Oregon knew coming into the weekend that they couldn’t afford to make mistakes against a team as talented as Vanderbilt, and they were reminded of that on Saturday in a 4-2 loss at PK Park. The Ducks were charged with just one error, but walked eight Commodores and made minor mistakes at all the wrong times.

The Commodores hardly played a perfect game either, committing three errors and walking seven, but the Ducks couldn’t manufacture runs out of those chances. The end result was 12 runners left on base for Oregon, something which has become all too common a theme this year.

“We’re in that funk,” head coach George Horton said. “Guys are taking responsibility on themselves and I think they’re trying to do too much.”

Horton’s point is well supported by Ryon Healy, a bright spot offensively for the Ducks this year who went 1-5 on Sunday, March 9.

“I’m not helping this team at all right now with my at bats,” Healy said.

Vanderbilt capitalized on an error by Brett Thomas in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Mike Yastrzemski singled to left field but Thomas had trouble reading the ball allowing Yastrzemski to reach second where he was promptly cashed in by Vince Conde. The Commodores doubled their lead an inning later, capitalizing on another miscue when Tommy Thorpe bounced a wild pitch with Tony Kemp on third base.

The Ducks would take advantage of a Vanderbilt mistake to plate a run in the sixth inning as Healy reached base on an error and eventually scored on a groundout from Steven Packard, but Vanderbilt jumped back out to a two-run lead in the next inning, once again capitalizing on a mistake, this time a bases-loaded walk from Brando Tessar.

Oregon loaded the bases in the seventh inning and had its best power hitter at the plate in Healy, but the Ducks first baseman struck out swinging to let the Commodores off the hook. The Ducks rallied again in the eighth, pulling within 4-2 on a Connor Hofmann RBI double, but Oregon left two men in scoring position for the second straight inning.

The Ducks would string together a minor rally in the ninth as well, sparked by a two-out double from Healy, but Packard would eventually fly out to end the game.

It’s the second-straight weekend series the Ducks have dropped, though both came against highly ranked teams. Still, it’s valuable experience for the Ducks as they prepare to start Pac-12 play next week in Los Angeles against USC.

It was advertised as a pitcher’s duel, and was it ever. Vanderbilt ace Kevin Ziomek turned in an absolute gem, striking out 13 Ducks in a complete game victory. Jake Reed was solid for the Ducks, but was ultimately doomed by giving up three in the second inning as the Commodores took game one of the three game series by a 4-1 scoreline.

The Ducks knew their chances would be few and far between with Ziomek on the mound but still nearly got on the board in the bottom of the first. Aaron Payne lined a screamer down the right field line for a double and stole third without a throw, but even with a runner 90 feet away and only one out the Ducks couldn’t strike in the first inning.

After blowing an opportunity of their own in the first, Vanderbilt put a two-out rally together in the second to take a 3-0 lead.

“Credit to them for really breaking it open,” Reed said. “That three spot was huge, and when you’re going up against a guy like (Ziomek) it’s tough to come back from.”

Reed would retire the next 13 batters he faced, but the damage had been done as Oregon would mange only one more hit all night. The hit however, was a giant one as Ryon Healy sent the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth well over the left field fence and even beyond the visitors bullpen.

Healy had known Ziomek from playing summer ball with him, but even with a solid scouting report the lefty was hard to hit.

“I was trying to do way too much,” Healy said. “You have to hit what they throw. You can know what pitch is coming but hitting you fail seven out of ten times and you’re really good, so it was one of those nights where he was just beating us a lot more than we were beating him.”

After the longball from Healy, Ziomek went to work. Not only would the Ducks be kept out of the hit column for the remainder of the night, they’d only end up with one more baserunner as the Commodores sat down 18 of the next 19 Duck hitters.

Garrett Cleavinger and Darrell Hunter split the last two innings after Reed’s seven inning night and held the Commodores hitless, though a string of ninth inning errors gave Vanderbilt an insurance run in the final frame.

The Ducks return to PK Park tomorrow for game two of the series.

The No. 2 Vanderbilt travel to PK Park this weekend for a three-game set with No. 15 Oregon. The Commodores are the highest-ranked team to play at PK Park since No. 2 Arizona State played in Eugene in 2010. From the Ducks’ weekly release, here’s this weekend’s pitching probables:

Friday 

Jake Reed (1-2, 4.32 ERA) vs. Kevin Ziomek (3-0, 0.82 ERA)

Reed looked great against Hawai’i but has dropped his last two starts — though he can’t be criticized much for losing at Cal State Fullerton. Vanderbilt’s left-handed ace has surrendered just two earned runs in 22 innings this season, while striking out 33 batters, which is good for fourth in the nation.

Saturday

Tommy Thorpe (2-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. Tyler Beede (3-0, 1.45 ERA)

Beede has been a force for Vandy on the mound in his own right, with just three earned runs allowed on the season. Thorpe is in a new role this year as a starter but has looked solid in his three starts.

Sunday

Cole Irvin (3-0, 2.05 ERA) vs. Philip Pfeifer (2-0, 0.45 ERA)

Irvin has been this year’s freshman phenom for Oregon head coach George Horton and has wins in his first three starts, including a seven-inning outing against Cal State Fullerton last weekend. Pfeifer has given up a lone-earned run in 20 innings of work on the season.

Oregon has been in the driver’s seat in the Pac-12 race for most of the season, beginning with their seven-game win streak to start conference play. But when they stumbled with freshman guard Dominic Artis injured, they let the rest of the conference back into the race. Heading into tonight’s game against Colorado, Oregon had the chance to clinch the regular season title and lock up the top seed in the Pac-12 tourney.

Things seemed to be unfolding in the Ducks’ favor when reports surfaced less than an hour before tipoff that Colorado would be without the nation’s leading rebounder, Andre Roberson. But Oregon was ice cold from the field from the start, and Colorado was in charge from the opening tip — turning a 16-point halftime Buff lead into a 76-53 victory.

Oregon will still have a first-round bye when the Pac-12 Tournament opens Wednesday in Las Vegas, but the loss opens the door for UCLA or California to steal the top spot. Oregon and UCLA both enter the final weekend with 12-5 Pac-12 records, while Cal finished the regular season with a 12-6 mark.

Since the Ducks hold the tiebreaker over the Bruins, they still control their own destiny. A win over Utah would still give the them the top spot in the tourney, however.

If the Ducks lose to the Utes, though, things get a little more complicated. UCLA could take home the top seed with a win over Washington and with an Oregon loss, and if Oregon and UCLA both lose, Cal could take the regular season conference crown without playing a game this weekend. Arizona will clinch a top-four spot and earn the first-round bye with a win over Arizona State — but Colorado could sneak into the top four with a win over Oregon State and an Arizona loss.

The loss also undoubtedly will hurt Oregon on Selection Sunday. Heading into the game, they were projected in the neighborhood of a six seed, but a blowout loss to a team missing its leading rebounder will cost them a few spots when the brackets are filled out.

After an offensive explosion gave Ducks baseball a 12-4 win over CSUN last night, George Horton will give the ball to Jeff Gold as the Ducks go for the sweep.

***

Up the road in Corvallis, Oregon State has released an entirely new brand, and along with it, new uniforms for all their sports. At the risk of editorializing, it’s a lot of orange, but the soccer jerseys aren’t bad.

***

The Lakers are playing the Thunder soon, so Kobe Bryant was asked about Serge Ibaka’s recent flagrant on Blake Griffin. Kobe was not impressed. ”I probably would have smacked [Ibaka] in the mouth,” Bryant said. “I would have dealt with the pain after.”

***

If you’ve ever wanted to read an interview with a “Legends of the Hidden Temple” contestant (yes, this Legends of the Hidden Temple), then here you go. 

Cole Wiper got knocked around a bit in his first career start, surrendering a first inning home run and walking four in 3.2 innings of work, but Oregon’s offense exploded in the fourth to let the freshman left-hander off the hook.

“He wobbled,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “He’s got a very bright future.”

Wiper started the night off with a strikeout on three straight pitches but then gave up a base hit to Chester Pak and a monstrous home run to Miles Williams that sailed well beyond the 375 sign in left field. He would give up just one more hit before he was pulled in the fourth inning — but he would also issue four free passes.

“He needs to have a little better command of his fastball,” Horton said. “It’s hard for me to have confidence calling off-speed pitches when we’re behind, so obviously when hitters sit dead-red even when you throw 92 — that’s what happened.”

The Ducks cut into the lead in the third inning when Ryon Healy cashed in Ryan Hambright with an RBI groundout. Oregon sent all nine men to the plate in the fourth inning and plated five runs to take control of the game. They extended the lead even further in the fifth when Brett Thomas scored on a play straight out of Little League: Thomas sent a comebacker right at the pitcher and CSUN’s catcher fired the ball into right field trying to get the out at first, which allowed him to come all the way around to score.

“We just had a good approach,” Thomas said. “We didn’t try to pull them and let the ball come to us tonight. We did pull some balls, but that was just because they were hanging some off-speed, and we turned them around pretty good.”

The Matadors would chip into the lead with runs in the sixth and eighth, and even brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth inning.

With the Ducks leading 7-3 and the bases full of Matadors, Horton brought in Jimmie Sherfy from the bullpen to get the squad out of the inning. Sherfy entered the at-bat already in a 2-0 hole but fought back to get Williams to strike out.

“He looked like the Jimmie of old,” Horton said. “His stuff was electric, and he didn’t create any free baserunners.”

Run-scoring hits from Steven Packard and Healy gave the Ducks another five-spot in the eighth on just two hits to put the game beyond all doubt heading into the final frame.

Sherfy made quick work of the ninth inning, notching three straight strikeouts to earn the four-out save.

Oregon hosts CSUN again on Tuesday with a noon start. Jeff Gold will get the start on the mound for Oregon.

Dana Altman’s Ducks moved up five spots, from 24th to 19th, in this week’s AP Top 25 after a Civil War win last Thursday.

Oregon is ranked one spot behind Arizona, despite the team’s identical records and Oregon’s win over Arizona. UCLA is also ranked behind Arizona, at No. 23, despite a pair of wins over the Wildcats.

With two games left in the regular season, Oregon is tied with UCLA for the Pac-12 lead. Oregon would win the Pac-12 regular season title with road wins over Utah and Colorado this week.

A day after beating No. 10 Cal State Fullerton to avoid becoming a sweep victim, the No. 15 Ducks are back in action at PK Park against Cal State Northridge. Northridge comes to Eugene after narrowly avoiding a sweep. The Matadors beat Washington State to snap a five game skid including the first three games of their series against the Cougars.

The midweek game could mean another start for Christian Jones.

The lefty has made one start this year in addition to a few bullpen appearances after missing all of last year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Jones said after his last start — a victory over Portland — that he wasn’t at 100 percent mostly because he wasn’t trusting his elbow yet.  If Jones does start, it is likely that head coach George Horton will have him on some sort of a pitch count.

The 6 p.m. first pitch marks the start of a busy five game week at PK Park, one of three five game weeks on the schedule this year for George Horton’s Ducks. Oregon plays the Matadors again tomorrow before welcoming No. 2 Vanderbilt for a huge three game set at PK Park.

Carlos Emory scored a career high 21 points off the bench as Oregon took down Oregon State 85-75 on senior night at Matthew Knight Arena Thursday. The Ducks came back from a halftime deficit for the sixth time this season to earn their 23rd victory.

“That’s not what we want to do,” E.J. Singler said. “We want to be up at halftime, but I think our senior leadership in the second half is really, really good … but we got to switch that, we have to start earlier.”

The win moved the Ducks into sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 and sent seniors Singler, Emory, Tony Woods and Arsalan Kazemi out on top. The latter three each finished in double-figures, while Singler finished with nine.

***

The Ducks jumped out to an early lead in the first half but looked to lose control of the game when Damyean Dotson was injured midway through. The Beavers would go on a run and lead 41-34 at the half, behind a phenomenal performance from Oregon State’s Roberto Nelson, who had 22 points at the intermission.

Dotson would come out for warmups prior to the second-half start but didn’t attempt a shot, instead jogging around and trying to loosen up; however, the freshman shooting guard didn’t play in the rest of the game. Oregon head coach Dana Altman said the team will use the next few days — including an important off day this weekend — to let him recover.

“He just took a really hard fall,” Altman said. “He worked hard to try and get it loosened up to go, but he just couldn’t move … We’re fortunate we’ve got a week; I don’t think he’d play Saturday.”

Things would get worse for the Ducks before they got any better during second-half play. With Oregon State leading by nine, Eric Moreland threw down a monster dunk that would have put them up double figures — but, he was called for a charge on the play as well as a technical foul for standing over Tony Woods after the dunk.

E.J. Singler hit both of the technical shots, but the Beavers still led by a couple possessions until Carlos Emory’s jump shot with 12:51 remaining put the Ducks within two. A wide-open three from Dominic Artis — his only shot attempt of the second half — gave Oregon its first lead in almost 15 minutes. From then on, the Duck seniors simply took over, scoring the next 25 points.

Among that sequence was a series of three straight dunks, all set up by feeds from Singler.

“I just saw Tony getting in good positions down low,” Singler said. “He did a good job of staying with his guy, and after that first one, I saw the look in his face, and I was like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to go back to that,’ and he kept on doing it.”

The Ducks weren’t shutting the Beavers down by any means, but 12 second-half opposition turnovers allowed the home team to open up a ten-point lead with just under 12:00 left. The Ducks would maintain that cushion for the rest of the game. Oregon also figured out how to defend Nelson in the second half, holding him to just nine points after his explosive first half.

“I thought our awareness was better on him,” Altman said.

Oregon has the weekend off and will play Colorado and Utah on the road next week to close out the regular season.