Oregon will enter the 2016 season ranked No. 14 in the preseason poll D1Baseball released Tuesday. The Ducks also ranked No. 14 in the Collegiate Baseball poll released last month.
The Ducks finished the 2015 season with a 38-25 record and snuck into the NCAA Tournament with two wins over No. 2 UCLA to close the regular season. They went 1-2 in regionals play and were eliminated in the first round.
Oregon has yet to qualify for the College World Series under manager George Horton, who took over the program when it was resurrected in 2009. The team has appeared in every NCAA Tournament since 2010 but made just one Super Regional in 2012, when it was the host team and No. 5 seed nationally.
Oregon returns seven starting position players to its roster, in addition to a formidable starting rotation featuring left-handers Cole Irvin, David Peterson and Matt Krook. Krook missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The Ducks will play 17 games against team ranked inside the top 25 of the poll, including 14 against teams ranked inside the top 12. Their first series with a ranked team comes March 11-13 against No. 15 Mississippi State.
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