OREGON BSB PREVIEW: Ducks welcome a tested Wildcats team to PK Park for a three-game series this weekend

Posted on by

By Luke Greco

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon Ducks baseball team (13-6, 4-2 Pac-12) will host the Arizona Wildcats (8-10, 3-3 Pac-12) for a three-game series this weekend. The Ducks come into the game off a 2-1 series win over the California Golden Bears.

Oregon Ducks:

The Oregon Ducks will look to continue their hot streak this weekend against the Wildcats. After switching around their infield with Drew Smith at second base (previously the third baseman), Ryan Cooney at shortstop (was at second base) and Carter Garate at third base (was at shortstop) the Ducks have looked much better defensively and it helped propel them to a series win over the Golden Bears. Jefferey Heard and Carter Garate are leading the Ducks in the box batting .375 and .371, respectively, and have a combined 50 total hits, 24 and 26. Grayson Grinsdell has looked amazing for the Ducks so far allowing a .118 BA against him, and in his last outing, he only gave up one hit in six innings pitched. Look for RJ Gordon to have a bounce-back start in this series after two tough outings in his last starts.

Arizona Wildcats:

The Wildcats are coming off a win over Grand Canyon, 6-4, and a 1-2 series loss against their cross-town rival the Arizona State Sun Devils. Arizona has faced stiff competition already this year having faced five different ranked teams. Leading the way for the Wildcats so far is second baseman Garen Caulfield who is batting .397 and third baseman Richie Morales who is batting .353. On the mound, the Wildcat’s best pitcher so far has been sophomore Jackson Kent who has posted a 2.73 ERA so far with 34 strikeouts. While the Wildcats might not have a .500 record, this team is not one the Ducks can take lightly. I expect the Wildcats to look to pick up some momentum in this series as they dive into more conference games.

Prediction:

This will be a competitive series with two teams fighting for conference wins. The Wildcats are battle-tested and have faced plenty of ranked competition so far and will look to use that experience in this series. The Ducks will look to remain hot and have some bounce-back performances from their pitchers. My prediction is the Ducks win this series 2-1 over the Wildcats.