Charles Fischer Administrator No. 1 Share Posted 12 hours ago My Duck-Buddies...our beloved Diamond Ducks are at a major crossroads in the season, and the next three weeks will be highly entertaining, as well as nail-biting time. Coach Waz has said all season that we have much more upside, and yours-truly has written the same. For the four games against No. 7 Beavis...everybody, and especially the team saw that upside. When they pitch like that? Oregon can play with anyone, as we have great fielding, great hitting, but our pitching has been "uneven" prior to the Oregon State series. This team has been inconsistent this season losing a half-dozen games that they should NOT have lost; will they return to that lower level, or continue playing as they did against the Beavers? I would like to think the latter because the rewards are right in front of them. With 11 games left--if the Ducks win say, nine of them? Oregon has a real shot at hosting a regional. But if they do better AND win the B1G Tournament? They have a shot at hosting a Super-Regional...and it not like they have to maintain form for next two months. Nope, the next couple of weeks decide the season... We have three at Michigan State, two mid-weeks against St. Marys, host the Bastard-Huskies next weekend, and then travel to Iowa City to play the Hawkeyes. (Then the B1G Tournament) Can our guys get over the mental hump to win the B1G and get NCAA recognition? Jason Reitz As always, this comes down to pitching, and we have been fortunate to have a couple of pitchers get over slump and return to form in time for the UCLA and the Oregon State series. We have a few others who need to return to form, (I'm looking at YOU, Will Sanford) as we need all-hands-on-deck for this stretch run. I like how our pitching coach "Hawk," (Blake Hawksworth) has really figured out our pitchers and knows when to pull them or let them continue. Recent examples were with Jason Reitz and Will Sanford, as both ran into trouble in an inning,....but would the return for the next inning? They both did, and in the case of Reitz, he got over his issues in the prior inning and pitched well for 2.3 more innings which meant SO MUCH in the game. But Sanford returned, walked a couple guys and still showed the lack of control of his pitches, and thus got pulled. In fact Hawk will pull pitchers right away if he does not like what he sees. Dream-on Beavis! (Ryan Cooney gets a double-play!) In the Tuesday night game in Corvallis--the Ducks went through SEVEN pitchers, as Hawk was looking for who was good on that evening. Santiago Garcia has been superb as a closer in other games, but came out flat in Corvallis, and thus was pulled immediately for Seth Mattox who closed out the game. Heck, Cole Stokes was originally brought in to close the game...and he looked shaky, thus the Garcia entrance. Hawk knows his pitchers, and a big element in all this is that Oregon could not do these quick replacements last year, because we did not have enough healthy pitchers in 2024. Waz went out with some NIL money got a boatload of pitchers, and it is paying off. The Ducks have had some GREAT infields since bringing back Baseball in 2009, but I believe this infield is the best I've seen. What do you think about all these points I've brought up? 1 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 2 Share Posted 12 hours ago I think the Ducks are in great shape. Of course that means little. I just saw a projected bracket, and it had the Beavs hosting a Regional...and the Ducks were No.2 Insanity? Yes. But The Beavs still have the respect that goes with winning a couple Natty's. I'm not really worried about the Duck's chances if this somehow plays out though. The pitching is coming around. 2 out o f3 against Ucla. In the 4 games against the Ducks, the Beavs offense never got on track. In their best game, the one in Corvallis, half of their 4 runs came from a WP and a very uncommon error. Part of the reason the pitching is coming round is the defense. The Baltimore Orioles set the record for having 4 20 game winners in the same season; Brooks Robinson played 3rd. Now, Carter Garate might not be Brooks, but in the last half dozen games for sure, he's been a vacuum. 4 DP's against the Beavs in game 4, that shows that 2nd base and short are getting it done to. The OF hasn't really been tested too much, pitchers forcing the batters to hit it on the ground. Offense? yeah, the national leader in home runs is a Ducks, Mason Neville. At 1st base, Jacob Walsh is Oregon's career leader, he hit a home run in each of the games against the Beavs, and he hasn't been caught stealing yet, 6-6. It's not just home runs either, Coach Was, like Lanning, can multitask, long ball, or short ball, The Ducks are very aggressive, and no easy out, 1 thru 9. 2 of 3 against the Bruins, 4 in a row over the Beavs. Now, it's at 10th place Michigan State. I'm confident that the team has its head on straight. They know that every game left is the most important, they won't 'be looking ahead, or playing scared. Just do it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 3 Share Posted 11 hours ago It is incredible to think of how the bullpen only gave up two runs during the Oregon State series, when there were games in the season where the bullpen gave up more than that in one inning! Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PittDuck No. 4 Share Posted 10 hours ago Thank you Charles for the incredible updates during games! Your very timely reporting is impeccable and is making me a fan of a game that was never high on my list. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
