The Oregon Baseball team is coming off an extremely successful weekend, as they traveled to The Farm and took two of three from the then #5 Stanford Cardinal, all while keeping their hot bats against a good pitching staff and showing immense resilience against a very strong squad. Though I was personally not too high on them, the Ducks are proving to be a team with a whole lot of hitting, but also one that is lacking in the pitching department. However, since they are somewhat self-described as a team with a short list of preseason expectations, I’m sure Coach Wasikowski and Oregon fans are all content with the strengths of this team in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. This weekend, the University of Utah Utes will come to PK Park as the Ducks play their first home Pac-12 series of the season. In this article, I’ll be breaking down the game by game pitching matchups, projected lineups, and my predictions for the outcomes of these games.
Game 1 – RJ Gordon versus Matt Sox
This should be a really interesting pitching matchup of two pitchers looking to prove themselves within Pac-12 play. Beginning with Gordon, the true sophomore will be making his first start of the season against the Utes. Gordon, traditionally a multi-inning bullpen arm, is coming off a dominant appearance against the Cardinal where he entered in relief of Caleb Sloan and saved Oregon in a game where they had previously trailed. Finishing the day with 4.2 innings, striking out five, and allowing no one to cross the plate, Gordon’s most important statline might have been only allowing one walk. The Ducks biggest struggles have come because they allow runners to get on base for free early in the games and then are unable to rebound. Sitting at over five walks per nine innings, Coach Was’ squad could benefit from more of the same from Gordon, who could prove to be a consistent starting option with usual Friday starter Adam Maier still on the shelf.
Utah will also go with a pitcher looking to establish his name within the conference. While Matt Sox has shown flashes of dominance throughout the season, he has yet to face a truly quality opponent aside from Washington, who hit him decently well. That said, Sox was drafted last year as a draft-eligible sophomore out of the bullpen, but chose to stay and establish himself as a starting option. In the offseason, Sox added a changeup to his two-pitch arsenal and since has dominated as the Utes’ Friday starter. He has immense strikeout stuff going against and Oregon lineup that has a lot of swing-and-miss bats in the middle of their order, and could prove to be problematic for guys like Brennan Milone or Josiah Cromwick.
Game 2 – Isaac Ayon versus Randon Hostert
Game two of the weekend will be similar to Game one, as both starters will be following a parallel storyline. Oregon’s Isaac Ayon was without a doubt their most impressive multi-inning arm early in the season, but he was roughed up against the Card, allowing eight earned runs and walking three in just over an inning of work. However, he has shown to be dominant in stretches this season, most notably in his work against the UCSB Gauchos, where he struck out seven in a seven-inning complete game versus a potent offense. Ayon features a high level fastball-changeup combination which he compliments with a really good slider. While he struggled at the Farm, his stuff is too good to not compete against what is at best a middle-of-the-pack offense.
Randon Hostert has been an interesting story for the Utes, as he was drafted last year after an up-and-down season for Utah, but decided to return to Salt Lake City in order to improve his draft stock further. He features dominant strikeout material, but has tendencies to struggle with command. When he has controlled his off-speed pitches, Hostert has been the Saturday starter that Utah fans expected. Most notably, in his start against San Diego State, Hostert finished 6.2 innings, allowing three hits, while striking out eight. Hostert still averages over a strikeout every inning, so he features the same ability that someone like Sox.
Game 3 – Caleb Sloan versus Cam Day
In game three, both of these teams will start pitchers with two very different past starts. Oregon’s Caleb Sloan was tasked with the Friday start versus the Card in just his first start of the season and fourth of his career. He did not perform the way Coach Wasikowski had wanted, going two innings and allowing two runs. However, a deeper look at the stats for Sloan would tell that the game might not have been a result of his poor pitching. A first inning error for both Drew Cowley and Jacob Walsh allowed both of Sloan’s runs to cross the plate as unearned, and he contributed a scoreless second inning of work before handing the ball to the aforementioned Gordon.
Freshman Cam Day has been very two-sided for Utah this season, but his best start was his last one. Against his toughest competition, Day completed 6.1 innings, allowing just a run and striking out five against Washington. For a freshman, Day has impressed overall for Utah to the tune of a 4.42 ERA and about a strikeout an inning. He is easily seen as the future of the Utah rotation, and he could impress enough against Oregon to move his way up in the rotation if Hostert.
Projected Lineup – Utah Utes
CF Carter Booth
LF Kai Roberts
3B Chase Anderson
DH TJ Clarkson
C Jayden Kiernan
1B Alex Baeza
SS Matt Richardson
2B Landon Frei
RF Jackson Clement
Projected Lineup – Oregon Ducks
LF Tanner Smith
3B Drew Cowley
DH Brennan Milone
1B Jacob Walsh
SS Josh Kasevich
CF Colby Shade
RF Anthony Hall
C Josiah Cromwick
2B Gavin Grant
Final Thoughts
Oregon is riding high after their series against Stanford, and I would expect their momentum to continue as they come back to PK Park in Eugene. I think overall, the Ducks have the offensive advantage in all of the games, but starting pitching could be a problem. Expect Oregon’s bullpen arms to have another big series in terms of workload, but also watch out for the explosivity of the bats.
Final Prediction: Oregon sweeps the series, 3-0