Oregon started its five games in six days road trip with a win on Tuesday. The Ducks beat UC Riverside 10-7 in 13 innings. Junior Mitchell Tolman went 4-for-6 with a two-run home run and three RBIs in the win.

Trent Paddon got the start for the Ducks. The sophomore went 3.1 IP, allowing four earned runs on six hits. The bullpen held strong, throwing a combined 9.2 IP while allowing three earned runs and striking out 12 batters.

In the third, Oregon scored on a single hit – a theme they repeated in four of the five innings they scored. The single hit in the third was the farthest hit of the game. After Matt Eureste walked, Tolman homered to right field to put the Ducks up 2-0.

Oregon scored five more runs between the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. When they came up in the top of the ninth in a tie game, they couldn’t rally a run pushing the game into extras.

The first 18 outs in extra innings went in vain with no team scoring.

In the 13th, with the bases loaded after a Tolman leadoff double, a Brandon Cuddy walk and an error in the inning, Phil Craig-St. Louis reached on a fielders choice that scored both Tolman and Cuddy. Then with one out, Mark Karaviotis grounded a ball to the pitcher that was enough to get Kyle Kasser in from third.

Brac Warren closed out the bottom half of the inning in order for his first career win.

Oregon plays UC Riverside again on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Key Statistics:

Mitchell Tolman: 4-6, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2 2B, 1 HR

Phil Craig-St. Louis: 2-5, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 3B, 2 BB

Oregon bullpen: 9.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 12 K

Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @andrewbantly

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In its attempt to bounce back from losing four of its past five games, Oregon baseball took Arizona State into extra innings at PK Park on Friday. But, two costly errors from the Ducks proved to be the difference, as the Sun Devils won game one of the series, 7-6.

The scoring began in the third inning when Mark Karaviotis and Mitchell Tolman led off the inning with consecutive walks. Shaun Chase singled up the middle, scoring Karaviotis.

With one out, Scott Heineman bunted a ball towards Seth Martinez, ASU’s starting pitcher, who couldn’t keep his footing, allowing Chase to score. Austin Grebeck followed with an RBI double down the left field line that scored Cuddy.

Conor Harber started his first career game as a Duck Friday. But in the fifth, after pitching four innings and allowing just a single run, he unraveled for four earned runs in the inning.

With one out, Johnny Sewald singled up the middle and reached second on a balk from Harber. Jake Peevyhouse then singled to left, scoring Sewald.

Then with two outs, Trever Allen singled through the left side, scoring Peevyhouse. Allen and RJ Ybarra advanced to second and third on a throwing error from Grebeck on the play, respectively.

Horton then went to Joe Reta out of the bullpen. Soon after, Reta balked in Ybarra for the third run of the inning – one that Oregon brought on themselves. After a hit batter and walk, Josh Graham relieved Reta.

Graham suffered a single to David Greer that scored two Sun Devils capping a five-run inning.

Oregon chipped away in the seventh and eighth innings scoring a run apiece. Cuddy hit a solo home run in the seventh to lead off the inning.

In the eighth, Oregon had the bases loaded with no outs, but managed just one run.

In the 10th,  Arizona State finally scored. Greer led off the inning and got hit by the pitch, placing him at first. He would be sacrificed over to second by Snow.

With Garrett Cleavinger now on the mound, disaster happened for Oregon. A fly ball to right field fell after Heineman misread it and slipped. Greer scored easily as the ball tricked away from Heineman.

“It was going to be a heartbreaking game no matter who lost that with the conditions and the weather,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “We gave away too much from the defensive side.”

Oregon was retired in order in the 10th.

The series resumes Saturday at 2 p.m. for game two.

Key statistics:

Conor Harber: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K

Seth Martinez: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3ER), 2 BB, 3 K

Shaun Chase: 2-6, 1 RBI, 4 K and individually left six runners on base

Brandon Cuddy: 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR

Oregon: 16 runners left on base (All-time high came in 20113 19 against Wichita State)

Oregon: 0-5 with the bases loaded and 1-6 with runners on third and less than two outs.

Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @andrewbantly

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The Oregon baseball team has hit a snag. The Ducks are 1-4 since their home sweep of St John’s earlier this month. The team has dropped out of Collegiate Baseball’s top-25 rankings. Emerald baseball reporters Andrew Bantly and Kenny Jacoby took a look at the situation of the team and predicted the series against incoming Arizona State this weekend.

Horton said Oregon had a “miserable” week last week. It dropped out of Collegiate Baseball’s top-25 ranking and fell a few ranks in others – did it deserve that?

Bantly: Regionals are months away and the Ducks are sitting tied for second place (1-2) along with four other Pac-12 teams, so how bad could it really be? Ok, it’s pretty bad right now. The NCBWA has them at No. 11 and Baseball America ranks Oregon at No.15, showing that even though Oregon might be ice-cold, it still has a solid roster – coaches and players. That’s fair. Whereas Collegiate Baseball thinks that Oregon, right now, isn’t playing at all close to its expectation. Also, fair. So I think the ranks are, yes, fair.

Jacoby: NCBWA and Baseball America are either crunching different numbers or watching a different team because the Ducks I’ve seen are nowhere near playing top-25 baseball. San Francisco began the year with nine straight losses but steamrolled the Ducks at PK park. Oregon escaped its conference-opener against Cal with a split but is averaging 2.4 runs per game in a 1-4 stretch. If that doesn’t warrant a significant drop in the ratings, I don’t know what does.

What aspect of Oregon’s game needs the most improvement? (A kind of broad question, let’s try and give a very specific angle with supporting stats)

Bantly: Heart surgery isn’t an option, so perhaps the Ducks need to use a defibrillator. They need something to get the heart of their lineup going. Mitchell Tolman, Brandon Cuddy, Shaun Chase and Phil Craig-St. Louis make up the core of Oregon’s lineup, and they’re struggling. Combined, the heart of Oregon’s lineup hit just .205 (8-39) in the series. They’ll need to step against Arizona State.

Jacoby: Phil Knight should bless Oregon with some new bats because its offense is sputtering. Its team batting average is now down to .244 after falling by an average of more .010 points in each of its last three series. Mitchell Tolman was benched Saturday after going hitless in his last 13 at bats, probably due to a sore back from carrying the team all year so far. Matt Eureste is now the lone Ducks starter hitting .300, and not a point over. Reversing those downward trends is imperative this weekend.

What’s your series predictions between Oregon and No. 11 Arizona State?

Bantly: This is a tough one. The Sun Devils are playing their first game as a visitor, to say nothing of the geographic differences. But they’re hot. Allthewhile, Oregon’s last memory of PK Park is, well, not very homey. Things will be interesting with Conor Harber pitching Friday and Irvin saved for Sunday, but the Ducks should matchup better that way. Oregon holds for a two-game series win.

Jacoby: With Cole Irvin tossing on Sunday, I’m confident the Ducks take at least one game in the series. The fate of match up will hinge on game one. Sun Devils ace Seth Martinez (28 IP, 1.61 ERA) will take on Conor Harber, who’s looking to establish himself as the Friday starter in his first start in a Ducks uniform. The question is which Harber will show up: the one who threw 20 scoreless innings to open the season or the one who’s given up eight runs in his last 5.2 frames?

Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @andrewbantly

Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @kennyjacoby

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It’s been a “miserable” week for Oregon baseball, head coach George Horton said. The Ducks have lost four of their past five games, including a two-game sweep from San Francisco at home.

In those games against USF, the Ducks were tagged with five errors and managed just 11 hits while scoring 5 total runs. Horton said his team “came apart a little bit.”

Then, No. 8 Oregon faced a red-hot California team that dominated the series right from the start. The Bears entered the series hitting .318 with 16 home runs and 121 runs scored. Oregon’s numbers were in their shadows.

And though the unranked Bears hit .255 as a team in the series, they managed 17 runs against the Ducks. Oregon hit .207 with 9 total runs.

“I’m going to take the bullet, you cruise along and you think you’re doing pretty good,” Horton said. “We didn’t see it coming, we thought we were working extremely hard. We got out coached.”

Oregon dropped from No. 8 to completely out of Collegiate Baseball’s top 25.

Returning to PK Park, Oregon’s competition doesn’t get any easier. The No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils enter with impressive offensive numbers – .306 BA, 95 R and 43 extra-base hits.

But one factor that Oregon holds an advantage in is pitching.

Notwithstanding last week, Oregon still poses an impressive resume from its rotation. With a 3.12 ERA and 160 strikeouts in 179.0 innings, Oregon has held its opposition to a .223 batting average, while allowing 1.16 runners per inning.

Arizona State’s pitching, on the other hand, hasn’t found its groove.

The Sun Devils, who’ve only played in Tempe this season, hold a 3.31 ERA with 170 strikeouts in 163.0 innings. But in those 163 innings, Arizona St. allows an average 1.28 base runners per inning – 151 hits and 58 walks – and a .249 batting average against.

The Ducks took Monday and Tuesday off to study for finals. Horton thinks the time off will help his team. He said they are “a little worn out.”

Horton hopes his team builds off its win on Sunday, the single win Oregon took away from Berkeley.

Before Sunday’s game, Horton asked his “team to become little leaguers and told them (he’d) buy ice cream at the end of the game.”

Horton stayed true to his word after Sunday’s win, “within the rules, of course.”

In that final game of the series, Oregon’s offense peaked, recording eight hits and four runs. And Oregon’s starter, Jack Karraker, went four hitless innings to start the game.

There’s no word if ice cream will be around the Ducks’ locker room in the near future. But, ice cream or not, playing like kids is Oregon’s focus in their recovery from last week.

“There isn’t a group of athletes I’d rather go to work and try to turn this around with than this 2015 Ducks team,” Horton said.

Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @andrewbantly

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In Oregon’s second neutral game of the season, they beat Utah State 4-0 in Boise, Idaho.

Oregon won the doubles point when the No. 3 pair of Daniel Sardu and Jayson Amos beat the Aggies’ Jack Swindells and Jaime Barajas, 6-4. Then Kevin Farin and Simon Stevens clinched the point in their win over Karan Salwan and Matt Sweet, winning 7-5.

Daan Maasland was the first to claim a singles point with his 6-2, 6-0 sweep over Dennis Baumgartner.

Then Amos added a point to Oregon lead with his win per Barajas, 6-1, 7-5. Oregon needed just another point to clinch the match.

And Farin was the Duck to provide that match-winning point. Farin out dueled Swindells 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 2 spot.

Oregon improves to 9-4 on the season.

Oregon is scheduled to play Boise State Sunday at 12 p.m.

Final results:

Singles

1. Daan Maasland def. Dennis Baumgartner 6-2, 6-0

2. Kevin Farin def. Jack Swindells 6-4, 6-3

3. Daniel Sardu vs. Karan Salwan  6-3, 6-6 (unfinished)

4. Simon Stevens vs. Marcus Fritz  4-6, 3-5 (unfinished)

5. Jayson Amos def. Jaime Barajas 6-1, 7-5

6. Cormac Clissold vs. Sebastian Schneider 3-6, 6-2, 0-0 (unfinished)

Doubles

1. Farin/Stevens def. Salwan/Sweet, 7-5

2. Maasland/Swaysland vs. Fritz/Baumgartner, 6-5 (unfinished)

3. Sardu/Amos def. Swindel/Barajas, 6-4

Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @andrewbantly

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The past two games against San Francisco are games Oregon baseball surely wants to forget.

The team managed just seven hits, struck out 20 times and was swept by a team that came into Eugene with just a 3-12 record.

All hope is not lost for No. 8 Oregon, though. In fact, it has a fresh start with the beginning of conference play Friday.

Oregon (13-4) traveled to Berkeley, California Thursday morning to ready for their three-game series with the Golden Bears (13-3). As mentioned before, the Ducks enter the series with a bitter taste in their mouth. Cal, on the other hand, currently has an eight-game winning streak dating back to Feb 28.

Cal’s three weekend starters – Daulton Jefferies, Ryan Mason and Matt Ladrech – have exceeded expectations.

Jefferies was 2-8 with a 3.45 ERA last season as a freshman. But the sophomore, and now ace of the staff, has found his identity this season with a 2.45 ERA in 25.2 innings with 29 strikeouts holding opponents to a .220 batting average.

Mason, a junior, is the least surprising. His pitch-to-contact style has been consistent and successful. In 23.0 innings this season, Mason has allowed 8 earned runs while collecting 16 strikeouts, which doesn’t sound like a lot. But when you include his .913 WHIP, it’s plenty good.

Finally, Ladrech. Like Oregon, Cal uses a freshman starting pitcher in the weekend rotation. But this “rookie” is pitching like a veteran. So far he’s allowed 2.05 earned runs per game in 26.1 innings.

Offensively, Cal’s numbers are a bit scary to a Duck fan. As a team, the Bears are hitting for a .318 average with 16 home runs, 121 runs scored, 95 strikeouts and are stealing bases at a 70% conversion rate. All of which are better than Oregon’s numbers.

Cal’s three-four-five placed hitters, Lucas Erceg, Brett Cumberland and Chris Paul, have been outstanding. Combined, the bunch hits for a .397 average with 9 home runs and 42 RBIs while striking out just 24 times in 166 at-bats so far this season.

But perhaps the hottest hitter the Bears offer doesn’t hit in the heart of the lineup. Sometimes he hits second, sometimes he hits ninth. His name is Brian Celsi, and in the past four games he’s 9-16 (.563 avg.) with 10 RBIs – including a 2 home run (one grand slam), 8 RBI-game on March 6th against Chicago State.

With all that said, Oregon’s chances to win the series are still strong.

Oregon’s starting pitching matches up very well against Cal’s starters. The Cole Irvin, Connor Harber combination has been lethal on Friday nights and Jack Karraker is, perhaps, the biggest surprise of all with his 1.50 ERA in his four starts this season – four times the amount of starts he’s had in his Oregon career entering 2015.

Remaining is freshman, David Peterson (2-0, 2.96 ERA). Peterson’s 26 strikeouts, sub-1 WHIP and .200 batting average against has made him a promising young arm.

It’s going to come down to Oregon’s offense. Even with the San Francisco series disaster, the Ducks average 6.29 runs per game.

That’s more than enough, on a typical night, for the Oregon pitching staff who has allowed just a 2.98 ERA this season.

Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @andrewbantly

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A season ago, San Francisco’s right fielder Connor Hofmann asked for his release from Oregon baseball just days before the Ducks played the Dons in San Francisco. With USF’s recent series, and two-game sweep of Oregon, Hofmann made his first return to PK Park.

He spoke with the Emerald following the series about why he left the Ducks and his transition with a new team.

Welcome back to Eugene, how has it been? Have you seen any of your old teammates?

At first it was a bit nerve racking, but it’s been good. It’s good to be back. Yea, I saw a couple. It’s mostly new guys, a lot of (junior college) transfers and freshman.

Last year when you separated from Oregon it was ahead of the San Francisco series, was that a coincidence?

I don’t think so, no. I had no idea I was coming to USF. I made that decision in the summer time after I got my release and all that.

So why did you decide to leave Oregon?

You know they have a great coaching staff, great players, great guys all around. It just wasn’t a good fit for me at the time. I was hurt with my lower back, so I felt that it was best.

Two wins in two days at your old training grounds, how does that feel?

It feels really good, actually. They’re a great team, I mean they’re number eight in the nation or top 10 in the nation. They play good baseball. But we can compete with anyone in the nation if we just do what we do. Do our offense and let the pitchers pitch and get outs. We’ll be fine.

What does the future hold for you after your final year in college baseball?

Hopefully I get drafted. And if not I’m going to try to work for a sports agency or do some real estate development.

Follow Andrew Bantly on Twitter @andrewbantly

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After suffering its first home loss of the season last night, head coach George Horton expected his team to respond in game two. They didn’t. For the second game in a row, Oregon managed to collect just three hits in its 8-2 loss against the Dons.

San Francisco starter Sam Granoff kept Oregon to two runs in his 6.1 innings of work, collecting six strikeouts in the process. But when the Ducks got those two runs, via a two-run home run from Shaun Chase, it was too little too late.

In the third inning, San Francisco scored its first run of the game thanks to Derek Atkinson, scoring Connor Hofmann, a former Duck, from second.

From there, the Dons piled on three more runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, two two-out singles and a wild pitch added to Oregon’s deficit.

Then in the sixth, again with two outs, the Dons had runners at first and second. Atkinson tallied another RBI on the game with a single to right field. The following hitter, Brendan Hendriks, hit a double to right center field scoring Atkinson from first and Nico Giarratano from second.

Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the score stood 7-0 San Francisco.

Chase’s two-run blast over the left-field wall was the lone bright spot of Oregon’s offensive performance. But it was quickly followed up with a San Francisco run in the top of the 8th, watering down any hot embers that Oregon may have been relying on.

Oregon stater Trent Paddon picked up the loss (1-2) while Granoff earned his first win of the season (1-1).

Key Statistics:

Trent Paddon: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Sam Granoff: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Jacob Corn: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

Oregon: 5 wild pitches with Shaun Chase behind the plate.

Derek Atkinson: 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 R

Oregon enters Pac-12 play against California on Friday in Berkeley, California at 7 p.m.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrewbantly

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-The Oregon baseball team lost for the first time at PK Park this season to the University of San Francisco, 4-1. Joe Reta, junior, made his first career start for Oregon and went 3.1 innings allowing two earned runs on three hits and two walks. Oregon collected just three hits in the game.

-In Fairfax, California, Oregon women’s golf finished second (6-over par, 858) in the Bay Area Intercollegiate. In all of its first three intercollegiate tournaments of the spring, Oregon has placed in the top two.

-An early 4-0 advantage from goals from Olivia Pyne, Holly Johnson and Carly O’Connell propelled the Oregon women’s lacrosse team’s 8-6 win over George Washington at Pape Field on Tuesday. Oregon shot .500 in the game, scoring eight goals on 16 shots on goal.

-For the Oregon men’s basketball team, the beginning of the Pac-12 Tournament means another day for rest and preparation. The Ducks are set to play the winner of the Colorado, Oregon State game Thursday. Emerald reporters Hayden Kim, Ryan Kostecka and Josh Schlicter discuss Oregon’s key to success in the Pac-12 Tournament, and beyond.

-Oregon women’s basketball forward Jillian Alleyne was one of the 15 student athletes nationally to be selected to the John R. Wooden Award national ballot. Alleyne was one of four players from the Pac-12 to be named. The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced April 5 & 7, the week of the Final Four.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrewbantly

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A beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon was host to game two at PK Park between No. 19 Oregon and St. John’s. A night ago, Oregon needed four pitchers to get through its 12-inning affair. Tonight they needed just two en route to its 7-2 victory.

Freshman David Peterson pitched well through the first seven innings. After surrendering three hits in the first inning, Peterson gathered for an 8-pitch – all strikes – second inning that included two strikeouts.

“I felt great,” Peterson said. “I felt like I was zoned into the target and Tim (Susnara) did a great job behind the plate today.”

But in the eighth Peterson couldn’t finish what he started. After loading the bases on a walk and two soft singles, Oregon head coach George Horton went to reliever Josh Graham.

With no outs and the bases loaded, Graham surrendered a sacrifice fly and a single hit to limit the damage to just two runs.

“At that time I thought it was the right time (to take Peterson out),” Horton said. “He was at 99 or 100 pitches and we could bring Josh (Graham) in. Josh did a nice job picking him up.”

That’s all the offense St. John’s could muster.

Oregon scored a run in both the fourth and fifth inning. The first came with the bases loaded and no outs for Phil Craig-St. Louis. The junior hit a chip-shot over shortstop Jarred Mederos’ head that had just enough to fall in shallow left field. However, with the runners unsure if the ball would be caught or not, Shaun Chase was forced out at third while Mitchell Tolman crossed the plate.

Then in the fifth, sophomore Austin Grebeck got a fastball and hit a solo line-drive home run over the left field wall for his first collegiate home run.

“I hit one in the alumni game, but that didn’t really count,” Grebeck said. “It felt good…I feel like I’m in a good place and can continue to build off that.”

Though happy with the runs, Horton thought his guys could have gotten more.

“I thought we turned potential crooked numbers into ones,” Horton said. “The greed in me wanted more, you always think that way as a coach… It looked like we were leaving them in the game.”

In the seventh Oregon broke through for three runs. The big swing came from Friday night’s hero, Brandon Cuddy.

Cuddy, with the bases loaded and one out, singled to left-center to plate two runs. Then fellow Seminole State college transfer Craig-St. Louis followed with an RBI single of his own, scoring Chase from second.

“I felt good about that,” Horton said of the three runs his team earned in the seventh.

The Ducks picked up two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to build their lead to 7-2.

David Peterson picked up the win (2-0) while Josh Graham earned the save (1), Cody Stashak suffered the loss (2-2).

Key statistics:

-David Peterson: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

-Josh Graham: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K

-Austin Grebeck: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R

-Mitchell Tolman: 4-4, 1 RBI, 2 R

The series resumes Sunday at 12 p.m. at PK Park.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrewbantly

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