This will be at PK Park, and obviously--we gotta win every game possible from this point forward. Early Playoff projections this morning show Oregon as a No. 2  NCAA Playoff Regional Seed again...and traveling to the Cal State-Irvine Regional, which is better than last week's projection of the Ducks as a No. 2 in the Corvallis Regional.

 

Better yet...let's win a bunch and host our own Regional!  Our RPI is No. 45 out of 300 D1 Baseball teams, and we play No. 9 RPI in Beavis this weekend four times. Oregon is coming off a crucial series win over UCLA, where both Grayson Grinsell and Mason Neville were named B1G Players of the Week.

 

On the hill for Oregon will be Will Sanford, and I am hoping he can get his confidence back. I also anticipate seeing Ian Umlandt for a few innings too.

 

Will Sanford

 

5-0 Ducks after one inning, and DAMN...I wish we could start EVERY game this way!  The Portland Pilot starting pitcher, Kayden Starr, is from local Marist High School, and it was cool to see him pitch to local player Maddox Molony from Springfield. Problem is...he was probably too nervous and could not get through the first inning, as Oregon batters got two walks, and a bunch of base hits through the gaps to score runners. Great start!

 

 

 

 

5-2 Ducks after two innings, as Portland got a two-run homer off Sanford. To add insult to injury...Oregon left bases-loaded stranded at the end of the inning!

 

7-2 Ducks after three innings, as Portland had a couple of errors to help Oregon, and the Ducks have had some good hitting to score a run from a Drew Smith infield sprint to first base. Another run scored as Carter Garate distracted the pitcher from third base...and got a balk to score.

 

On defense, Oregon had a double play that was close to being a triple play, with Garate in the middle of it again! He grabbed the grounder, stepped on third, and fired to second for two, but the relay to first base did not quite make it in time. No problem as Will Sanford closed them out.

 

 

 

 

7-4 Ducks after four innings, as Sanford is still shaky. He filled the bases with walks and was replaced by another pitcher who is also trying to regain his confidence up in Ryan Featherston. Portland scored on a passed ball, and on a base hit that scored a runner from third.

 

7-4 Ducks, as the Oregon batters seem to hit it right to Portland fielders. Ryan Featherston is getting his stuff back, as he struck-out four straight Pilot batters over two innings. Can he keep it up?

 

 

9-4 Ducks after six innings, and we've seen smart base running to pick up extra bases that help score runs. Ryan Featherston continued his good day against Portland thus far, and whenever Oregon has a man on third with less than two outs...I always want to sacrifice, as an out for a run (when you have 27 outs in a game) is always a good trade to me.

 

Coach Waz doesn't always do that though with these superb batters, but this time he had Ryan Cooney bunt down the first base line to score a run...and beat it out to first on an error. Then a sacrifice infield grounder that scored a second.  Good baseball!

 

 

 

 

9-7 Ducks, after seven innings as Featherston fell apart. Then Portland brings in Nolan Umlandt, Ian's brother to put Oregon out 1-2-3. Scary time!

 

10-9 Portland after eight innings. Oregon's Seth Mattox was just a strike away from ending the inning, but gave up a three-run dinger instead. Oregon stranded two to end the inning...

 

 

Portland wins, 10-9...

 

Damn...this team pushes the patience of the fans!