After a short-lived stint in the Baseball America Top 25 rankings, it’s back to the drawing board for Oregon.

The No. 25 Ducks fell 10-4  to the Stanford, marking their fifth straight loss. It is the first time Oregon has been swept at home in six years and the Ducks are now 6-9 in Pac-12 play.

“It’s tough,” Oregon shortstop Kyle Kasser said. “Especially coming into today, we had a lot of hope. We were hungry to win. … But that’s how it’s done, gotta tip our caps to them. They put up runs in six of the nine innings.”

Oregon never led during the series, and the Cardinal beat them at their own game as the Ducks played catch up all weekend. Stanford made a habit of putting runs on the board early throughout the first two games of the series, and did so again on Sunday.

Oregon starter Isaiah Carranza was hindered by control issues in the first inning, and the Cardinal tacked a run on the board with two outs in the first when Quinn Brodey scored on a wild pitch. A brief rain delay halted Stanford’s offense, but they picked up right where they left off when play resumed.

Carranza walked Mikey Diekroeger to put runners on first and second, and then threw another wild pitch that gave the runners second and third. Duke Kinamon followed with a two-RBI single to right to push the lead to 3-0.

“We were very generous with some of the first inning things, like the wild pitches,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “I was a little disappointed in Isaiah, because he was slipping on the mound. Our guys are highly trained to do something about it when the mound gets like that before things go sideways. … It’s our own park and we only have ourselves to blame.”

The Ducks struck back in the fifth with RBI singles from Gabe Matthews and Jake Bennett to cut the lead to 5-3, but Stanford tacked on another run of its own in the sixth. The Cardinal then scattered five more runs over the next three innings and chased Stringer in the seventh.

Oregon reliever Kenyon Yovan entered the afternoon carrying a 19-inning scoreless streak, but gave up the first run of his collegiate career in a non-save situation when Stanford scored a pair in the eighth.

Kasser led the Ducks with a 3-for-5 performance, and Spencer Steer and Matthew Dyer each went 2-for-4 with an RBI double.

The Ducks will face Oregon State in a midweek nonconference matchup in Corvallis on Tuesday, but will have to reach into the well for a starting pitcher. Stringer has normally been the Ducks’ midweek starter since conference play began, but neither he or Carranza will be available on Tuesday.

With the Pac-12 schedule now at the halfway point, the Ducks find themselves at the bottom half of the conference standings among a cluster of teams. Oregon State (15-2) is the only team that boasts a record better than three games above .500.

“There’s still time, but it’s got to start now,” Kasser said. “You look around at the rest of the league and everyone’s beating eachother up. We’re still in the thick of things, but we’ve got to figure it out as soon as possible.”

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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Duck basketball fans were on high-alert this week as they waited to hear which of Oregon’s stars would chose to enter the NBA Draft.

One departure they were not expecting was that of junior guard Casey Benson, who announced via Twitter on Wednesday that he will graduate in three years and transfer from the program.

pic.twitter.com/z9XwoTUOqJ

— Casey Benson (@CaseyBenson15) April 13, 2017

Despite his status as a junior, benson was ahead of schedule in credits and will leave Oregon as a grad transfer, meaning he can play immediately wherever he chooses to go.

After leading Oregon to the Elite Eight as its starting point guard during the 2015-16 season, Benson took a reduced role during Oregon’s Final Four run and came off the bench. Freshman Payton Pritchard took over the starting point guard spot.

During his junior season, Benson averaged 4.9 points and 1.9 assists in 20.9 minutes per game. While he shot a career-best 40.5 percent from 3-point range, he averaged eight fewer minutes per game than he did during his sophomore year.

With the departures of sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey and senior Dylan Ennis, Benson was likely to fill some of the freed up minutes. But the Ducks will also welcome freshman guard Troy Brown and V.J. Bailey, meaning Benson could have faced another logjam at the guard spot had he returned.

The Ducks now have three open scholarship spots for the upcoming season.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — There were plenty of chances to do the improbable again.

Oregon fans had seen it happen too many times to believe the Ducks wouldn’t pull themselves together, hit a couple of clutch shots, survive and advance. Just like they had all March, and all season.

Oregon built its most successful season in 78 years on a foundation of dramatic, late-game performances. The Ducks dug themselves into trouble on a weekly basis, only to deliver a grand finale each time their luck seemed to be running out. This time, however, Oregon walked too fine a line and saw its season end on Saturday in a 77-76 loss to North Carolina at the Final Four

“We were right there even though we played a bad game,” Oregon forward Dillon Brooks said. “We were right there, but those last championship plays, we didn’t make them.”

Oregon Ducks forward Dillon Brooks puts up a shot after driving past North Carolina Tar Heels forward Luke Maye (32). The Oregon Ducks play the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Final Four at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on Saturday, April 1, 2017. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

All year, the Ducks had been “right there” — one play away from a season-altering loss — and found a way to come away clean time after time. Oregon won eight games by five points or less, and won five by one possession. The Ducks’ 13.1-point scoring this season was the 10th best in the country, but it felt like an aberration.

On so many occasions, Oregon’s games came down to one or two crucial possessions. The Ducks became one of the best teams in the country at grabbing hold of those moments and bending them in their favor. A Brooks buzzer beater here, a Tyler Dorsey pull-up dagger there. The improbable started to become routine.

On Saturday, luck wasn’t enough and more predictable variables took hold. North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks, a 6-foot-10 rebounding machine built like a bulldozer, punished the Ducks for 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting. A lengthy Tar Heel defense exploited the sloppy play of the Ducks, who turned the ball over 12 times in the first half alone. Justin Jackson, North Carolina’s own version of Dillon Brooks, delivered a shot to the heart each time the Ducks were on the verge of clawing their way back in.

“They were down 10 with seven, eight minutes to go, and wouldn’t give into it,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said of the Ducks. “They’re going to look back, and it’s going to hurt because we didn’t play very well at times. And our turnovers were bad and we made some really bad decisions and quick 3s.”

Oregon’s penchant for late-game success had come through many times before Saturday.

On December 28, 2016, after a sluggish start to the season, Brooks drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to upset the then-No. 3 UCLA Bruins and push Oregon back into the national conversation. The Ducks trailed the Bruins by eight with 3:32 left, but timely shots from several players left Brooks with a chance to take over the game.

A month later, Brooks hit an almost identical shot as time expired to upend the California Golden Bears in Berkeley. He also hit a game-winning shot against Tennessee in November in his first game back from a foot injury.

In March, Dorsey turned into one of the most efficient sharpshooters in the nation and drilled go-ahead 3-pointers against Rhode Island and Michigan in the NCAA Tournament to help the Ducks escape after they had trailed late in both games.

Oregon mastered the art of sidestepping late-game catastrophe during the year, but the concept of putting together 40 consistent minutes was a struggle at times. While late-game heroics made for a compelling show, that brand of basketball took its toll in Glendale.

“[The Tar Heels] definitely started getting after us,” Oregon guard Dylan Ennis said. “Their experience really set in. They’ve been here before and it definitely showed.”

For as bad as the Ducks played during the game — going strictly by the numbers, it was one of their worst showings of the year — they were still one bucket away from upstaging a loaded Tar Heels squad.

Saturday’s performance seemed to contrast every other game the Ducks played throughout the NCAA tournament. Against Kansas, the ball bounced Oregon’s way every time the Ducks needed a bucket. Against Rhode Island and Michigan, Oregon took hold of the last five minutes of each game and then left the rest to Dorsey.

Oregon Ducks guard Tyler Dorsey (5) shoots a three pointer. The Oregon Ducks play the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Final Four at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on Saturday, April 1, 2017. (Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

But in the second half on Saturday, every Oregon point was a struggle. Keeping pace with the Tar Heels was like carrying a boulder up a hill. While North Carolina piled up easy buckets over a gassed Oregon defense, the Ducks depended on Ennis to pinball his way to the basket and finish acrobatic layups for most of the second half.

And yet, despite recording 16 turnovers to just seven assists and shooting 7-of-26 from 3-point range, Oregon was in place to defy the odds once again. With 45 seconds left, Dorsey connected on a 3-pointer that touched every inch of the rim before rolling in. It felt like deja vu.

But for all the times they had emerged with a win after a nail-biting finish, the Ducks also lost three games during the year by three points or less. That’s the way Saturday went.

“It wasn’t on Tyler,” Oregon guard Payton Pritchard said. “Every one of us had to step up. We were down three at half. They kind of punched us in the mouth in the second half and we brought it back and gave them a fight.”

With five minutes left in regulation, North Carolina held a seven point lead. According to a win-probability metric created by basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy, that lead gave the Tar Heels an 87 percent chance of locking up a victory. Just 11 days earlier against Rhode Island, the Ducks trailed by six points at the five minute mark, and were thought to be dead in the water; that deficit left them with an 84 percent chance of losing, according to the same metric.

Instead, that game ended with Dorsey drilling a game-winning jumper to push the Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen.

Oregon knew as well as any team in the country that taking the game down to the wire could end in either brilliance or disaster. On Saturday, the Ducks’ luck finally ran out.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Dillon Brooks methodically twirled a pair of scissors in his hands as he sat and described how North Carolina had just buried a dagger in the Duck’s season.

Brooks had just watched his team’s historic run through March end in agonizing fashion. They fell 77-76 to a Tar Heel squad that dangled a win in front of the Ducks for the entire game, only to pull it away at the last second.

“We lost this game not at the end of the game,” Brooks said. “We lost it in the middle. We didn’t take care of the basketball. No rebounding during the game.”

Brooks blamed himself for fouling out with 1:32 left to play. One locker over, Jordan Bell sat, inconsolable, and shouldered the blame after failing to pull down a rebound on the last play of the game.

Oregon’s run through March had been fueled by a red-hot shooting streak from Tyler Dorsey, while its regular season conference title was due in large part to some late-game heroics from Brooks. Oregon needed one of them to come to the rescue on Saturday, but it never happened.

Instead, whenever the Ducks cut a deficit, or looked to be swinging momentum, Tar Heel forward Justin Jackson became North Carolina’s own superhero and extinguished each and every Oregon comeback effort.

Jackson, the ACC player of the year and an All-American, was there to haunt the Ducks every step of the way. While Kennedy Meeks bulldozed his way to a 25-point double-double, Jackson was canning contested jumpers that made a seven point deficit feel like 70. He finished with 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting and buried four of North Carolina’s eight 3-pointers.

“He was just making shots,” Brooks said of Jackson. “Making tough ones. He was getting his fingerprints all over the game.”

Oregon began to find its offensive rhythm five minutes into the second half. But as Dylan Ennis carved his way to the basket for contested layups, and Dorsey worked his way to the free throw line, Jackson made sure the Ducks were trading two points for three. When he wasn’t scoring, he made life difficult for both Brooks and Dorsey on the defensive end.

“Once we started getting stops, we didn’t have to play against a set defense the whole time,” Jackson said. “And I think that was the biggest part of it was we were able to get out in transition and get better shots out of things we wanted to do.”

Jackson scored 11 points in a four minute span during the second half and pushed the North Carolina lead to nine with 12 minutes to go. That span included three 3-pointers, two of which came after Oregon had scored a basket of its own.

“It was tough, just because we knew that’s what he did going into the game,” Oregon forward Keith Smith said. “Just to let him do that was not what we wanted. I think if you take some of his points off the board and Meeks’ points off the board, we win that game.”

Meeks flaunted all week that the Tar Heels planned to neutralize the post presence of Bell by attacking the weak side each time Bell helped over to contest a shot. True to his word, Meeks racked up eight offensive rebounds, most of which came after Bell had left the hoop to go help a teammate. For long stretches of the game, North Carolina’s best plan of attack was to chuck up a shot and let Meeks play as a rim-runner and crash the glass.

But when Meeks went to the bench in foul trouble on two separate occasions in the second half, it was Jackson who kept the offense afloat.

Oregon’s tournament run was decorated with dramatic Hollywood endings. For three straight games leading up to Saturday, Dorsey and Bell were there to save the day when the Ducks seemed doomed.

On Saturday, there was none of that. Only Jackson systematically picking apart Oregon’s defense and deflating another dazzling comeback before the Ducks could start one.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — After spending an entire game playing catchup, Oregon came up just short on Saturday and saw its season end with a 77-76 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Oregon struggled to hold onto the ball in the first half. The Ducks committed 12 turnovers that resulted in 13 North Carolina points. Oregon also struggled to get its stars going — Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey combined for just 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Oregon’s offense woke up a bit in the second half, but by that point Justin Jackson had taken over the game for the Tar Heels and made any sort of comeback impossible. Jackson drilled two contested 3-pointers and racked up nine points in the first seven minutes of the half.

The Ducks were stymied by a lack of success from 3-point range and shot just 7 of 26 from beyond the arc for the game.

After Dorsey made a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left, the Ducks called timeout. They forced an UNC miss then Keith Smith scored with six seconds left. Kennedy Meeks missed both ensuing free throws after the Ducks fouled him but couldn’t get an offensive rebound. Joel Berry II again missed both free throws for UNC but Meeks pulled down the board to end Oregon’s NCAA Tournament run.

Key Stats

Oregon:

Jordan Bell — 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting and 16 rebounds

Dylan Ennis — 18 points on 7 of 19 shooting and six rebounds

North Carolina

Justin Jackson — 22 points on 6 of 13 shooting

Kennedy Meeks — 25 points on 11 of 13 shooting, 14 rebounds

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — If the Ducks are to take down the top-seeded Tar Heels on Saturday, it won’t be because they give in and play North Carolina’s bruising brand of basketball. It will be because they stick to what got them here — hot shooting, transition play and defensive communication.

Oregon hasn’t faced a team like North Carolina this year — simply because there isn’t another team like the Tar Heels in the country. They are the top rebounding team in the nation by a wide margin and loaded with strong, lengthy defenders in the post and on the perimeter.

For those searching for a comparable opponent on Oregon’s schedule, look at Arizona. The Wildcats weren’t nearly the rebounding juggernaut that the Tar Heels are, but they rotate a deep group of big men who can defend the post. They also boast several bulky, lockdown guards, just like North Carolina.

During Oregon’s blowout victory against Arizona on Feb. 4, the Ducks pounded the ball inside early and racked up fouls against Arizona’s bigs. They then worked their way out beyond the arc and rained 3-pointers on the Wildcats whenever they kept two big men on the floor.

It’s unreasonable to expect Oregon to shoot 64 percent from 3-point range again, but the Ducks’ performance in that game showed the blueprint of how Oregon can compete with bigger teams.

North Carolina won’t be rolling out a 7-foot, 3-point-raining big man like Arizona had in Lauri Markkanen. Oregon captured a Pac-12 title by playing four-out for much of its conference season, but there really isn’t a team in the Pac-12 that plays the same style of ball as North Carolina.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — In 2014, the USA National Select Team, a squad with the nation’s top high school seniors, made its way to Portland for the Nike Hoop Summit. 

The U.S. team needed a group to scrimmage against in preparation for a looming weekend matchup against a team featuring the top international prospects in the world.

Payton Pritchard, fresh off a state title and Oregon 6A player of the year honors, received a call to join a ringer team of local players. The makeshift team was supposed to be a punching bag for the U.S. Select Team.

Instead, Pritchard, a sophomore, stole the show and dominated a group that featured future NBA talents Jahlil Okafor and Myles Turner.

“I have nothing to lose in those situations,” Pritchard said on Thursday. “I knew my name wasn’t that out there, so I just thought I should put up what I can do.”

Three years later, Pritchard’s same fearless mindset against an elite team brought him and Oregon to the Final Four in Phoenix. A player who is as well known for his confidence as his crossover, Pritchard has put his ego aside this year and become Oregon’s floor general during its greatest season in school history.

“A lot of freshmen come in scared, trying to figure out what they’re gonna do. They don’t want to mess up,” Oregon forward Jordan Bell said. “Payton came in and was straight up like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna come in to kill. I’m gonna get us in position and just keep playing my game.’”

In just over a year, Pritchard has gone from playing in the Oregon state championship game to facing Kansas and UNC in back-to-back weeks with the season on the line. Already considered by many as one of the best high school players in state history, it was difficult for Pritchard to take a backseat when he first arrived at Oregon.

When he joined the backcourt competition, Pritchard and returning point guard Casey Benson butted heads in the early going. Benson recorded the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the nation during the 2015-16 season and led Oregon to an Elite Eight run. Regardless, Pritchard wasn’t content with just surrendering the starting job.

“To be honest, at first we didn’t have the greatest relationship,” Pritchard said. “When I was growing up, I never liked anybody else I was competing against. I think in the world we live in today, you’re not going to like anybody who you compete with.”

As Mennenga tells it, the icy relationship carried over into early practices.

“I think any young guy, any young competitor who is 18, 19 years old, you’re all fired up,” Mennenga said. “We had to separate them a couple of times when they would go at it. The whistle would blow and those guys would still be going at it.”

Oregon Ducks guard Payton Pritchard (3) dribbles past Stanford Cardinal guard Robert Cartwright (2). The No. 11 Oregon Ducks play the Stanford Cardinal at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

Pritchard admitted that much of the friction came from him being “stubborn and hardheaded” early in the process. After playing with a chip on his shoulder for so long, surrendering even an inch in the battle for a starting spot wasn’t an option.

“But I got over that and opened myself up,” Pritchard said. “[Benson] taught me a lot of things going into the season.”

Pritchard was there to push Benson, who has improved his 3-point shooting from 36 to 40 percent this year. Benson has helped Pritchard learn how to play more efficiently and how to run a team.

The result has been the 10th-most efficient offense in the nation, according to Ken Pom. Pritchard is averaging 7.4 points per game in 28 minutes this season while settling into a role as a distributor. But with an ankle-breaking crossover and a penchant for drilling timely jumpers, his scoring comes in bunches when he plays aggressively, something he has struggled to do at times this year.

While he hasn’t had to do it at Oregon, Pritchard has proven that he is capable of rising to occasion and carrying an offense.

“I remember we were in Atlanta one time playing one of the top AAU teams in the country,” Gonzaga forward Zach Collins, who played two summers with Pritchard on Portland-based Team Fast, said. “In the first half he hit like six or seven 3s. I would just be running behind him and I would just get back on defense because I knew it was going in.”

The youngest point guard to playin the 2017 Final Four, Pritchard could be Oregon’s X-factor on Saturday when he matches up against North Carolina star Joel Berry, who played on the same U.S. Select Team Pritchard faced three years ago.

“You need to walk in with confidence to get what you want,” Pritchard said. “If you’re young [and] on an old team they’re gonna pick you apart if you’re soft at all. You’ve just got to be prepared and show them that you’re ready to go to battle.”

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

Find all of the Emerald’s Final Four coverage here.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — If Oregon fans were hoping a pair of bum ankles would keep North Carolina star point guard Joel Berry out of the Tar Heel’s lineup on Saturday, they can stop holding their breath.

“I’m very confident; even if I’m not 100 percent I’m still playing,” Berry told reporters on Thursday. “There’s only two games left in the season and I’m not missing them.”

He sprained his left ankle during the Tar Heel’s win over Kentucky in the Elite Eight on Sunday, and it was later revealed that he had re-aggravated an injury to his right ankle that he sustained during the team’s first-round win over Texas Southern.

Berry earned All-ACC Second Team honors during the 2016-17 season and averaged 15.1 points per game as North Carolina’s floor general.

“It was the game before Kentucky and we were working on zone defense,” Berry said. “I stepped on one of my teammate’s feet and just aggravated it and ran straight back to the tunnel. I was frustrated — nobody wants to get hurt, especially the same injury over and over again.”

The injury has limited Berry to strictly light, half-court work during practices. North Carolina head coach Roy Williams joked that Berry barely broke a sweat on Thursday.

“[Berry] did nothing full court today,” Williams said. “If we go back and he feels good tonight, we might let him do full court. But I can’t let him play on Saturday if he can’t do something full court because we do play full court.”

Berry said he has undergone cupping treatment and pool workouts to help speed up the recovery. North Carolina’s trainers and coaches feared that Berry’s ankle would swell up on the team’s flight to Phoenix, and Williams said that was indeed the case.

If Berry is unable to play on Saturday, his likely replacement would be freshman guard Seventh Woods, who averages 1.7 points per game on the year.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney.

Find all of the Emerald’s Final Four coverage here.

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When Oregon forward Chris Boucher went down with a season-ending knee injury midway through the Pac-12 Tournament, many thought his absence would spell doom for the Ducks’ national title hopes.

Already thin on contributing big-men, the loss of Boucher meant Oregon would have to navigate the NCAA Tournament with Jordan Bell as their only post presence who had played consistent minutes throughout the regular season.

Since the start of the tournament, though, the Ducks have actually become a better rebounding team in Boucher’s absence. You could chalk that up to Bell suddenly becoming Oregon’s version of Draymond Green, or the fact that the Ducks have faced perimeter oriented teams throughout the tournament.

However you look at it, the Ducks are averaging almost one rebound a game better than they did during the regular season. They’re outrebounding NCAA Tournament opponents by almost seven boards a game.

“Jordan Bell is really playing well, but the guys have all chipped in a little bit,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said. “I got after Tyler [Dorsey] and Dylan Ennis at halftime because neither one of them had a rebound [against Kansas]. In the second half, Tyler gets five and Dylan had two or three. Eight rebounds in a half. … That makes a big difference.”

Bell’s strong play inside has been a shot in the arm for Oregon. He is one of just eight players since 1985 to average more than 12 rebounds in four straight tournament games. However, on Saturday he will face an entirely different beast in North Carolina (5:45 p.m., CBS).

Oregon Ducks forward Kavell Bigby-Williams (35) talks to a reporter in the locker room at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. on March 18, 2017. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

The Tar Heels will roll out a lineup that out rebounds opponents by 13 boards a game and owns the best rebounding margin in the country.

“We’ve watched a lot of film the last couple of days,” Altman said. “[North Carolina’s] not gonna try to trick you. They pound the offensive boards; their transition game is off the charts.”

Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks each stand 6-foot-10 and average better than 12 points per contest on the year. They are the Tar Heels’ two leading rebounders and are spelled by Tony Bradley (6-foot-10) and Luke Maye (6-foot-8), each of whom plays around 15 minutes each game. To add to the depth, North Carolina has national player of the year candidate Justin Jackson, a springy 6-foot-8 forward who can both pull down a rebound and start the break.

Oregon’s obvious fix is to add more of Kavell Bigby-Willimas into the mix. But with limited offensive upside, he leaves the Ducks disadvantaged on one end of the floor. A better solution for Oregon might be to continue doing what it has done — roll out a small-ball lineup that loves to run and exploit mismatches.

Oregon has a physical bunch of guards who have done a much better job crashing the boards throughout the tournament than they did during the regular season. With Pac-12 player of the year Dillon Brooks able to float between the perimeter and the post, the Tar Heels will have a tough time rolling out two-post lineups for the entire game without giving up a mismatch outside the paint if they leave a big man on Brooks.

Not a team in the nation has found a way to keep the Tar Heels off the glass this year, but Oregon’s frenetic style of play could keep the No. 1 seed out of sync and mitigate any rebound advantage, even with Boucher out of the lineup.

“I think all the guys have realized the significance of it and that we need all five guys rebounding,” Altman said.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @Jarrid_Denney

Find all of the Emerald’s Final Four coverage here.

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Oregon baseball’s overall performance has tailed off over the past few seasons, but it’s consistently done one thing at an elite level since the program’s reinstatement in 2009: Recruit.

Year in and year out the Ducks compete with traditional powerhouses like UCLA and Cal State Fullerton for the best recruits on the west coast and manage to file away loaded recruiting classes come signing day.

Last season, some of those former top recruits began to make an impact at the major league level. This year, those players have a chance to turn into everyday big-leaguers, and several other former Ducks could continue to rise through the minors.

Here are a few former Oregon players — as well as one former Duck signee who went straight to the pros — who could contribute at the big league level very soon.

Ryon Healy — Oakland Athletics

Healy burst onto the scene last summer as a midseason call-up for the Athletics and smashed a go-ahead home run in his first hit at the major league level. He hit a walk-off homer the next night and spent some time hitting in the No. 3 spot despite starting the year in Double-A Midland. A third-round pick in the 2013 draft, Healy earned American League rookie of the month honors for the month of September, when he hit seven homers, drove in 19 runs and slashed .355/.389/636. This year, it is likely that he will hit in the three-hole every day for the Athletics while splitting time between third base and designated hitter.

Tyler Anderson — Colorado Rockies 

Arguably the greatest Oregon pitcher ever, Anderson was a two-time Pac-10 All Conference selection and a second team All-American in 2011. After holding down the No. 1 spot in Oregon’s rotation for three seasons, Anderson was selected 20th overall by the Colorado Rockies in 2011. Anderson’s performance during his professional career has never been an issue — he has never posted an ERA worse than 2.81 in the minors. He likely would have made Colorado’s starting rotation in 2015, but an injury wiped out his entire season. He was called up to the majors early last summer and went 5-6 with a 3.54 ERA while striking out 99 batters and walking just 28. He will be counted on as one of Colorado’s top starters this season and has a chance to be one of the league’s breakout players.

Jake Reed — Minnesota Twins 

Reed was one of the best in a long line of successful Oregon closers before being drafted in the fifth round by the Twins in 2014. He terrorized hitters in rookie ball during his first professional season and followed with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League, where he surrendered just one run in 10 outings. While splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A last summer, Reed struck out 72 batters in 70.2 innings while walking just 24. According to MLB.com, Reed is Minnesota’s No. 13 prospect. With the Twins lacking a multitude of bullpen options, he could be in the majors sooner rather than later.

Carson Kelly — St. Louis Cardinals

Kelly never played a game in an Oregon uniform, but the former Duck commit was one of the more coveted prospects to ever come out of the state of Oregon. The Cardinals took him in the second round of the 2012 draft, and he made his pro debut when he was just 17 years old. Many figured he would turn into a power-hitting third baseman. In 2014, though, he made the switch to catcher and rapidly became one of the better catching prospects in baseball. He won the 2015 Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove Award in just his second season behind the plate and posted the highest batting average of any catcher in the Arizona Fall League. Now the No. 51 prospect in baseball according to ESPN, there is a strong chance he will hold the Cardinals’ backup catcher spot this season before taking over full-time when current starter Yadier Molina retires.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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