The Oregon men’s basketball team (23-9, 10-8 Pac-12) is the seven seed in the West region of the NCAA tournament. They’ll play the 10th-seeded BYU Cougars (23-11, 13-5 WCC) in Milwaukee, Wis., on Thursday, March 20 at approximately 12:10 p.m. Pacific Time. The Ducks defeated BYU 100-96 in overtime on Dec. 21.

“Nothing but excitement,” senior guard Johnathan Loyd said about his reaction to Oregon’s selection. “It’s a great opportunity for us (playing) a BYU team we played already. We’re both different teams, so it’s going to be a tough matchup. A great game.”

Head coach Dana Altman said he had no idea where the Ducks would end up, and he didn’t care one bit as long as they made the field of 68.

“You get an opportunity,” Altman said. “That’s all you look for.”

Sophomore guard Damyean Dotson remembered watching the selection show last year, when the Ducks received a surprisingly low 12 seed. The team with the higher seed appears first on the bracket in CBS’ broadcast, followed by the lower seed, so 2013 first-round opponent Oklahoma State popped up first, with Oregon directly after. On Sunday, the order for Oregon’s selection flipped.

“This year, to see our name pop up first was very exciting,” Dotson said.

Loyd said he expected the Ducks to get a 9-10 seed, so he was excited about the seven seed because it showed respect for his team, a feeling he didn’t have last year on Selection Sunday.

“I felt like we were disrespected last year,” Loyd said. “That was a little more motivation. We had a little chip.”

Loyd, Dotson and Altman all expect that same drive to be there against BYU, who nearly derailed Oregon’s bid for a perfect nonconference record in their Decemeber matchup. On Thursday, Altman and his team expect a similar battle.

“They’re a very good team, very well-coached, and we’re going to have to bring our A game,” Altman said.

Oregon is coming off an 82-63 loss to UCLA in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament, which Loyd thinks will also help motivate them against the Cougars.

“We’ve got a sour taste in our mouths,” Loyd said. “We didn’t feel like we showed people our best game. We didn’t give it our all, so we’re about to go out there and do the complete opposite.”

The Ducks almost didn’t make it to this point. They lost eight of their first 11 conference games and the NIT looked like the most likely postseason destination. But Oregon caught fire starting on Feb. 16 against Oregon State, rattling off eight straight wins. Altman expressed how impressed he was with his team’s ability to never give up when they easily could have.

“In practice, he (Altman) always told us, ‘Do you want to go to a three-letter tournament or a four-letter tournament?’” Dotson said. “That just motivated us to play hard and practice hard.”

This will be a homecoming game for redshirt sophomore forward Elgin Cook, who went to Milwaukee’s Hamilton High School. Dotson said Cook was hoping the Ducks would end up in Milwaukee before the selection was announced. Altman said Cook was one of many Oregon players wanting to play in or near their hometowns for the beginning of the tournament.

“We had Rich (Amardi) and Jason (Calliste) hoping for Buffalo, Joseph (Young) and Dot hoping for San Antonio, Elgin had Milwaukee,” Altman said, “and I didn’t care. We’re in and we’re playing. Just excited about that.”

Dotson, a Houston, Texas native, was asked if the seven seed was a surprise or about what he expected. He said the seeding made no difference in his mind.

“I was trying to go to San Antonio,” Dotson said of the Final Four site. “We could’ve been a 12 seed. I just want to go back home.”

Both Loyd and Dotson screamed “Woo!” as they excited the media room Sunday afternoon. As they made their way down the tunnel, one of them yelled, “Let’s get it!”

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Thanks to a huge day from the top of its lineup, the Oregon baseball team (13-5, 1-1 Pac-12) crushed USC (10-7, 1-1) by a score of 7-2 on Saturday to even the series at one apiece.

Mitchell Tolman (2-for-5, four RBI) showed why he’s the cleanup hitter, ripping a pair of two-run doubles in the third and fourth innings to blow the game wide open.

“He (Tolman) is certainly on it right now,” head coach George Horton said after the game. “(There are) certain hitters that you just don’t want to see get in the batter’s box, and Mitch certainly has the look in his eye.”

But the biggest impact arguably came from the three hitters in front of Tolman. Aaron Payne (1-for-4, HBP), Austin Grebeck (2-for-2, two walks) and Tyler Baumgartner (2-for-2, one walk, one HBP) combined to get one base 10 times, setting the table for their cleanup hitter.

The Ducks started the scoring early. With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Oregon catcher Jack Kruger (1-for-4, one RBI) smoked a double over Garrett Stubbs’ head in left field to score Kyle Garlick (1-for-4, one run).

The Ducks would add onto the 1-0 lead just an inning later. After a Payne doubled to lead off the inning, Grebeck laid down a sacrifice bunt. Baumgarter got hit by a pitch on the next play to set up a first-and-third with one out situation for Tolman. After a seven-pitch battle with USC pitcher Bob Wheatley, Tolman hit a shot that one-hopped up against the 325-foot sign in right field. Both runners scored to increase Oregon’s lead to 3-0. Garlick flied out to right field the next at-bat but moved Tolman to third base. Next up was A.J. Balta, who laid into a 1-0 pitch and crushed a two-run home run just over the right field fence. Balta’s second home run of the season increased the lead to 5-0.

“After the grand slam against Ohio State, just another one to tack on,” Balta said. “A great feeling.”

In the next inning, Kruger struck out and Mark Karaviotis (0-for-2, one walk) flew out to lead off, but the top of the lineup came through yet again. For the eighth time this season, Payne got hit by a pitch. Grebeck followed that up with a walk, as did Baumgartner on four pitches. Tolman fell behind 0-1 but launced a deep fly ball to left, out of Stubbs’ reach for a ground-rule double. The score was 7-0.

While the Ducks were scoring all these runs, freshman starting pitcher Matt Krook had to wait in the dugout. While some pitchers might get out of their rhythm, Krook settled down after a wild top half of the second.

AJ Ramirez led the second inning off with a double and Jeremy Martinez followed that up with a single. Martinez got caught in a rundown, but the Ducks failed to get a defender back to second base in time to tag him out. The next batter, Jake Hernandez, grounded out to third without Ramirez advancing home. Dante Flores also grounded to third in the next at-bat, but this time, Martinez sprinted for home. Tolman, who heard his coaches yelling “down and going,” threw to Kruger and Martinez got caught in a rundown. Tolman eventually tagged Martinez out and also threw out Flores, who tried to advance to second, for an inning-ending double play.

“It was huge,” Krook said of the play. “It gave me a lot of energy and brought a lot of momentum to our team.”

Krook (two hits, two earned runs and six strikeouts in 6.1 innings) walked four batters in the sixth and seventh innings. He was behind hitters all night and said his offspeed pitches were a little off, but he managed his way out of several tough spots and was much more efficient than last week (97 pitches Saturday).

“Definitely in the middle (of the game), I was efficient,” Krook said. “That’s where I should be, seven innings every game, but definitely the seventh inning got away from me, and that’s frustrating.”

It might’ve not been his best start of the season, but Krook did earn his first win of his college career. Unlike his previous four starts, Krook received plenty of run support and early, making his job in the middle innings much easier.

“First college win — hopefully the first of many,” Horton said.

Noteworthy

– While the Ducks had a five-run lead in the ninth, the game still ended with a thrill. Baumgartner, who struggled in the field last night, made a tremendous diving play in right field to rob Turner Clouse of a hit. “That was a kind of neat and culminating way to finish the game,” Horton said.

– When asked who has the most power in the Ducks lineup, Horton mentioned Balta and Tolman, but the first name that came to mind was catcher Shaun Chase. “Batspeed-wise, electricity in their hands, Shaun Chase and Kyle Garlick probably,” Horton said.

– Scott Heineman didn’t play on Saturday and Horton said, “He wasn’t even close to playing today.” Horton doubts Heimeman will be able to play on Sunday and even said a return for Heineman next weekend “is a little bit wishful thinking.”

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The normally sure-handed Tyler Baumgartner was having a rough defensive night, but he didn’t do anything egregious  going into the eighth inning. The right fielder missed a catchable ball on a diving effort in the first inning and bobbled a ball off the wall in the third inning during a run-scoring play, but the first play didn’t prove costly and the second might not have have changed the outcome of the play.

But a third play in the eighth inning might have cost the Ducks their Pac-12 opener against USC Friday night.

USC third baseman Kevin Swick skied a shallow fly ball to right field, and Baumgartner camped under it. But as the ball approached the earth, Baumgartner completely whiffed on the catch. The error would’ve been ugly had no runners been on base, but unfortunately for Oregon, USC had runners on second and third. The runner on third, Garrett Stubbs, scored on the play, giving the Trojans a decisive third run and a two-run lead. They ended up beating Oregon 3-2.

“I think he (Baumgartner) had a lot of things going on in his mind,” said head coach George Horton about the error in the eighth. “Is he going to throw it? Where is he going to throw it? I don’t know, you’d have to ask him. But he’s a tremendous baseball player. That’s not going to happen to him very often.”

Horton had several instances of this positive attitude in his postgame media session. While he acknowledged the disappointment of the loss, he saw the multitude of bright spots that encourage him going forward.

The Ducks had three more hits than the Trojans and bounced back after a rough start against USC starting pitcher Wyatt Strahan. While Strahan still probably put together his best start all season (7.2 innings pitched, one earned run, one walk, seven strikeouts), the Ducks strung together seven hits and nearly ruined the night for the junior, whose fastball sat in the mid-90s all game and touched 97 miles per hour on a strikeout of Mitchell Tolman.

“Later in the game, he (Strahan) died down a little bit,” Tolman said. “But I don’t think we took advantage as much as we should have and we were just chasing a bit too much.”

The brightest spots in the lineup were Mitchell Tolman (2-for-3, one walk), Shaun Chase (2-for-2) and Kyle Garlick (1-for-4, two RBI). Garlick extended his hitting streak to 14 games, which is an Oregon record since the team was reinstated in 2009.

“I love building the stats and everything,” Garlick said, “but I’d much rather have gotten the win tonight than have the streak go on.”

Third baseman Scott Heineman, who missed the previous nine games, returned to the lineup Friday night and hit well, going 1-for-4 with a smoked line drive in the seventh that found center fielder Timmy Robinson’s glove. Heineman did tweak his left shoulder on a swing a couple of pitches before the lineout, but he played the final two innings.

“Hopefully he can play tomorrow,” Horton said. “He looked pretty good to me other than swinging and missing that one time and feeling (shoulder pain) a little bit.”

Aaron Payne was declared day-to-day by Horton on Wednesday and he said postgame that Payne was expected to be the designated hitter Friday night. Surprisingly, Payne said he was good to go at second base and the Oregon coaching staff decided to let him play.

“That was a real bright spot that he was able to play defense for us,” Horton said.

This is without even mentioning the solid, albeit inconsistent, start from Tommy Thorpe and good showings from relievers Garrett Cleavinger and Jake Reed.

The Ducks certainly didn’t play a great game. But even the defensive woes aren’t too worrisome considering the main player at fault, Baumgartner, is a good overall fielder. If the Ducks continue to play games like this in Pac-12 play, it’s doubtful the outcomes will be as disappointing as they were tonight.

“I like the way my team responded. We didn’t get it done, we didn’t win, we didn’t come back and tie it, but I like the response.”

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Before Oregon baseball practice Wednesday afternoon, head coach George Horton discussed the Ducks’ upcoming series versus USC, his impressions of the Pac-12 as a whole and his starting pitching rotation of Tommy Thorpe, Matt Krook and Jeff Gold.

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Oregon senior guard Johnathan Loyd talked to the media before Monday’s practice and said he “just found out” about playing Oregon State in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament on Wednesday. Loyd discussed that matchup, Oregon’s defensive depth and his team’s mindset during their current seven-game winning streak.

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The Pac-12 announced its 2013-14 men’s basketball awards and all-conference teams Monday morning, and two Ducks earned accolades.

Guard Joseph Young made the second team and forward Mike Moser earned an honorable mention for the Ducks (22-8, 10-8 Pac-12), who finished the regular season tied for third in the conference. Both players transferred to Oregon prior to the 2013-14 season.

Young, a redshirt junior from Houston, led Oregon in scoring this season at 18.2 points per game. He shot 46.3 percent from the field, 40.6 percent from three-point range and 89.2 percent from the free throw line. He also averaged 2.9 rebounds per game and 2.0 assists.

Moser, a redshirt senior from Portland, Ore., finished second on the team behind Young with 13.7 points per game. He shot an identical field goal percentage to Young, and hit 37.9 percent of his three-pointers and 74.6 percent of his free throws. The back-to-back Pac-12 player of the week also recorded a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game.

Arizona, which lost to Oregon 64-57 on Saturday, dominated the conference awards. Guard Nick Johnson won Pac-12 player of the year, Sean Miller won coach of the year and forward Aaron Gordon won freshman of the year.

The entire all-Pac-12 teams and awards can be seen here.

The Ducks will take on Oregon State Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.

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Forward Mike Moser earned his second straight Pac-12 player of the week award on Monday, putting him into the Oregon men’s basketball history books.

Before Moser, no Duck had ever earned consecutive player of the week honors. This is also the second time in program history that Oregon has earned back-to-back weekly honors — Luke Ridnour and Luke Jackson won the award two weeks in a row during the 2002-03 season.

Moser compiled two double doubles this past week in wins over Arizona State and Arizona. Against the Sun Devils, the senior scored 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and grabbed 17 rebounds. He struggled shooting against the Wildcats (4-of-11) but still scored 10 points, grabbed 10 boards and recorded four steals in Oregon’s 64-57 upset victory.

The Pac-12 has given out 18 player of the week awards this season, and before Moser’s win last week, no Duck earned the honor. This is the 32nd time an Oregon player has won the award in program history.

The regular season ended on Saturday but the Pac-12 tournament is getting underway on Wednesday. The Ducks garnered the seventh seed in the tournament and will play 10-seed Oregon State at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Las Vegas.

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The Oregon men’s basketball team trailed by five points as the clock wound down at the end of the first half. But with the way the Ducks were playing, the deficit felt larger. Senior point guard Johnathan Loyd dribbled in place for nearly 20 seconds before the Ducks started running their play. Redshirt senior Jason Calliste came off a screen, flashed towards the top of the three-point line and fired a shot. He buried it with about five seconds remaining, cutting Arizona’s lead to 31-29 as the teams exited the court.

Quantifying the value of this one play is impossible to do, but for a team struggling on offense the entire first half, Calliste’s shot was undoubtedly momentous.

“It was huge,” redshirt senior forward Mike Moser said. “It picked up everything.”

Moser said this shot and the several other huge shots Calliste hit down the stretch helped the defense more than anything. The pressure subsided, the energy from the team and the crowd exploded and the lead transferred from Arizona to Oregon. The Ducks (22-8, 10-8 Pac-12) ended up beating No. 3 Arizona (28-3, 15-3) 64-57 on Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena, marking their seventh-straight win and likely cementing an NCAA tournament berth.

As the crowd stormed the court when the game concluded, the seniors likely earned the most high-fives and hugs of any Oregon players. In the final regular season game of their careers, the seniors played the biggest roles in Oregon’s upset.

“I just didn’t want to lose,” Calliste said postgame. “It’s not time to go home yet. There’s still work to be done.”

Loyd and Calliste played the most pivotal roles in the biggest stretch of the game, as well. With just under six minutes left, the Ducks — trailing 50-48 — looked to tie the game up for the first time since 18:50 left in the first half, when the score was 2-2. Johnathan Loyd had possession of the ball and made a powerful drive to the hoop, a rare occurrence against Arizona’s stout defense. Loyd’s layup was contested but he still managed to convert the shot, bringing the fans to their feet in a collective roar.

Aaron Gordon hit one of two free throws the following possession to regain the lead. Then, Calliste made one of the biggest shots of the night. With seven-foot center Caleb Tarczewski in his face, Calliste faded away on a long two-point jump shot, Tarczewski committed a foul, the ball splashed through the net and the crowd went ballistic. The always calm Calliste stepped up to the line and sunk the free throw.

“You put the ball in his hands, you run something for him, he’s not going to shy away from it at all,” head coach Dana Altman said of Calliste.

Calliste wasn’t done, either. Two possessions later, he received a pass from Loyd and drilled a three-pointer to put the Ducks up 56-51. It was Calliste’s fourth and final three-point make on five attempts of the night.

Loyd raised the noise level a few decibels two possessions later when he hit a three of his own, essentially putting the game out of reach at 59-51 with 2:44 left.

“Right when it hit me, it just felt good, and I knew it was money when it left my hands,” Loyd said.

Moser shot just 4-of-11 overall on Saturday, but three of those makes came at the beginning of the half when none of his teammates could score. He hit two threes, converted a nifty lay up and caused Gordon (game-high 21 points, 7-of-17 from the field) to get into foul trouble.

“He’s obviously really talented,” Moser said of Gordon, “so we definitely didn’t want him on the court.”

Without these points from Moser, Calliste and Loyd likely wouldn’t have had the chance to take over the game later in the half.

Seniors Waverly Austin, Richard Amardi and redshirt sophomore Elgin Cook played just 32 minutes combined, but they each contributed energy on both sides of the ball. Junior Joseph Young and sophomores Damyean Dotson and Dominic Artis combined to shoot 3-of-18 from the field (Dotson and Artis didn’t make a shot). The only non-senior to make a positive impact for Oregon was sophomore Ben Carter, and he only played 13 minutes.

“On a night where Joe didn’t shoot it real well, Dot didn’t shoot well, our seniors stepped up and hit some shots,” Altman said.

While their regular season might be over, the seniors hope their careers are far from the end. During the senior ceremony following the game, Loyd thanked several people and asked his fellow seniors if they wanted to say anything. It took just a couple of seconds for senior guard Nicholas Lucenti to grab the microphone.

“Let’s keep this rolling,” Lucenti said.

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Oregon baseball starting pitcher Tommy Thorpe had a career night, not that the Ducks needed it. A seven-run fourth inning broke the game open for the Ducks, who beat Ohio State 8-2 at PK Park Friday night.

The Ducks held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth, which started with an infield popout from Mitchell Tolman. But Tolman would come up again in the inning, providing a third straight two-out RBI, knocking Buckeyes starter Greg Greve out of the game and putting it out of reach.

“We had a lot of great two-out at-bats in that third inning,” Horton said. “We didn’t need them tonight and you kind of don’t want to waste those. Hopefully those will continue to show up.”

Left fielder Kyle Garlick started Oregon’s fourth inning rally with a booming triple to left field. Tim Wetzel almost made an impressive catch at the wall but couldn’t quite corral it. After the game, Garlick said he thought his drive had a chance to leave the park.

“The air’s just really thick here, so I just kept running hard,” said Garlick, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

A.J. Balta drew a walk next, and designated hitter J.B. Bryant drove Garlick in with a single to left center. Catcher Jack Kruger then drew a walk and shortstop Mark Karaviotis hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Second baseman Aaron Payne got hit by a pitch (the sixth time this season), and center fielder Austin Grebeck drove home Bryant and Kruger with a single. Right fielder Tyler Baumgartner then drove Payne home, and Tolman topped it off with a deep double to right center.

Oregon’s first run came in the second inning, when Karviotis hit a sharp ground ball to third base that Jacob Bosiokovic couldn’t handle.

Thorpe pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts. The lefthander said he even checked the “K board” on the left field stands in foul territory every once in a while to see if he was approaching or surpassed his preview high of seven strikeouts.

“I tried not to stare at it too much because I was just trying to pitch my game,” Thorpe said.

One of the biggest reasons for his success was his devastating slider. Thorpe said it was as good Friday night as it was last season, when he recorded a 2.16 earned run average in 104.1 innings. One of his best games came against Ohio State, in which he tied his previous career high of seven strikeouts on May 11 in a 3-1 win.

“I just took what I remember from last year and brought it to this game,” Thorpe said.

Freshman Matt Krook will be on the hill for Oregon tomorrow, facing fellow lefty Ryan Riga. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at PK Park.

Noteworthy

– Freshman reliever Adam Niemeyer replaced Greve, who didn’t record a strikeout, with two outs in the third inning. The Buckeyes right-hander would pitch the rest of the game, giving up just one hit. His dominance was evident right away, too, as he struck out the first five batters he faced. “He came in and looked like Jim Palmer,” Horton said. Luckily, Horton added, the Ducks didn’t need any more runs at that point.

– Karaviotis was given a vote of confidence from Horton on Tuesday, replacing senior Kevin Minjares at shortstop for both games against Seattle. Karaviotis didn’t record a hit on Friday, but he put together good at-bats and played exceptionally in the field. With one out in the first inning, the freshman made an excellent sliding stop to his right, hopped up quickly and threw out Bosiokovic. Horton and Thorpe both said this play — and a similar play by Payne the next at-bat — was crucial and might’ve helped Thorpe settle in. Karaviotis also made a leaping grab to rob leadoff hitter Troy Kuhn of a hit in the third inning and played solid shortstop all night. Horton was especially impressed with Karaviotis’ at-bat in the seven-run fourth, when he hit a sac fly to put the Ducks up 3-0. ”If he has a negative at bat there, that whole inning could’ve gone differently,” Horton said. If Karaviotis continues to play like this on both sides of the ball, he’ll likely solidify his role as the starting shortstop.

– Scott Heineman hasn’t played since Feb. 23 against Loyola Marymount due to a left shoulder strain, and he sat on the bench again Friday night. After the game, Horton said Heimeman’s status for the rest of the weekend was doubtful.

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Head Oregon baseball coach George Horton hadn’t watched film on Ohio State (7-3) before Wednesday’s practice, but he still had plenty to say about this weekend’s opponent. They’re well-coached, he said, they have a “brand new” starting pitching staff and their bullpen is deep, especially with closer Trace Dempsey. Dempsey garnered two third-team All-America honors last season and was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list before this season.

So, Horton and the Ducks naturally want to avoid Dempsey, and Oregon can look to last season for the key to keep him on the bench.

“We never even saw their All-American stopper because of the type of games,” Horton told reporters on Wednesday. “They never had a lead.”

While the Ducks (10-3), struggled to score runs against Ohio State last May, they hardly needed any. Oregon won the first game 3-1 in 11 innings, and that was the only run its pitching staff would allow all series. Cole Irvin, who’s out for the season, and Jake Reed (Oregon’s current closer) both shut down the Buckeyes bats in the series’ final two games, and the Ducks hope the pitching staff can continue to put up zeroes this weekend.

But Oregon hasn’t run out three reliable weekend starters this season. Jordan Spencer and Porter Clayton have both earned Sunday starts (two for Spencer, one for Clayton this past Sunday), but neither has done enough to instill faith in their head coach. That’s why Horton will turn to Jeff Gold this Sunday.

“I’d rather get beat in the strike zone than out of the strike zone,” Horton said, “and Jeff’s going to be in the strike zone.”

Gold experienced some cramping in his back on Tuesday and tweaked it during the game. In the sixth inning, Gold said he had trouble breathing and had to be pulled early. This caused Horton to describe the Sunday spot as TBA on Wednesday, but the latest release from the athletic department lists Gold as the starter for the third and final weekend game.

“If I’m getting the opportunity to go out there this Sunday, I’m excited about it,” Gold said.

When asked if he felt any pressure pitching in Oregon’s insecure Sunday spot, Gold adamantly denied it and quoted former Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly.

“‘Pressure’s what you feel when you don’t know what you’re doing,’” Gold said. “‘We know what we’re doing, so there’s no pressure.’ I know how to pitch, I know how to throw strikes, so I’m really not worried about it.”

Friday starter Tommy Thorpe was roughed up over the weekend, albeit to a great team in Cal State Fullerton. Thorpe only gave up two earned runs in his first two starts but got lit up for seven (six earned) against the Titans. Horton doesn’t plan to move Thorpe out of his current role, but Thorpe has to prove to Horton he’s good enough to pitch in that spot.

“We need to get him back on track because, for the Friday guy to go out there and get roughed up, that means you’re into your bullpen,” Horton said.

The Ducks engaged in pitching duels each game against Ohio State last season, and even though the Buckeyes lost their top three pitchers (Jaron Long, Brian King, and Brad Goldberg), they’ve pitched well so far in 2014. So, the Ducks will need to pitch especially well in order to win this series, and the spotlight will be hotly focused on Thorpe Friday night.

“He (Thorpe) has got to get more competitive,” Horton said. “Is it in there? Yeah. Have we seen it in the past? Yeah, but this is 2014. It’s time for him to show up.”

Noteworthy

– One of Reed’s best starts last season came against Ohio State, when he gave up three hits, three walks and struck out four in seven scoreless innings, leading the Ducks to a 1-0 win and a series sweep. But Reed won’t be starting this weekend, and he doesn’t see many scenarios where he would get a starting nod, even with the instability of the Sunday rotation spot. ”We have so many arms where I think that they’re going to go through as many guys as they can before they move me back to that spot,” Reed said.

– Horton wasn’t happy with his team’s sloppiness to begin Oregon’s first game of its doubleheader against Seattle on Tuesday, but he said the unexpected change of schedule (the doubleheader was announced Monday) might’ve caused a lack of energy to start the game. But overall, Horton was happy with his team’s 10-2 win. “We turned some crooked numbers into ones or zeros, squandered some opportunities early that looked like they could’ve cost us,” Horton said. “Nonetheless, the fact that they were able to get that six late and put the game out of reach, I thought it was a good effort.”

– Freshman Mark Karaviotis started at shortstop in both of Oregon’s wins over Seattle on Tuesday, replacing Kevin Minjares. Horton said Karaviotis will keep the starting job, at least for the near future. “We’ve got a talented freshman that might bring more to the table than Minny,” Horton said, “so I would expect Karaviotis, unless he does something crazy, will start this weekend.”

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