Oregon’s bats came alive early in the game to account for three home runs, including a go-ahead three run homer by Tyler Baumgartner, to give the Ducks an 11-7 win over Portland Tuesday afternoon.

As promised, it was pitching by committee for the Ducks, who used five pitchers in nine innings. Cole Wiper got the official start, but only threw two innings. Jared Priestley, Jeff Gold and Darrell Hunter all checked in for two innings apiece before handing the game over to closer Jimmie Sherfy, who shut the Portland bats down, throwing a one-two-three ninth.

Six Oregon players had a multi-hit game, led by Brett Thomas who went 3-5 with three RBI and a run scored. Baumgartner wasn’t far behind, going 2-5 with three RBI and a run scored. Connor Hofmann, J.J. Altobelli and Shaun Chase also chipped in a pair of hits.

Portland struck first in the bottom of the first inning, but the lead wasn’t long lived. The Ducks shot back in the second, scoring three runs on four hits to claim a 3-2 lead. However, Portland came back and tied the game with a run in the bottom of the second.

Turning Point. Baumgartner took the lead back for Oregon in the third inning with his three RBI homer, followed by a solo shot by Chase to give the Ducks a 7-3 lead. Portland struck back in the bottom of the inning with three runs scored, but the Ducks were able to retain their lead.

Oregon put up four insurance runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings while only giving up one more to Portland, coming out with an 11-7 victory.

On the Horizon. Oregon will take on Stanford in a three game series at PK Park this weekend. Game one will kick off at 6 p.m. with projected number one overall draft pick Mark Appel taking the mound for the Cardinal. The starter for Oregon has yet to be announced, but will be either Tommy Thorpe or Cole Irvin.

It took 22 innings, but Oregon’s bats finally came alive and allowed the team to take a lead over UCLA — once again avoided a sweep — and win 5-3 on Sunday in the final game of the series on a three RBI triple from Scott Heineman.

“Obviously we struggled to score runs this weekend and we knew runs would be hard to come by against the UCLA staff and in this ball park,” oregon head coach George Horton said. “For us to answer back twice today and figure out how to get it done and salvage one win was significant.”

Jake Reed had his second Sunday start, both ending in victories, and pitched a strong six innings. He allowed three runs on six hits with three strike outs.

“I felt alright,” Reed said in reference to his outing. “It was nice to get that last win. It’s a cruel game … the way that Tom (Thorpe) and Cole (Irvin) pitched on Friday and Saturday and then for me to get the win, I feel bad for those guys. But it’s big for us to get that win.”

UCLA got on the board in the top of the third inning on an RBI double from Brenton Allen, but the Ducks were able to strike back in the bottom of the inning when J.J. Altobelli was walked in the with two outs. Altobelli crossed home plate from two singles hit up the middle by Brett Thomas and Aaron Payne to tie the game at 1-1.

UCLA countered with back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth inning, putting them up 3-1, but again Oregon found a way to get it done in the second half of the inning.

Turning point. After Connor Hofmann stuck out to lead off the bottom of the inning, Altobelli lined one up the third baseline for a single. Thomas grounded a single to the short stop, then Payne was walked to load the bases with Ryon Healy stepping to the plate, prompting a pitching change for UCLA.

Healy was visibly excited, bobbing up and down in the on-deck circle, while Ryan Deeter warmed up on the mound. Healy grounded out with an RBI with the short stop throwing out Payne at second on a fielders choice play. Next up was Heineman, who after being named Pac-12 Player of the Week had gone 0-8 in the series.

Heineman drilled a triple to the warning track in right-center field, scoring three and giving the Ducks a 5-3 lead, equaling the largest lead by either team in the series.

“I saw a fastball, a pretty good pitch,” Heineman said of the ball he hit. “That guy Ryan Deeter, he’s a dominant pitcher. I was just trying to put a good swing on it and it ended up working out.”

Heineman later said that he had a little insight on the pitcher he faced. Deeter was apparently his brother’s roommate at UCLA and one of his best friends.

Oregon got great pitching from their bullpen in the seventh, eighth and ninth with Christian Jones, Garrett Cleavinger, and Jimmie Sherfy all throwing an inning of hitless baseball.

Sherfy struck out the final two UCLA batters, reaching as high as 96mph on the gun. With the win he got his 13th save of the season, which leads the nation.

“That’s a big league save guy that we saw today,” Horton said of his closer. “He’s throwing strike one, strike two and the only balls he’s throwing out of the zone are when he’s intentionally throwing out of the zone.”

On the Horizon. The Ducks take to action on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in Portland. Cole Wiper will get the start with Horton planning on much of the pitching coming by committee.

Ducks fans experienced deja vu Saturday night as Oregon baseball lost to UCLA 1-0 for the second-straight night. The Ducks only managed three hits and consistently struggled with runners in scoring position.

Optimism could be found in the start for Cole Irvin who went a full nine innings for the second time this season. He is the only Ducks pitcher this season to do so.

“Oh yeah, I like having the game in my hands,” Irvin said when asked if he likes staying in for the full game.

It wasn’t his most stat-heavy game, only striking out two, but he allowed just five hits and no earned runs.

“Cole was real sharp tonight,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “That was one of his best outings. He had all four pitches going and certainly gave us every chance to win.”

Many similarities can be found in the two UCLA games, with Horton even referencing “Groundhog Day” in the postgame interview, but perhaps the most glaring was the defensive play of third baseman Mitchell Tolman. Tolman has four errors in the series, two in each game. The lone run scored by UCLA came as a result of a fielding error from Tolman.

“He’s trying too hard,” Horton said of his third baseman. “You can see him shaking his head a little bit. Feeling sorry for yourself and moping around is not going to make the game take it easy on you. He’s showing a little bit of his age I guess in that manner. He’s a lot better than the way he’s played, he just has to stay on his own side.”

It has perhaps been a tough week for Tolman, something echoed by Irvin when asked about his defensive play during the series, but he does not bear all the blame. Oregon, after scoring at least one run in every game this season, now has two consecutive games where they were shut out.

Oregon twice showed warning-track power, both hits that would have been home runs in nearly every park in the country, but both times felt the brunt of their vast ballpark.

“This is a pitchers’ ball park,” Horton said. “It’s turf, it’s big. Healy got into his hit pretty good and backed the right fielder up. We’ve said all along that this is a man’s park. It’s a ball park that’s hard to get a lot of extra base hits in.”

Turning Point. Irvin held the Bruins scoreless for all but the first inning. After giving up a double to his second faced batter, Eric Filia, Irvin got Kevin Kramer to ground out. Filia advanced to third before Pat Valaika hit a grounder toward third base. Tolman fumbled the ball while trying to field it, allowing Filia to score.

On the Horizon. The Ducks will now look to avoid the sweep as they have all season. All-American Jake Reed will take the mound to face south paw Grant Watson. First pitch will be at noon at PK Park.

No. 10 Oregon fell to No. 13 UCLA 1-0 Friday night at PK Park in the first of a three game series. With the loss Oregon falls to 28-9 overall, 12-4 in the Pac-12, still ahead of UCLA in the standings.

Oregon got a solid seven innings behind starter Tommy Thorpe, who gave up a run on three hits with five K’s, but the offense wasn’t there. Both teams only managed four hits but UCLA starter Adam Plutko proved to be the more stingy pitcher, throwing a no-hitter through the first five innings. It was the only game all season where the Ducks failed to score a run.

“He threw 105 pitches and 82 were fastballs,” Ryon Healy said of Plutko’s outing. “We weren’t doing a good enough job of lining up his fastball and putting good swings on it. We hit the ball hard right at people. That’s the game of baseball.”

Oregon’s best opportunity to get on the board came in the sixth inning when J.J. Altobelli led off with a single to right field to break up the would-be no-hitter. Brett Thomas grounded out followed by Aaron Payne going down swinging. With two outs and a man on first, Healy took the first pitch to shallow center field. Altobelli advanced to third base and Connor Tolman came to the plate with a chance to load the bases with reigning Pac-12 player of the week Scott Heineman on deck.

Tolman battled to a full count before fouling a pitch toward the visitors dugout. A UCLA third baseman sprinted to the dugout to make a play on the ball, falling down the stairs of the dugout and remarkably snagging the ball in the process to end the inning.

Oregon again reached base in the seventh when Tyler Baumgartner hit the gap in center field, but neither Josh Graham or Hofmann were able to drive him in, both striking out.

“They put some bunts down and we didn’t,” head coach George Horton said. “Our bunting game was not there. We didn’t do many things in character. We didn’t throw enough strikes and essentially a lead of walk is what beats us.”

After averaging over seven runs per game in their last nine contests, the Ducks fell victim to old habits, struggling to hit the ball. Often times their lack of offensive prowess was overshadowed by their uncanny ability to take advantage, and sometimes force, infield mistakes leading to scoring opportunities. That was not the case Friday, with UCLA playing disciplined baseball, refusing to help the Ducks.

Turning Point. UCLA center fielder Brian Carroll led off the inning with single then stole second with Kevin Kramer at the plate. Kramer bunted and Thorpe failed to field the ball, allowing Kramer to reach first base while Carroll headed to third. With corner bases and no outs Pat Valaika stepped to the plate. Valaika grounded out into a double play but with a runner on third and no outs, the Ducks were unable to stop Carroll from scoring.

Oregon had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth. Healy led things off with a single to right center field. Mitchell Tolman advanced Healy on a sacrifice bunt, bringing Heineman to the plate, who struck out swinging on a 1-2 count. Baumgartner went to the plate with two outs, grounding out to end the game.

“I was very confident (that I was going to score),” Healy said of reaching base in the ninth inning. “There was no doubt in my mind that the guys behind me were going to bring me in, especially when Mitchell Tolman got that bunt down. I was ready to score. We saw a couple tough at bats, they had a really good pitcher on the mound. You got to tip your hat at that.”

On the Horizon. Oregon will look for redemption Saturday with another 7p.m. start. Impressive freshman Cole Irvin will take the mound.

As spring football practice continues, leading up to the spring game on the 27th, emphasis has been placed on the quarterback position. With leading rusher Kenjon Barner headed to the NFL, the play of starting quarterback Marcus Mariota will be under a microscope.

The expectations placed on Mariota are extremely high. Even though he is heading into just his second year as quarterback, he is already projected to be the most prolific quarterback in the Pac-12 and a Heisman finalist.

Head coach Mark Helfrich said that Mariota is not content to skate by on his athleticism or past accomplishments and that he is determined to improve his game.

“I think the biggest thing for a guy like him is that he still wants to get better,” Helfrich said. “I think a lot of guys have success early and then kind of put it in cruise. He hasn’t done that. He has gotten better as a runner, he has gotten better as a passer and he has a better overall knowledge of our system.”

Helfrich continued to praise his quarterback and expressed that it is a joy to be able to coach him.

“When a great player wants to be great and has all the capabilities, that’s where you light up as a coach because that guy can be special,” Helfrich said.

Unlike last year, this spring there is no controversy over who the starting quarterback will be. The back-up QB is a different story. Jake Rodrigues and Jeff Lockie, both red-shirt freshmen, are battling to become second on the depth chart. The spring game will provide both with a stage to prove they are worthy of the coveted spot. Mariota said it will be a big opportunity for them.

“They came in to spring knowing their would be a competition (for the back up QB position),” Mariota said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do when the lights come on. (The spring game) will be the closest thing to a real live game that they have had. I’m excited for them and I bet they are really looking forward to it.”

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Much has been made of players like De’Anthony Thomas and Dior Mathis double dipping in both football and track, but Oshay Dunmore has one-upped them with his participation in decathlons.

“Decathlons are definitely tough,” Dunmore said. “It was a good test of mental and physical strength, but now I know it’s something I made it through. It’s probably one of the hardest things I’ll ever do in my career. Good thing I got it out of the way early.”

Dunmore acknowledged that the success some of the other football players have seen on the track is impressive, but decathlons are a whole different ball game.

“It’s a little bit different, going out there sprinting and going out there and running a decathlon,” Dunmore said. “It’s a little bit more of a demand on my part but it’s something that I signed up for so I’m going to continue to do everything I can to stay on top of everything and give it my all.”

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No. 10 Oregon baseball starts an important home series against No. 13 UCLA Friday at 7 p.m. The Ducks are coming off a sweep of Cal and will look to make a statement against a top conference opponent.

First pitch for Friday and Saturday’s game will be at 7 p.m. with Tommy Thorpe taking the mound Friday and Cole Irvin going Saturday. The final game will come Sunday at noon with Jake Reed getting the start.

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Mike Tokito of The Oregonian writes that former Blazers’ and Sonics’ head coach is the front-runner for the vacant coaching position for the Detroit Pistons. Nate McMillan has been without work since he was fired by the Blazers during the tail end of the 2011-12 season.

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In their most recent NFL mock draft, Sporting News has Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan going second overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags have many needs and could be helped by a plethora of different players, but with Jordan’s stock rising so quickly, no team will pass him up easily.

Coming into the season, Oregon knew it had a strong defensive team and a solid pitching staff centered around an ace starting pitcher, All-American Jake Reed, and closer, All-American Jimmie Sherfy.

In the first game of the season on the road against Hawaii, Reed played six scoreless innings, giving up just four hits with seven strikeouts.

In his second start, against Loyola Marymount, he seemed electric, trying his career high in strikeouts with eight, but then gave up four runs in the fifth, leading to an Oregon loss. The loss to LMU seemingly put him in a slump.

Reed is currently third on the team in ERA (3.54), win/loss percentage (.571), and runs allowed (28).

While it can be costly to demote an ace, it was becoming clear that Reed wasn’t filling the role the team needed out of a Friday starter. Last weekend against Cal, coach George Horton moved him into the Sunday spot with Tommy Thorpe and Cole Irvin both moving up a day. All three got wins.

“Jake wasn’t that Friday guy that we need to match up with the other Friday guys around the Pac,” Horton said bluntly. “He’s been a guy who had a hiccup somewhere along the line, as good as his stuff is. When you give up four or five (runs) on Friday, it’s hard to win, so he got demoted.”

However, Horton said that the rotation of Thorpe throwing Friday, Irvin on Saturday, and Reed on Sunday is not set in stone. Originally, Horton wanted to move the freshman, Irvin, into the Friday spot starting this weekend against UCLA, calling him his most consistent pitcher. However, after the success Thorpe saw in his Friday start against Cal, Horton decided to keep the rotation the way it was for UCLA.

Reed was quite candid when asked about the demotion, admitting that he simply wasn’t performing to the expectations of a Friday starter and said he understood why Horton made the change. He expressed that picking up a win, regardless of what day it is, is the most important thing on his mind.

“I wasn’t really giving the team a lot of success,” Reed said. “Cole and Tommy have been throwing more consistent that I have. I don’t think it was (the coaching staff) losing confidence in me, they know I can still pitch, it was just a matter of changing things up and seeing the best way we could put the rotation to get a sweep or win a series. The ultimate goal is winning and sweeping series.”

Irvin, currently second in the rotation, has a good shot of moving into the Friday spot at some point this season because he has been so solid for Oregon, going 7-1 on the year.

Irvin admitted that he did, in fact, have aspirations for being named the Friday starter, but realizes it’s something that he has to work for.

“It’s been a goal since summer,” Irvin said of earning the coveted Friday slot. “Tommy pitched well last Friday and deserves to keep that spot, and I hope he does well the rest of the year.”

Irvin was modest, per usual, but did allude to some motivation to earn the Friday spot sooner rather than later. Irvin wants to take on the projected number one overall 2013 draft pick in Stanford pitcher Mark Appel.

“I pay attention to who is slated where and I want to see (Appel) pitch,” Irvin said. “I want to start against him.”

Fresh off a series sweep against Cal and a win against No. 5 Oregon State, No. 10 Oregon is feeling good as they get ready for a two-week homestand.

The sweep against Cal was their third sweep this season against a Pac-12 school and their first on the road. Anytime the Ducks are able to get three against a conference opponent they’re happy, but coach George Horton said against Cal, the sweep was especially important.

“It made me feel good,” Horton said of the success at Cal. Horton spoke to the tumultuous series against Cal in the 2009-10 season and expressed his elation with the improvement of the program since then.

In 2009, Horton took his team out into the outfield and gave a long talk about how the team wasn’t what it should be and how the players had lost focus on what was important.

“I shared that story with this year’s club,” Horton said. “When we accomplished that sweep, we walked right out to that same area. There happened to be a little divit in the grass. J.J. (Altobelli) being a senior and having a lot to do with this culture, I pointed at the divit and asked him ‘Can you please bury those demons from the ’09 series?’”

Perhaps the player who had the biggest impact on the Cal series was Scott Heineman, whose bat has woken up in the past week. Over the past five games, Heineman has four home runs and nine RBI, prompting Pac-12 Player of the Week honors.

“I made some minor adjustments on my starting point,” Heineman said of his recent success. “It helps me restrict my swing so I can get to that inside pitch. Other than that I’ve been working up in the cage before practice. It’s feeling pretty good right now.”

The Ducks now head two-straight home series against No. 13 UCLA and Stanford, both worthy opponents. The team is confident after their road success and is looking forward to playing in their home confines.

“I think a lot of us have a lot of confidence right now,” said Ryon Healy. “It’s very special what we did on the road and to finally get our first road sweep in the Pac-12. I feel like coming back here and playing in PK Park for the first time in two and a half weeks is going to be a lot of fun. There will be a lot of energy and hopefully the fans will come out and support us.”

A couple of Oregon’s baseball players were recognized today for their outstanding play so far this season. All-American closer Jimmie Sherfy was named to the watch list for the 2013 Pitcher of the Year award, while Scott Heineman was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for his superb play this past weekend against Cal.

Sherfy is one of 41 players to be named to the watch list. He has a 1.11 ERA, and his 11 saves are tops in the Pac-12 — tied for third in the nation. This is just the most recent of many top-award watch lists featuring his name.

Heineman received his honors after his brilliant week with games against Oregon State and Cal. In the four games where Oregon went 4-0, he hit .438 (7-for-16) with three doubles, three home runs, six RBI and five runs scored. He had hits in each of the four games, including two multi-hit games against Cal.

He is third in batting average on the team (.291), second in hits (37), second in RBI (24) and second in slugging percentage (.441).

These two standouts have helped Oregon reach a No. 7 ranking by the NCAA — just behind Oregon State — and achieve an impressive record of 27-8, 12-3 Pac-12.

Prior to the start of the 2012-13 season, the Trail Blazers seemed destined to be a lottery team for the second straight year. By December, though, the brilliant play of rookie sensation Damian Lillard, coupled with improvement from Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews and J.J. Hickson, had quickly dispelled that notion. The Blazers were in a fight for a playoff seed.

At times they looked fantastic, grabbing wins against the Lakers, Heat, Nuggets, Clippers, Spurs and Knicks. However, as the minutes piled up, the results were less impressive: Lillard is third in the NBA at minutes per game at 38.6, with Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge close behind at six and 11, respectively.

In early February, the Portland team was sitting right around .500, and its playoff hopes were fading quickly. The team was in very dangerous territory, risking missing both the playoffs and the chance at a first-round pick. The Charlotte Bobcats have the rights to the Blazers’ first-round pick, as long as the player falls out of the top 12. At the time, the Blazers were sitting right in the 12-to-14 range.

In the waning weeks of the season, the team and their fanbase received a blessing in disguise: an 11-game losing streak. With two games remaining against the Clippers and Warriors — both fighting for position in the Western Conference Playoff standings — the streak is likely to extend to 13 games, tying a franchise record set in the second year of Blazers’ basketball, the 1971-72 season.

Currently, with its Sunday loss to the Denver, Portland is tied with Philadelphia for the 11th-worst record in the league — but could get to the ninth.

For many fans, the notion of tanking to get a better lottery pick (or in this case, any lottery pick) is cheap and unsportsman-like. However, the Blazers don’t seem to be tanking — rather just feeling the effects of playing a high number of minutes manifesting itself in lethargy and injury. And while a late lottery pick normally doesn’t have a big impact, the would-be pick could potentially have huge implications for how the team plays next season.

The Blazers have the worst scoring bench in the league at 18.4 points per game, which is nearly eight points fewer than the second worst, Indiana, at 26.1 points per game. With the likely departure of Nolan Smith, Luke Babbitt, and Hickson, the team will desperately need improved production from their bench next season.

Furthermore, under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, draft picks are possibly more important than they have ever been. Salary caps are dropping, and the luxury tax is becoming more and more crippling. Getting solid production from a player on a rookie contract is simply the best bargain available.

Take Lillard for example: Currently he is 12th in scoring at 19 per game, 17th in assists with 6.5 and fifth in the league in made three pointers — yet, he is making a little over $3 million per year on a four-year contract. In his fifth year, he will likely get a max deal pushing him above $20 million per year.

Another reason rookies can be valued higher than free agents is that once their rookie scale contract is up, the team can resign them without having to clear cap space since the league allows you to resign your own players without any cap implications. They will have to pay luxury tax, but it still gives them flexibility to spend excess money on the free-agent market rather than their young players.

The Blazers will likely have $13 million to spend in free agency in the off-season. If they can use that money wisely and draft well in the low end of the lottery, they can give their strong starting lineup — the only one in the league where all five players scored at least 1,000 points — the help they deserve and then look to the postseason.

No. 16 Oregon baseball went up against No. 6 Oregon State Tuesday night and came out with a 6-3 win. Oregon has been shaky at times against top-tier opponents this season, such as Vanderbilt, Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State. A win over the sixth-ranked team in the nation, one projected to make a deep run in June, is big for a team like Oregon.

Oregon used six pitchers in the game with the final three denying a single hit. Here is a full recap.

***

Blazers’ center J.J. Hickson has emerged this season as a valuable player, averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds, but that still hasn’t quieted the criticism. Hickson is one of the worst defensive centers in the league, and while as an individual he rebounds very well, the team is 18th in the league in rebounding. The 47.4 points that they give up in the paint is a league worst.

Jason Quick of The Oregonian recently wrote that both parties have agreed to part ways after the season.

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The Masters Par 3 contest starts today at noon on ESPN.

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The UConn women’s basketball team beat Louisville 93-60 last night to win the National Championship. It was their eighth title, which ties an NCAA record.