With the end of the post season looming for Oregon, they rebounded from two poor efforts in their first games to stay alive, beating both San Francisco and Rice on Sunday.

With the wins, Oregon has forced the “if necessary” Monday game with Rice.

It will be the third game between the two teams in as many days. Rice banked Oregon 1-0 on Saturday to stay in the winner’s bracket but Oregon shot back Sunday, pounding the Owls 11-0.

The third and final game will be at 6 p.m. at PK Park. Neither coach has announced a starter. Television coverage will be on ESPN3.

In the first two games of regionals, Oregon’s offense was incompetent, abysmal, nonexistent — whatever negative adjective you want to throw at it will fit. The team won its first game 3-2 despite only tallying two hits and lost its second 1-0, again only coming up with two hits.

The Ducks hit 4-53 in those first two games yet still found themselves alive in the double-elimination tournament. Aside from the miniscule numbers, they looked like they lacked confidence in the batters box. No matter how well the pitching and defense is — and it was great — scoring runs is a big part of the game, even for a small ball team like the Ducks.

Sunday, facing the brink of elimination, a new team emerged. Oregon was dominant in the first game, winning 6-1 with two home runs and nine hits, but it was just a glimpse of what was coming next.

After Rice put Oregon’s hitters in a stranglehold Saturday night, the Ducks got redemption, winning 11-0. After Ryon Healy took Rice starting pitcher John Simms deep in the first inning, Oregon took the momentum and never game it up.

They put up three more runs in the fourth on four hits, two runs in the fifth, and then, as if a 6-0 lead wasn’t commanding enough, scored four more in the seventh frame.

The entire team came up huge over the two elimination games, but it was Healy and Tyler Baumgartner in particular who put on a hitting clinic.

Baumgartner had a career day, hitting 5-10 over the two games. In the first game he had a single, double, and a home run, just a triple short of hitting for the cycle.

In the second game he got the missing triple and tacked on a double for good measure.

“I think we are seeing a pretty spectacular offensive player emerge right here, just in the nick of time,” said head coach George Horton.

Healy, who has played relentlessly despite a bad back, was a pitcher’s worse nightmare. He hit 5-7 on the day, including a perfect 4-4 in the second game when he, like Baumgartner, was a triple shy of the cycle.

“He’s the monster in the middle of the order,” said Horton. “You always know when he’s due up.”

The offense was exciting and unexpected, getting a sparse and quiet crowd on their feet, but more importantly than Oregon finally playing an exciting game was the resilience they showed.

With their backs against the wall and a beat up pitching staff, the Ducks bounced back and played an unimaginable 18 innings.

However, it’s far from over. Oregon will still have to battle Rice a third time on Monday. The Ducks will be without their lead off hitter, Brett Thomas, who is out with a hip injury and unsure of who to throw on the mound.

“We’ve got a lot more work to do,” Horton said. “But, as I said last night, there’s not a group of young men I’d rather go to battle with than these guys. They’re amazing. Win or lose, I’ll be proud of them.”

When Ryon Healy blasted his 11th home run of the season, a sigh of relief was heard among the sparse crowd at PK Park. The Ducks were on the board, something they failed to do in their first match up with Rice. Little did they know, that was just a sneak peek of the offensive outburst that was to come.

For the second straight game, Oregon’s bats came alive as they pummeled Rice 11-0, wiping their tough, 1-0 loss to the same team Saturday night from memory.

“11 to nothing … If that’s not momentum, I don’t know what is,” Wayne Graham Rice head coach said.

Oregon’s offense was ignited by Ryon Healy who went 4-4 from the plate with a single, two doubles, and a home run with four RBI. What’s more impressive, he did it while battling injuries.

“Healy felt good,” Horton said. “Certainly when you hit a home run early it makes your back feel better. He had a huge day and a courageous effort, obviously, by him.”

But it wasn’t just Healy’s career game, or Tyler Baumgartner who went 2-4, or Scott Heineman who came back after injury to hit 2-3 with 3 RBI. The whole team fed of momentum, multiple times sending hits down the baseline that willed themselves fair and coming alive with runners in scoring position.

“I have no idea were all of the offensive production came from,” Horton said. “My instincts tell me that a little bit of the edge was off, there was a little excitement. They still had the desire to be successful but they weren’t trying too hard.”

They posted innings with one, two, three and four runs scored on 15 hits. Each time they seemed to be hitting at will. Nothing, especially not the five pitchers Rice threw at them, could stop the Ducks.

“I think we had a lot more fight in us,” Baumgartner said. “Everyone realized what happened the last couple nights, the burden of last night and not being able to get it done offensively. Hitting’s contagious, too.”

From a pitching standpoint, Oregon looked like they could be in trouble headed into the game. Their bullpen and weekday starters had been roughed up down the stretch of the season with guys trying to play through injury.

It wasn’t an issue. Jeff Gold got the start and went five innings while giving up two hits, no runs and striking out four. His curve ball was seemingly unhittable no matter when he used it. When he didn’t throw his curve, the fastball was nearly just as dependable.

“My mentality was that I didn’t want to lose,” Gold said. “I didn’t want the season to be over for all these guys. I just went out and executed coach’s game plan. Shaun (Chase) caught the crap out it, so, that was really all it was. I didn’t want to lose.”

Darrell Hunter, the first recruit to the program that was reinstated in 2009, came in and threw three perfect innings.

Jordan Spencer came on to finish off the Owls in the ninth. With Cole Irvin throwing a complete game in game three and the Oregon bullpen locking it down in game four, Horton got to rest the Vulture (Garrett Cleavinger) and the Wild Thing (Jimmie Sherfy) for what could be a much closer game five.

The final facet of the game, defense, did what they always do: make highlight plays to hold opposing offense at bay.

An overall captain of the game came in the form of catcher Shaun Chase. Saturday night Horton had said that Josh Graham would be catching Sunday, but Graham was bumped from the game after he showed up late.

“When a catcher is managing the game for 18 innings like that, it’s fun to work together,” Horton said. “You saw him running out to the mound if Goldy or Darrel were getting off track, I thought he kept those guys spot on.”

With the win, Oregon and Rice will now play a third and final game to decide who advances to super regionals. The game will be at 6 p.m. Monday at PK Park. Neither coach has decided on a starting pitcher. Television coverage can be found on ESPN3.

Cole Irvin has pitched nine innings of collegiate baseball before. Three times, in fact, during the regular season. However, his complete game against San Francisco to stay alive in the post season was different. He knew before he threw out his first pitch that he had to go nine.

“My bullpen catcher game up to me, he always does this before the game, he said, ‘You want the gushy stuff or do you want it straight?,’” said Irvin. “I told him I always want it straight and he said, ‘I need you to go a complete game’. I was like, ‘I agree.’”

Irvin took care of business and the rest of their team did their job as well. Oregon found their offense in their third regional game, getting nine hits, including two home runs, to lead them to a 6-1 victory.

The star of the game was Tyler Baumgartner who went 3-5 with a single, a double and a home run, making him a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Baumgarter also had one of the two Oregon hits Saturday night against Rice, making him responsible for four of Oregon’s 12 hits.

“For Baumgartner, it was about time,” said Irvin, chuckling. “I was happy for him.”

In the first two regional games, Oregon struggled brutally on offense. They managed only two hits per game, going 4-53 in the two game span.

Shaun Chase also went yard for Oregon, who put up runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Mitchell Tolman went 2-3 from the plate with two RBI and Ryan Hambright hit 1-4 with an RBI in the ninth inning for insurance.

In both games, Oregon had strong pitching and defense, which allowed them to keep the games close. The run support in the third regional game, combined with the consistent pitching and defense, proved to be the difference as Oregon separated themselves from the Dons with runs in the third, fourth, and fifth inning.

Irvin gave up one run on six hits while striking out nine, but it didn’t always look pretty. The Dons leadoff hitter, Justin Maffei took the second pitch Irvin threw and sent it over the wall to give the Dons an instant 1-0 lead.

“That first pitch was off the plate and then that second pitch I was just trying to throw a ‘get me over’ fast ball to get even in the count,’” said Irvin. “It just so happens that he drilled it.”

Oregon will play again Sunday evening against Rice. Rice won the first regional match up 1-0 on Saturday. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start with righthander Jeff Gold (3-0, 2.50 ERA) getting the start and will be televised on ESPN3.

***

Notes:

Ryon Healy left the game in seventh inning and was replaced by Kevin Minjares, who played third while Ryan Hambright slid over to first. Healy had been struggling with a back injury and will likely be out for the evening game with Rice.

After falling 1-0 to Rice Saturday night, the Ducks have fallen into the losers bracket of the Eugene regionals and will now take on San Francisco on Sunday at noon. The winner will earn the right to play a second game of the day, this one against Rice.

Since it is a double elimination tournament, if either team beats Rice, they will have to then beat them again on Monday to knock them from the tournament.

Cole Irvin will get the start for the Ducks against USF. Television coverage can be found on ESPN3.

Once again, Oregon’s starting pitching took them through seven innings and kept the game close, this time only giving up one run. However, for the second straight night, Oregon’s offense was absent, causing them to lose 1-0 to Rice.

Oregon is now 4-53 at the plate in the regionals, each game only coming up with two hits. Often times, Oregon makes due with limited offense and takes advantage of defensive mistakes and walks but Rice didn’t offer much that the Ducks could use.

“We didn’t get a lot of hits,” said Oregon head coach George Horton. “We didn’t get a lot of hits tonight, we didn’t get a lot of hits last night. Good pitching gets good hitting out. I’m not going to blame our offense and I’m not going to blame our hitters that are going out there. It might look easy to hit from the dugout or stands, but that guy (Stephens) is awfully good.”

Jordan Stephens, the starting pitcher for Rice, threw an incredible game, often times leaning on his curve ball. He went full nine innings with 11 strikeouts, two walks, a hit batter, two hits and no runs. He retired the first 13 batters faced.

“This was the best game of my life so far,” said Stephens after the game.

Rice head coach Wayne Graham said it was the best Stephens’ curve ball has ever looked.

Thorpe also pitched well, going seven innings and allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out four.

The offense, though, left something to be desired. Ryon Healy and Tyler Baumgartner were the only Ducks to get a hit, both going 1-3. Healy got on with a bunt single in the seventh, his first of the year. Baumgartner got on base with a single lined up the middle in the fifth inning. Both failed to score as no Oregon base runner touched third.

“we’re not the greatest hitting team and we’re dinged up,” said Horton. “We’ve got some guys that are in there giving us everything they have and just getting a lot of hits is not necessarily the strength of this team.”

Healy’s bunt single came after a particularly rough at-bat in the fourth inning. Healy took huge swings at the first three pitches thrown, coming up empty each time. On the third swing, Healy got tricked on a great slider from Stephens and struggled to find his footing afterward.

His last at-bat, this one in the ninth with two outs, Healy again took large swings, several times falling to the ground during his follow through.

Horton said after the game that Healy’s at-bats did not cause him to lose any faith in his top hitter.

“Ryon Healy is a really good hitter,” said Horton. “He thinks a lot; he’s not a machine. I don’t think it was a case of Ryon not getting hits because he was over thinking. He’s a very cerebral, intelligent baseball player.”

Turning Point 

Rice’s lone run came in the first inning after Ford Stainback hit a lead off single into the gap in right field. Christian Stinger then grounded out before Shane Hoelscher hit an RBI double to score Stainback.

On the Horizon

The road to super regionals now gets extremely difficult for Oregon.

“If we’re going to get this done, we have a lot of work to do,” said Horton.

Oregon will play University of San Francisco Sunday at 12p.m. at PK Park. Freshman Cole Irvin, Oregon’s final weekend starter, will get the start for the Ducks, If they win, they will play Rice again at 4p.m. If they beat Rice, they will have to beat them for a second time on Monday to advance to super regionals.

The biggest concern for the Ducks might quickly change from offense to pitching. Outside of their three weekend starters and their set up-closing duo of Garrett Cleavinger and Jimmie Sherfy, Oregon pitchers have struggled, often times against inferior teams.

After coming from behind in the eighth inning to beat South Dakota State 3-2 in Friday’s regionals game, Oregon has been placed in the winners bracket and will play Rice Saturday.

Rice beat the University of San Francisco 3-2 in extra innings on Friday to advance and play the Ducks.

Tommy Thorpe (2.22 ERA) will get the start for Oregon. Thorpe is on a hot streak having won his last five starts. In his previous two outings he went a combined 15 shut out innings, giving up just two hits.

First pitch is at 6 p.m. and television coverage can be found on ESPN3.

Oregon could only muster two hits off a strong South Dakota State pitching staff, but the two hits were all they needed for a 3-2 win in their first game of regionals.

“Mr. Healy comes through once again, Cleavinger gets a vulture win and Jimmie (Sherfy) gets a save. It’s pretty much groundhogs day,” Oregon head coach George Horton said of the typical fashion in which the Ducks got the win.

Oregon got a strong seven innings from Jake Reed, who gave up two runs, one earned, and took a close game into the eighth where they were able to hand the ball over to their dynamic duo of Garrett Cleavinger and Jimmie Sherfy.

The two took care of business and stopped South Dakota State from scoring.

“To Oregon’s credit, they’re a good team,” South Dakota State head coach Dave Schrage said.

Reed, after struggling much of the season and being demoted from the first starter to the third, had a rebound performance with the pressure on, giving up just one earned run.

It wasn’t the most dominant outing, for he had just three strikeouts, but he kept control of the game, holding the Jackrabbits to only two runs. More importantly, he threw seven innings. Reed has often times given up runs early, prompting a pitching change. When Oregon relies on bullpen arms other than Cleavinger and Sherfy, the wheels tend to fall off.

“I felt pretty good,” Reed said. “I thought I settled in as the game went on and got a little better. It was a big confidence builder for me to go out and have a big outing and a big game for us where we really needed me to keep us close in the game.”

The Jackrabbits were the hot team early, getting a run in the second and then again in the forth, that time courtesy of a fielding error at third base by Ryan Hambright.

The two runs looked to be the demise of Oregon. Layne Somsen, the South Dakota State starting pitcher, threw an incredible game. He went seven innings with six Ks, giving up just one earned run, two overall and one hit.

“Somsen was as advertised,” Horton said. “He was tremendous.”

However, it was Ryon Healy’s two-RBI double to left-center field in the eighth inning that made the biggest mark on the game. The inning started off with a lead-off walk to J.J. Altobelli. Somsen was pulled after 115 pitches and replaced by J.D. Moore.

Brett Thomas sacrifice bunted to push Altobelli to second, then Aaron Payne reached base by getting plunked for the 16th time this season.

Healy then stepped up and crushed a 90-mph fastball to the left-center warning track to get a double, easily scoring Altobelli and Payne.

“I was kind of surprised,” Healy said. “I saw him throw a lot of fastballs to Aaron Payne. He made a mistake with the fastball, kind of middle-in. I was able to get a good swing on it. I saw him hit Payne with a breaking ball so I had a feeling he wasn’t very confident with that pitch, so it kind of limited him down to one pitch.”

Sherfy came on in the ninth and put South Dakota State away. He struck the first batter out but walked Paul Jacobson, who then stole second. He got his fourth batter faced, Aaron Machbitz, to ground out to end the game.

“Getting the first guy out is obviously a huge advantage,” Sherfy said. “From last year almost loading the bases every time I threw I’m kind of used to it if I either get them out or don’t get them out. I think I do a good job of just forgetting if it’s bases loaded or a big situation.”

Tommy Thorpe will take the mound for the Ducks tomorrow when they take on Rice at 6 p.m. at PK Park in game two of regionals.

With four picks in the upcoming draft, three being second rounders, the Trail Blazers’ scouting team is working overtime. On Friday it worked out four projected second-round draftees.

Portland has several issues it wishes to address in the offseason and plans to consider drafting, trading or signing a player in free agency to improve the team.

Its most notable needs are a starting center, a back-up shooting guard and depth at power forward.

***

As Oregon baseball steps into the postseason, head coach George Horton hands the ball to his number-one starter going into the season: Jake Reed.

Reed, after struggling, was demoted to the Sunday start but now has a second chance at Friday.

A full preview of the regional match up against South Dakota State can be found here.

***

As Oregon State baseball enters into regional play, star Matt Boyd reflects on his decision to turn down the big leagues and return to school for a chance at a national championship.

Oregon (45-14, No. 1 seed) kicks off the postseason Friday when it takes on South Dakota State (35-22, No. 4 seed) in the first game of regionals held in Eugene at PK Park.

Jake Reed will make his return as a Friday starter as head coach George Horton has given him the nod to start. When asked about scouting tapes, Reed said that South Dakota State doesn’t have much video, so it is a lot harder to scout their hitters. However, he found the lack of tape preferable.

“I’m actually kind of glad about that,” Reed said. “It allows me to pitch to my strengths rather than the hitters’ weaknesses. It brings you back to high school when you didn’t watch video or have scouting reports. You just trust your stuff.”

The game starts at 6 p.m. and television coverage can be found on ESPN3.