The two-strike approach is a difficult transition for batters to make. The changes made can vary from “choking-up” on the bat, shortening the stride or shortening the swing to make it more of a slap swing than a full swing. On a beautiful Saturday afternoon at PK Park, the Oregon baseball team found a way to make the two-strike adjustment early in the game, which it won 7-2.

“We’re tough outs,” head coach George Horton said. “Up and down the lineup we have tough outs and they know their limitations and they know their strengths.”

They were making this adjustment against USC starting pitcher Bob Wheatley who, entering the game, had a 0.35 ERA. Wheatley went just three innings on Saturday, throwing 69 pitches. The Ducks were locked in on Wheatley and his plan and battled throughout their at-bats.

“We get deeper into counts, explored more pitches,” freshman A.J. Balta said. “The more you see it the better you can do.”

With Wheatley on the mound, the Ducks had seven hits and scored five runs (all earned). Five of those seven hits came in a two-strike counts.

“I thought we were locked in,” Horton said. “We challenged our guys that they are going to have to recognize how he (Wheatley) pitches.”

A two-outs, two-strike at-bat from Jack Kruger opened the scoring for the Ducks in the second. Kruger was in the box with a 2-2 count after fouling off a couple of pitches and taking a tough 1-2 slider that just missed the strike zone. Then, he found his pitch and hit a double to deep left field over Garrett Stubbs’ head to score Kyle Garlick from second.

With Mitchell Tolman at the plate in the bottom of the third, he got a two-strike opportunity with runners on base. In the at-bat, Tolman fouled off three pitches and took a sharp slider just outside the strike zone for a ball. Tolman got his pitch on a 2-2 count with Aaron Payne on third and Tyler Baumgartner on first. Tolman hit a double to right field to score the two runners.

“We’ve been trying to cut back on strikeouts and just putting the ball in play and that’s what I did in that at-bat,” Tolman said. “Just to stay short to it.”

Oregon’s first three runs were scored on two-strike hits.

It was the two-strike approach that got the Ducks on the board early in this game. Their patience forced Wheatley out of the game and adjustments gave starting pitcher Matt Krook an early lead that neither he nor the bullpen would relinquish.

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In its first Pac-12 matchup of the year, the Oregon baseball team (12-4) will host USC (9-6) for a weekend series starting Friday, March 14. While USC does not appear to be tough competition compared to other Pac-12 schools according to the Pac-12 Coaches Poll, Oregon will see one of the best pitchers of the year so far.

Oregon head coach George Horton said the USC starting rotation is a “solid three” on Wednesday.

With the beginning of Pac-12 play, Horton says he likes where the team is, though he’d rather be undefeated. But with the beginning of conference play, Oregon expects each and every series to be tough and competitive.

“That’s what makes the league so intriguing,” Horton said. “You better be ready to compete each and every weekend.”

Senior Bob Wheatley (2-0) will be the Saturday starter for the Trojans and, through 25.2 innings, holds a 0.35 ERA. Wheatley has shown great command at times in his career, allowing just one walk in six of his starts last year and allowing none in starts against Washington State (6.0 innings pitched), Oregon St. (6.0 IP), and Utah (2.0 IP). Wheatley will be matched up against Oregon’s Matt Krook, who has been struggling with his command.

Horton refers to Krook’s struggles as the “Krook equation,” which he is still trying to figure out. Krook only allowed one run in his 5.1 innings, to go along with 10 strikeouts, last weekend against Ohio St. However, he walked six batters. Horton talked about how his pitch calling might need to change to call the better pitch, instead of the swing-and-miss pitch.

Tommy Thorpe bounced back last weekend against Ohio State. He pitched seven scoreless innings on two hits and struck out a career-high ten batters. Of the weekend starters this season, Thorpe is the only one that started against the Trojans last season.

Thorpe will be matched up against junior Wyatt Strahan. Strahan (0-2) has struggled this season so far with a 4.74 ERA and has given up six extra base hits in his 24.2 innings pitched. But Strahan has shown dominance this past year, having the lowest ERA last season for the Trojans (2.45 ERA) in 13 appearances (12 starts).

On Sunday, the Trojans will give the ball to sophomore Kyle Twomey (0-1). Last year, as a true freshman, Twomey started 13 games and led the Trojans with 50 strikeouts. Though Twomey finished 2-8 with a 5.55 ERA.

It was a “no-brainer” for Horton to choose Jeff Gold (4-0) to stay as the Sunday starter for the USC series. His last outing came on Sunday against Ohio State when he pitched eight innings with a career-high eight strikeouts. With a 2.52 ERA, the redshirt senior leads the nation in wins. The total is the same amount of wins he possessed after the entire 2013 season. Gold is a strike-thrower who commands four different pitches. At the rate Gold has been pitching, this season could be the best of his career.

“I think he’s passed almost every single test thrown his way in his five-year, four years of playing,” Horton said about Gold.

The Trojans offense is led by seniors Kevin Swick and Jake Hernandez. Both seniors are hitting .400 or above so far on the season and combine for nine doubles. Junior Garrett Stubbs and sophomore AJ Ramirez are also hitting well so far this season, batting .309 and .341, respectively. Freshman Frankie Rios has taken over at shortstop due to the injury to Blake Lacey and despite hitting just .182 so far, he is a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts.

Noteworthy:

– On Wednesday, Horton talked about how the catching position is still up in the air. However, Jack Kruger did impress Horton in the Friday and Saturday games defensively. Josh Graham played Sunday against Ohio State, going 2-for-5 with three runs scored. ”The players will indicate who deserves the playing time the way they perform in practice and when they get their opportunities in the game,” Horton said.

– Scott Heineman’s status for the USC series is still undetermined, Horton said on Wednesday. Heineman hasn’t played since Feb. 23 against LMU. Horton did say that Heineman is “doing more and more each day.”

– Horton was happy with the two wins last weekend against Ohio State, saying they were “probably the most spectacular two games since I’ve been here as far as quality at-bats.” Between the Friday and Saturday games against Ohio State the Ducks scored 28 runs.

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On a cloudy and, at times, rainy day at PK Park, the Oregon baseball team scored the most runs in program history since its reinstatement in 2009, beating Ohio State 20-4. In four innings the Ducks scored four or more runs, including a seven-run third inning. This was all backing up Jeff Gold, who made his weekend debut this season since the Ducks have been trying to find a way to fill the hole left by Cole Irvin, who’s out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

“That was one of his sharpest outings and his fastball command was outstanding,” head coach George Horton said.

Gold pitched game one of the doubleheader last Tuesday where, again, his offense gave him great run support. Gold said the short rest didn’t have any effect on his routine and preparation for Sunday’s game. Gold was backed by an offense that, when he left the mound at the end of the eighth inning, scored 20 runs on Sunday.

“It always makes it easy,” Gold said. “It motivates me to get back in there (the dugout) so we can keep putting up numbers.”

Led by third baseman Mitchell Tolman, the Ducks scored the most runs since 1979. Tolman had six RBIs and went 3-for-6 on the day. But the runs just wouldn’t stop for the Ducks. Oregon had three other players with three or more RBIs, one of whom was ninth place hitter Mark Karaviotis.

“That’s a bunch of runs,” Horton said. “Our guys had a pretty good balance in waiting for the right pitch.”

The Buckeyes went through seven pitchers in this game, none of which pitched two innings or more. One of the Buckeyes to throw today was junior Trace Dempsey. Dempsey, a unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection, gave up the grand slam to freshman A.J. Balta in the eighth.

“They had some good arms come in but they didn’t pitch,” Horton said. “Typically the Ohio State bullpen is pretty good.”

In total, the Ducks collected 13 hits with six walks and five hit batsmen on their 20-run afternoon. Jeff Gold pitched so well Saturday that Horton said it’s a “no-brainer” that he’ll get the start next Sunday against USC.

The Ducks took the rubber match of the series, winning their first home series of the year. Oregon was swept in its opening series against Cal State Fullerton last weekend, and winning two out of three from a team like Ohio State is, according to Horton, something Oregon didn’t do last year.

“Last year we didn’t win two out of three against anybody that was significant and (we) ended up being a national eight seed,” Horton said. “So if we’re going to do anything in the (Pac-12) we’ve got to beat a lot of teams that are significant.”

Oregon opens Pac-12 play next weekend against USC starting on Friday, March 14.

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Due to poor forecasted weather for Wednesday at PK Park in Eugene, Ore., the Oregon baseball team’s Wednesday game was rescheduled to Tuesday, turning into a doubleheader against Seattle University. In the first of the two games Oregon never took complete control over the Redhawks until the Ducks broke out in the seventh inning, leading them to a 10-2 victory.

The Redhawks scored first in the top of the first inning when Oregon starting pitcher Jeff Gold (2-0, 2.45 ERA) walked the leadoff man Chase Fields. Fields later scored on a Brian Olson single up the middle.

“I’m just upset that I was up 0-2 on the leadoff hitter and walked him,” Gold said. “That was stupid.”

In the inning Gold would allow one run, one hit, one walk and one hit batsman. But Gold would settle down in the second, retiring 15 straight batters from the second inning to the sixth, when Michael McCann reached on a base hit in the sixth.

“It took me a little while to settle in, but once I did, Shaun caught a great game, coach called a great game and the guys behind me made plays,” Gold said.

Oregon got that run back in the bottom half of the first when Tyler Baumgartner singled in Aaron Payne from third base. Payne reached first via a walk, then stole second and was bunted over to third by Austin Grebeck.

In the bottom of the third, Oregon picked up two more runs to take their first lead of the game. It was started with a leadoff double from Grebeck, which was followed by an RBI single from Baumgartner. Then, Redhawks pitcher Connor Moore would be called for a balk with Mitchell Tolman on second and Baumgartner on third scoring the Ducks second run of the inning.

Jeff Gold would pitch five dominating innings in this game following his poor first inning. He would leave the game in the seventh when Trent Paddon came in in relief. Gold went 6.0 innings giving up just two hits, one run (earned), one walk, and striking out six.

In the bottom of seventh, the Oregon offense broke the game open batting through the order, scoring six runs on five hits. Baumgartner led off the inning and would eventually end the inning as well.

To begin the seventh, Baumgartner hit a triple off the wall and would be singled in by designated hitter Kyle Garlick. With Tolman and Garlick already on base, A.J. Balta reached first on a walk to load the bases. J.B. Bryant then pinch-hit for Meredith Craig and in his at-bat he would be hit by a pitch to score Tolman from third. The Ducks gave Steven Packard a chance off the bench pinch-hitting for Shaun Chase, and he proved to get the job done. Packard singled to right field to score Garlick. A.J. Balta was given a free walk to home with another Seattle University balk from relief pitcher and former third baseman Brock Carpenter. Now with one out, Aaron Payne singled to right field to score Bryant’s pinch-runner Nick Catalano, but Packard was thrown out at home trying to score from second. With Austin Grebeck at the plate the Ducks would score their final run of the inning. Grebeck doubled to deep left field scoring Payne from first.

“It’s always nice when we score more than one or two runs in an inning,” starting pitcher Jeff Gold said. “We’re never going to complain when runs are scored.”

Oregon played a clean game defensively, not committing a single error.

“When we’re at our best we’re hard to beat defensively,” Gold said. “That’s something we pride ourselves on in this program.”

Jeff Gold picked up his third win of the season and Connor Moore suffered the loss.

The second game of the doubleheader is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. at PK Park.

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Oregon baseball’s Kevin Minjares’ journey to Oregon was complicated and a bit lucky. Minjares is starting his first year at Oregon this season — as a senior. The 5-foot 6, 152-pound shortstop is doing what many thought he couldn’t — playing collegiate baseball.

“It didn’t feel real at first,” Minjares said. “It was a long road … I don’t regret any step I’ve taken.”

A graduate of Camarillo High School in Camarillo, Calif., Minjares earned two defensive player of the year awards and hit .375 in his senior season. In baseball however, the ball doesn’t always drop your way. The talented middle infielder had scouts visit him but he never got what he desired: an offer.

The high energy middle infielder was never alone. His older brother, Michael Minjares, fought by Kevin’s side because he had gone through nearly exactly what Kevin did.

No one expected Kevin to play collegiate baseball, but there was at least one person who knew he had it in him: Michael. Michael, who shares a similar body size to Kevin, played at Gonzaga out of high school and knew that if he could do it, so could Kevin.

“The harder you work the better off you’re going to become as a person, a player and a student,” Michael said. “That’s something I’ve always relayed to Kevin.”

Kevin then committed himself to Oxnard Junior College, the same junior college where Michael transferred to after Gonzaga. In two years Kevin was awarded a Gold Glove and batted .293 and .288, respectively. Yet Kevin had a quality that every successful team needs: energy.

“I’m not going to give half effort because I don’t have room for error,” Kevin said. “I have to give everything I have.”

Being shorter, Minjares always knew he was at a disadvantage but he never quit. And then, the ball finally dropped for Kevin. His high effort, high energy play caught Oregon assistant coach Mark Wasikowski’s eye.

“Kevin is just a little squash by a guy. He’s tiny,” Wasikowski said. “But the energy was something when you watched him play … he plays like a big man.”

Minjares got some extra help from current Duck Scott Heineman, who put in the good word to Wasikowski. Then, after a sophomore showcase, Minjares got his number called.

“It didn’t feel real at first,” Minjares said. “I’ll never forget that day.”

Minjares continues to be grateful for his friend and roommate Heineman for his help.

“I tell Scott every day and tease him here and there that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you,” Minjares said.

Minjares had made it, finally.

His older bother, whom he refers to as a second dad, was as proud as anyone.

“I’m super proud as an older brother to have been able to walk him through the steps,” Michael said. “Whether you’re in the game or not, I’m going to support you no matter what.”

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For the first three innings Friday night, it seemed as if the Oregon baseball team would keep pace with Cal State Fullerton’s 2013 All-American Thomas Eshelman. Eshelman, as a freshman, struck out 83 while walking just 3 batters last season. He would be just as dominant Friday against the Ducks, not allowing a baserunner until the fourth inning and halting any sort of Oregon offense, leading Fullerton to a 9-2 win.

Tommy Thorpe was on the mound for the Ducks and pitched well in the beginning of the game. But his good start was stained in the fourth inning when a walk and three straight singles started a Titans rally. With two outs, third baseman Matt Chapman made a statement, hitting a three-run home run to left field.

“The first two innings went well and then the third inning went sideways a little bit and the fourth inning really went sideways,” Thorpe said. “Nothing I can really do, I can only control what I can control.”

Thorpe retired the next batter, but the damage was done.

“It kinda got out of hand in that one inning,” redshirt junior Kyle Garlick said. “They put up a five spot and pounded us in the ground after that.”

In the following two innings, the Titans would add to their lead, tacking on one run in the fifth. In the sixth, Darrell Hunter took the mound with no runners on and two outs, but the Titans continued to pour it on the Ducks. The inning was set up by a Chapman double down the left field line putting runners on second and third for J.D. Davis. Davis then singled to right field, scoring both Titans. At the end of the inning, the score was 9-0.

The Oregon offense wasn’t a factor in the game due to Eshelman’s control. The Ducks picked up their first hit and baserunner when freshman Austin Grebeck connected for a single to left in the fourth inning. He would be left on base, as Eshelman retired the remaining two batters to end the inning. It wouldn’t be until the sixth that the Ducks would get another hit when Mark Karaviotis pinch-hit for shortstop Kevin Minjares.

“(Eshelman has) great command in the strike zone when he wants and great command out of the strike zone out when he wants,” head coach George Horton said. “There’s some slipperiness to him. It’s hard to describe.”

In the ninth, with Miles Chambers on the mound, the Ducks managed a two-out rally with a walk and a Tolman ground-rule double. They would come in to score on a Kyle Garlick double to left center. But that is all the offense the Ducks would manufacture.

Coming into the game, Thorpe had a 1.38 ERA and eight strikeouts in 13.0 innings of work. But when he got in trouble, he couldn’t find a way to get out. Thorpe (1-1, 3.93 ERA) would pick up the loss for the game pitching, 5.1 innings surrendering seven runs (six earned) with three strikeouts and 3 walks. But it wasn’t just all on Thorpe.

“I don’t think Thorpe was awful,” Horton said. “I think that they kicked out rear ends… We got beat in a lot of different ways and they out coached us as well.”

The Titans finished with 14 hits and didn’t produce an error defensively.

Eshelman (2-0, 1.50 ERA) led the Titans, pitching eight innings, striking out seven and allowing just two hits and one walk.

The Ducks are now 8-1 on the season and will have their freshman Matt Krook on the mound Saturday looking to even the series.

“That sets up as a pretty intriguing thing to see Matt Krook, who has been very poised, against a team that popped our lip and bloodied our noses,” Horton said.

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The Oregon men’s tennis team welcomed UNLV to the Student Tennis Center Sunday and swept the Rebels 7-0. The matches were closer than the score lines appear, as three games were decided by tie breakers. Senior Robin Cambier was part of two of them and left Alex Rovello’s court on Sunday afternoon tied for the most singles wins in Oregon history.

After Daan Maasland and Joey Swaysland dominated Willie Sublette and Ozzy Abraham in doubles, the Rebels needed to win the remaining two doubles matches to get the point. On court one it looked as if the Rebels were going to get the better of Oregon duo Kevin Farin and Cambier. The doubles partners were at once down four sets to one and five sets to two.However, the Brussels, Belgium natives found a way to force a tiebreaker game in which they would win 7-3 to complete the 8-7 come-from-behind win. Daniel Sardu and Jayson Amos also had a tiebreaker game but were unable to close out their match after the tiebreaker was finally settled at 11-13 in favor of UNLV. But Oregon was able to earn the doubles point by already securing two wins.

In singles play most of Oregon’s players were able to control their games. Jayson Amos dominated in the five spot, beating Sublette 6-0, 6-4. Brent Chin, who doesn’t normally get much playing time, proved to be well deserving of the call. Chin overwhelmed Abraham 6-1, 6-1 in the sixth singles position. Swaysland ousted his opponent Dimitar Petrov 6-1, 6-2. It was quickly understood that Oregon controlled the overall match against UNLV.

“Everybody played really good. We got some quick sets,” Cambier said about his teammates.

Kevin Farin played well against UNLV’s Denys Pume. Farin surrendered only three sets to Pume when it was all said and done, winning 6-2, 6-1. With all his teammates finished and watching his match, Cambier was locked in a battle with UNLV’s star player, Ace Matias. Matias was ranked No. 76 in the ITA Preseason Singles rankings.

Matias took Cambier to another tie-breaking set where Cambier once again found a way to win 7-3. The second set it seemed that Cambier had more control than the previous set. But Matias fought back and forced the fourth tiebreaker set of the day. Cambier wasn’t as dominating in the second tie-breaking set as Matias continued to match Cambier point-for-point. The set and match would eventually be settled when Cambier shut the door winning 8-6 and 7-6, 7-6 for the match, putting his name in Oregon’s record books. But Cambier is focused more on the team than his personal achievements.

“It’s awesome,” Cambier said. “But if I would have lost we still would have gotten the team win so I would have cared less about the loss.”

Cambier tied two time All-American Sven Swinnen’s all-time singles wins record at 84. Cambier is now 17-2 on the season and will have a chance to break the record on Friday against Washington. Head coach Nils Schyllander attributes Cambier’s wins count to his consistency and is happy that he will have the chance to break it against Washington. As Oregon’s biggest rival in tennis, Washington makes to be the perfect matchup to break Swinnen’s record for Cambier. As a freshman, Cambier told his coach that one day Oregon will beat Washington and that hasn’t happened yet in his years here, but Friday Cambier is hoping to soon fulfill his word.

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After a 10-run win on Friday night the Ducks were locked in a pitchers’ duel for much of today’s game versus Loyola Marymount. The Lions led the game until the ninth inning, when the Oregon offense came alive and led the Ducks to a 5-3 come-from-behind victory.

Matt Krook was on the mound for the Ducks and had good defensive support behind him unlike his first Oregon start against Hawaii. Krook retired the first 10 batters he faced this afternoon until he walked LMU’s Austin Miller in the fourth. Krook then surrendered the Lions’ first hit of the game to David Edwards in the same inning. Krook surrendered 3 runs (all earned) but kept the Ducks in the game throughout his outing. He tallied 11 strikeouts in his 6.1 innings.

With two outs and runners on first and second in the fourth inning, Tyler Cohen hit a triple to right center field. But two runs were all the Lions could get as Krook struck out the next batter.

In the top of the fifth inning, Oregon’s Kyle Garlick doubled to left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After A.J. Balta struck out, freshman Jack Kruger came up and grounded the ball to third. Garlick got caught in a pickle between third base and home, ending the offensive momentum for the Ducks that inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Lions added one more run. On a 2-0 count with David Fletcher on third, Tommy Cheek grounded out to Kevin Minjares at shortstop to score the run. That would be the last run the Lions would score all game.

In the top of the seventh, Garlick had Baumgartner on first with one out. On a 1-0 count, Garlick connected for a big home run over LMU’s “blue monster” in left field. This was Garlick’s and Oregon’s first long ball of the season.

Following Garlick was A.J. Balta, who continued the seventh inning rally. Balta tripled to right center, becoming the tying run 90 feet away from home with still only one out. J.B. Bryant was called on to pinch hit for Kruger and hit a ground ball to the pitcher. But Balta was too far off of third and the pitcher decided to go for the out at third. For the second time in the game, Oregon had a runner caught between third and home to end a rally.

The baserunning miscues wouldn’t hurt the Ducks in this game, though. In the eighth, Connor Hofmann singled to left center and was moved over in thanks to a Kevin Minjares sacrifice bunt. Later in the inning, Aaron Payne hit a hard single up the middle on a 1-1 count to score Hofmann and tie the game.

In the bottom of the inning, Fletcher failed to successfully bunt Ted Boeke over to second as he popped up the ball in fair territory. It landed just in front of Darrell Hunter, who threw out Boeke at second base because he didn’t know if the ball would drop or be caught. Then, Fletcher was caught stealing second from a strong throw from Shaun Chase. Now with two outs, Miller tripled to left field over the head of Balta but would be stranded at third.

Going into the ninth, the Ducks started a two-out rally with Balta singling to right field. Shaun Chase would be replaced by Steven Packard and Packard delivered, singling to right center to put runners on the corners. With two outs, head coach George Horton went to freshman Austin Grebeck to pinch hit for Hofmann. Grebeck was hit by the pitch to load the bases. Freshman Mark Karaviotis came up next and, on a 2-1 pitch, singled to center to score two Ducks and give Oregon a 5-3 lead.

Jake Reed replaced Hunter in the game to close the door. Reed pitched a solid ninth inning, surrendering one hit and striking out one to earn his second save of the season. He has yet to give up a run in his 5.1 innings this season.

Darrell Hunter earned the win and Cohen was saddled with the loss. The Ducks clinched the series with today’s win and will have a chance to sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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– Softball ace Cheridan Hawkins was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday. Hawkins pitched great at the Easton Desert Classic last weekend. On Friday the Ducks went 10-innings in a 3-1 win over UNLV where Hawkins broke her own school record with 18 strikeouts. Then on Saturday she threw the third no-hitter of her career against Ohio State in a 9-0 victory.

– Sophomore forward of the women’s basketball team Jillian Alleyne set records Monday night in a loss to UCLA. Alleyne set not only the single-season Oregon rebound record but the Pac-12 rebound record as well. Now with 388 boards on the season, Alleyne overcame Bev Smith’s 33-year-old UO record and former Stanford player Nnemkadi Ogwumike count of 376. Alleyne still has at least 5 games remaining on the season.

– The Oregon baseball team opened their season this past weekend in Hawaii, and completed a four-game sweep over the Rainbow Warriors. In the final game on Monday, head coach George Horton reached 900 career Division I wins.

– On Monday, Oregon lacrosse’s Shannon Propst earned the first Offensive Player of the Week honors of the 2014 season from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Propst scored 5 goals with 11 assists and 16 points in her first two games. Propst also set the Oregon career assist record with 79 after the Ducks big win over Stetson on Feb. 10.

– Emerald sports reporter Chris Mosch appeared on KWVA Sports’ “Quack Smack” last night to talk Oregon baseball and their four game sweep in Hawaii. He spoke with host Travis Teich and panelists Samantha Saldivar and Spencer Kellar about how the Ducks played without former Duck Ryon Healy. They also talked about Horton’s “small ball” approach. KWVA’s Quack Smack airs from 6-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and will feature an Emerald sports reporter every Tuesday. KWVA also airs Friday Night Spotlight from 7-9 p.m. each week.

– The Oregon women’s golf team placed fifth at the Peg Barnard Collegiate over the weekend. The Ducks have finished in the top five in five of six tournaments this season. In Sunday’s final round, Oregon was able to hold their fifth place position after posting a score of 300 (+16). Junior Cassy Isagawa finished with 13 straight pars to lead herself to her fourth top 10 finish of the season.

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Last Wednesday Jeff Gold didn’t even know that today’s start could be for the 900th win of George Horton’s career as a head coach.

“That’s awesome,” Gold said. “Hopefully it lines up like that.”

It did indeed line up that way for Gold as the Ducks had won the first three games of the four-game series. Gold did more than enough for Horton and the Ducks, who beat the Rainbow Warriors 10-2 to complete the series sweep. Gold lasted 6.0 innings giving up just one run on five hits while striking out two.

After starting the series and his season 0-for-14 at the plate, Scott Heineman led off the game with a single in the first inning to start an early Oregon rally. Heineman stole second base later in the inning and scored on a Mitchell Tolman single. Tyler Baumgartner ended up on second and, moments later, would complete a double steal with Tolman. Redshirt junior Kyle Garlick came up next and hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Baumgartner.

The Ducks would hold the lead the entirety of the game. They tallied two more runs in the third inning when Heineman again started the rally with a leadoff single. After a one out single from Tyler Baumgartner off of Hawaii starting pitcher Scott Kuzminsky, Heineman scored on a Kuzminsky wild pitch. Baumgartner moved over to third base on the play. That set up Tolman, who then grounded out to first but Baumgartner was still able to score on the play.

Gold continued to control the game on the mound. However, the Rainbow Warriors got on the scoreboard in the fifth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Jordan Richartz connected for a single to left field scoring Stephen Ventimilia from second. Gold wouldn’t allow anything more from the Rainbow Warriors, though, and after six innings, he left the game with the lead.

The game stayed fairly close at 4-1 until the Ducks broke the game wide open in the eighth. Oregon scored six runs that inning, starting with Heineman, yet again. Heineman doubled to left center and scored on a Baumgartner single later in the inning.

There was a scary moment in the 8th inning when Tolman was hit by a pitch on the helmet. Tolman went down as Horton and his training staff hurried out to check on him. Tolman, though, would stay in the game and score in the inning. The Ducks totaled six runs on four hits and there were two Hawaii errors in the inning.

Southpaw sophomore Porter Clayton and senior Brando Tessar both pitched clean innings in relief of Gold. Junior Jack Karraker pitched the bottom of the ninth inning for the Ducks with a  10-1 lead. But Karraker struggled in the inning, giving up three straight hits to start the ninth. Karraker would get out of the inning, though, giving up just one run.

The Ducks, like last year, swept Hawaii for the opening series of the season. Jeff Gold (1-0) was awarded with the win. Kuzminsky (0-1) is charged for the loss.

The Ducks will play next on Friday, Feb. 21 in a three-game series against Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, Calif.

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