
With big expectations for his junior year, he suffered a season-ending hand injury after pitching two innings in the season opener. Yovan sat on the bench and watched the rest of the pitching staff rack up a 5.93 ERA.
He stayed in Eugene for the summer, rehabbing and getting his strength back up, and it’s paying off. He’s hitting .462 this season and leads the team with two home runs.
“I’m going to go out there and continuously do what I can to help this program. I commited here for one reason: take this team to Omaha for the first time,” Yovan said. “Being an Oregon kid, nothing’s changed. There’s a reason I came back, and we’re gonna make it happen this year.”
Yovan is feeling the same competitive drive as the rest of the team. The Ducks don’t have much past success, but given a new coach, the return of a few key players, and the updated technology, this season has the looks of a turning point for the Oregon baseball program.
“Our team’s not going to be boring this year. We’re going to go out there and put it on people right away. Our foot’s not gonna leave the gas,” Yovan said. “If we’re up by 10, we’re going to make it 20, that’s what it’s gonna be. We’re gonna make a new style of Oregon baseball; we’re gonna go out there and prove a point that we can play with everyone in the country.”
