Diamond Ducks Robbed by Beavers, Lose 4-2

[ICamel]

Game time = 6PM = First pitch ~6:05

 

PK Park

 

Game is televised live on Pac12 Insider(whatever the hell that is!) but go here Go Ducks Baseball Schedule and scroll down to April 26th, and on the right click on "WATCH".

 

Radio on the Oregon Sports Network.

 

Or attend in person! Tickets range from $7 for General Admission - $10 for Reserved Seats(maybe more if you want to sit behind the OSU dugout?)

 

Can the Ducks bounce back from the disappointment of the WSU series?

 

Hey @Axel what kind of dirt(not the artificial pebbles in the infield) have you got on those braggadocio beavers?

 

GO DUCKS!

[Guest Axel]

ICamel, ask and you shall receive...

 

On deck: Diamond Ducks vs. the Beavers, today at 6:00 p.m. at PK Park

 

We are loathe to admit that we are underducks for this evening’s baseball game versus the smelly, scabby rodents just up the road in that one-horse hamlet in the middle of nowhere in the otherwise beautiful state of Oregon.

 

Rumor has it that Coach Mark Wasikowski is out on the streets of Eugene this morning searching for someone, anyone that he can shove onto the pitcher’s mound today, someone who can propel a baseball even the least bit capably toward the general vicinity of home plate.

 

We are hoping for someone who can achieve 98-m.p.h. velocity with laser-point control and a hellacious curveball, but we, above all, are realists, and so we are currently beseeching the baseball gods for mercy on our diamond-loving souls.

 

Of course, our underducks have something that perpetual-underducks ex-coach George Horton never had—batters who can actually hit a baseball farther than 30 feet. As we all too painfully recall, Horton was “the bunting coach” and took perverse pride in that nickname.

 

Yes, for 11 long seasons, the Ducks hit only three balls out of the infield, and the three unfortunate players who dared to do that were benched.

 

But today’s Ducks can hit. In fact, they hit so much and so often that the PK Park work crews are getting sick and tired of all the whomping and wall-banging. They’ve already had to replace the outfield fences twice this season.

 

Baseball gods, if you are listening, or better yet, if you can read (gods do go to school when they’re young don’t they?), please infuse our Duck bats with a little extra juju tonight. If there were a church of the baseball gods, we would promise to go there on Sunday.

 

Now let’s get to tonight’s opponent—the one from that drab, lackluster and lifeless townlet in the pancreas of the Willamette Valley. The Ducks' rival has been calling itself Oregon State University only since 1961 and that’s because the Oregon governor at that time took great pity on a bunch of groveling vermin who belonged to a place called Oregon State College.

 

So this governor from 1961 for some unknown reason—we suspect a very large campaign contribution from someone at Oregon State College—decided to elevate the college to a university. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to vote for that governor next time around.

 

In any case, we think that the appellation of Oregon State College was even a bit of a stretch and we prefer an earlier name, a real name, and you can look it up in your history books, when books still had pages. And that name, my fellow Duck friends, is Corvallis College.

 

Even that is giving those flea-bitten rat cousins too much street cred, but we have to call them something, and they can’t accuse us of making up something mean—this name is of their own doltish, idiotic doing, so Corvallis College it is.

 

Corvallis College is famous for having one of the stupidest, most hideous mascots ever dreamed up. First, create an image of Mickey Mouse in your mind—cute, huggable, and lovable. Now imagine a rodent that’s diametrically opposite of Mickey in every way and you have Benny the Beaver--a homely, hapless, scuzzy thing that has been known to scar children—and some of their parents—for life.

 

And if you think Benny Beaver is bad, and trust us, he is, before him there was Jimmie the Coyote, and of course, you’d expect Corvallis College to have another vile mascot in its past. Coyotes are the plague of anyone who owns a dear family pet. Leave it to those witless morons at Corvallis College to glorify those malevolent prairie jackals who want to eat Tabby and Spot.

 

Corvallis College, we are loathe to admit again, has had some success with the baseball. I really don’t like feeling loathsome, so I sure hope Coach Waz finds somebody in downtown Eugene who has a fastball, curve, and changeup. (I hear there’s a lot of pedestrian traffic around Willamette and 11^th, coach--just trying to help.)

 

We suspect that the people in that pancreatic place in the valley do little else but throw rocks at things, which is why they have some ability throwing baseballs past guys with baseball bats.

 

And that leads us to…

 

the top 10 things people are doing in that place where Corvallis College is at, which you’ll see in a follow-up post, because ridiculing the Corvallis College Beavers is so much fun that it’s taking us a lot of space to do it.

[Guest Axel]

The Top 10 Things People Are Doing In That Place Where Corvallis College Is At

 

10.  Throwing rocks at things

 

  9.  Piddling in the river

 

  8.  Tipping cows—and then realizing they’re family members

 

  7.  Foaming at the mouth with Duck envy

 

  6.  Dusting off that 1965 Rose Bowl program that great-granddad attended

 

  5.  Trying to escape—like to Toledo, Oregon or Toledo, Ohio (anywhere is fine, really)

 

  4.  Picking fleas off Benny the Beaver

 

  3.  Sucking at basketball

 

  2.  Sucking even worse at football

 

  1.  Secretly rooting for Our Beloved Ducks—you know it’s true!

 

[ICamel]

Special thanks to @Axel for stepping up to the plate and hitting two home runs!

[ICamel]

Tuesday games in college ball are somewhat "throwaway" as you typically won't see the weekend starting pitchers.

[ICamel]

Christian Ciuffetelli will start on the mound for Oregon. His record this year is 1-2 with 12 innings pitched. In those 12 innings he has 13 strikeouts, given up 2 homeruns, 3 doubles, and 6 earned runs.

[ICamel]

This is not a conference game, so it won't count in the conference standings, but will in the overall record.

[ICamel]

Top half of 1st inning;

Leadoff hitter with a single that Jacob Walsh can't get his glove on. A passed ball by Jack Scanlon advances the runner to 2nd base. A sacrifice bunt down the third base line becomes a single as there wasn't a play. Beavers runners at the corners. A ground ball hit to Jacob Walsh becomes a double play (1st to SS). but the runner at third scores. Beavers are retired on a fly ball to left field.

1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

[ICamel]

Bottom half of the 1st inning;

Tanner Smith leading off for our Ducks. Smith grounds out to first base. Drew Cowley next at bat, and he puts a hit ball into left field for a single. A single into center left field by Brennan Milone puts Ducks at the corners with only one out. Jacob Walsh hit into a double play (2nd-SS-1st) and the Ducks can't match OSU's run.

0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

 

OSU 1 - Oregon 0 after one inning.

[ICamel]

Top of the 2nd;

First batter flies out to right field. Next hitter skies out to center. And a ground out to 1st base ends the Beav's half of the inning. Nice inning on the mound for Ciuffetelli!

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

[30Duck]

On 4/26/2022 at 4:40 PM, ICamel said:

as you typically won't see the weekend starting pitchers.

And this is a bad thing?

[ICamel]

Bottom of the 2nd;

Josh Kasevich leading off for Oregon. And Josh is the first out on a ground ball to the third baseman. Anthony Hall works the count to 3-2 and gets punched out on a called third strike. The third out comes on a swinging strike by Colby Shade on another full count.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

 

OSU ahead 1-0 after two innings.

[ICamel]

On 4/26/2022 at 6:32 PM, 30Duck said:

And this is a bad thing?

Not from our perspective

[ICamel]

Beginning of the 3rd;

Another easy inning for Ciuffetelli as the first two batters for OSU go down swinging, and the third hitter flies out to center left field. only 10 pitches in the frame for Christian Ciuffetelli.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

[ICamel]

Bottom of 3rd;

Jack Scanlon starts Oregon off with a single into right field. Gavin Grant will try to advance Scanlon. A ground out to second base moves Scanlon into scoring position at second. Tanner Smith moves Scanlon to third with a ground out to first base. Drew Cowley can't capitalize as he hit a sky high fly to right center to end the inning.

0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

 

Oregon State 1 - Oregon 0 after 3 innings.

[ICamel]

Coach Wasikowski opts to bring in Stone Churby to pitch in the top of the 4th inning.

A ground ball to Gavin Grant at second base yields out number one. A single through the right side turns into a double when the ball slides off Gavin Grant's glove. A two run homer by the next batter to center left gives the Beavers a three run cushion. Next hitter with a double to the corner in left field. Churby entices the second out on a ground ball to second base with the runner at second moving to third base. Dylan Sabia will relieve Stone Churby and hopefully prevent another run in the inning. Sabia walks his first batter faced on a full count. And Dylan got down to business and ended the threat of further damage with a three pitch strikeout.

2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB

[ICamel]

Last half of the fourth;

Brennan Milone gets a free pass when he is hit by a pitch. Jacob Walsh hit a line drive to the first baseman that is turned into an unassisted double play. Josh Kasevich ends the Ducks 4th on a bouncing ground ball out to shortstop.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

 

Beavers 3 - Ducks 0 at the end of 4 innings

[ICamel]

In the top of the 5th inning;

Dylan Sabia will continue on the mound for Oregon.

Two fly ball outs to the outfield, with a great sliding catch by Colby Shade on the second out!

 

 

The next OSU batter walks on four straight balls. A wild pitch moves the runner to second base. An intentional walk(why?) puts runners at second and first. A long fly ball to deep center is caught on the warning track by Colby Shade to strand the Beavers two runners.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

[ICamel]

Bottom half of the 5th inning;

OSU with a pitching change. Anthony Hall hit a ground out to the second baseman. Colby Shade worked a full count into a walk. Jack Scanlon who has one of Oregon's three hits will try to get a little rally going here in the 5th inning. Scanlon hit a long ball to right field and is robbed of a home run by a great catch above the wall. Shade made a heads up base running move by tagging up and advancing to second base. Two outs and OSU will bring in another pitcher to face Gavin Grant. Gavin with a good eye draws a walk to put two runners on base, and Tanner Smith coming up to bat. Tanner can't bring any runs across with a fly ball out to straight away center field.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB

 

OSU 3 - Ducks 0 after 5 innings

[ICamel]

In the 6th inning Caleb Sloan will pitch to Oregon State;

Sloan walks the first Beaver batter. The runner is erased on a double play (SS-2nd-1st). The Beavs are set down on a ground out to shortstop.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

[ICamel]

Last of the 6th;

Drew Cowley starts Oregon off with a single into left field. Brennan Milone is 1 for 1 today and also got on base when he was hit by a pitch, but strikes out swinging for the first out. Beavers will bring in their fourth pitcher of the game to face Jacob Walsh. And the second swinging strike out in the inning brings Josh Kasevich to the plate with a runner on first. Josh hit a single over the pitchers head into center field to put a runner in scoring position. Anthony Hall can tie this game with one swing! Anthony can't tie the game, but he hit a single into left center to plate Drew Cowley with two runners on base and Colby Shade coming to bat.

 

 

And Colby comes through with a line drive single to center that scores Josh Kasevich with Hall moving to third.

 

 

Jack Scanlon can't bring another run in as he flies out to center left field.

2 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Errors, 2 LOB

 

Beavers 3 - Ducks 2

 

Hope this trend continues as Oregon State has had trouble this season with their bullpen holding a lead.

[ICamel]

Top of the 7th;

Caled Sloan continues on the mound for Oregon;

First batter singles back up the middle. A sacrifice bunt to the pitcher moves the runner to second base.

Sloan is done for the game, and Rio Britton will pitch for the Ducks with one out and a runner on second and the top of the order coming up for OSU. A first swing single up the middle scores OSU's fourth run of the game. Britton is able to strike out the batter for two outs. A high chopper to second base can't be played and goes for a single. Runners at second and first with two out. Britton walks the next batter to load the bases. A fielders choice out at second base gets Oregon out of the jam.

1 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors, 3 LOB

 

OSU 4 - Oregon 2

 

[ICamel]

Bottom of the 7th;

Sixth pitcher for OSU. Gavin Grant leads off with a fly ball out to left field. Tanner Smith flied out the opposite way to right field. A swinging strike out by Drew Cowley sends this game to the 8th inning.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

 

Beavers 4 - Ducks 2 after seven innings.

[ICamel]

In the top of the 8th inning;

Two consecutive fly ball outs to Tanner Smith in left field. Rio Britton gets the third out with a swinging strike out.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

[ICamel]

Last half of the 8th inning;

Brennan Milone walks on a full count pitch. Jacob Walsh will bat, and hits into a double play (3rd-2nd-1st). Oregon down to their last out in the eighth inning with Josh Kasevich batting, who hit a fly ball out to right field.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

 

Oregon State 4 - Oregon 2 headed to the 9th inning.

 

[ICamel]

Top of the 9th;

Logan Mercado will pitch for our Ducks. Three infield ground outs on six pitches makes for an easy inning for Mercado.

0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB

[ICamel]

Bottom of the 9th;

Do the Ducks have some late inning magic?

Anthony Hall is first up for Oregon. And Anthony works a 3-2 count before lacing a single into left field. Colby Shade is caught looking at a called third strike, and our Ducks are down to their last two outs. William Riley will pinch hit for Jack Scanlon. Riley flies out to center field. And Gavin Grant with another fly out to center ends the game.

0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors, 1 LOB

 

Oregon State 4 - Oregon 2 is the final.

 

That home run that wasn't in the bottom of the fifth inning would have been two RBI's and is the difference in the game. Have to give a tip of the old ball cap to the OSU right fielder for keeping the ball in play.