By Charles Martindale Spring is coming in Eugene, and while the weather still needs some time to catch on, Oregon returning to action at PK Park is another good way to tell. This weekend, the 20th ranked Ducks host the Xavier Musketeers, looking to build forward after a solid 2022 season. Oregon has yet to finish below .500 in the 2020’s, a solid achievement in a historically competitive Pac-12, and the outlook this season remains the same. The Ducks are a strong and proud program with plenty to be happy about, but whether they break into a tier higher this year remains to be seen. Oregon lost Josh Kasevich to the draft, but keeps the bare bones of their core from last year. The Ducks also welcome international additions Sabin Ceballos from Puerto Rico and Rikuu Nishida from Japan, who have already been tested in key roles through the Duck’s 20 intersquad games. Nishida’s speed and bat to ball skills make him a candidate to lead off throughout the year, and outfielder Tanner Smith, no stranger to the leadoff role himself, called Nishida “game changing”. After a very strong 2022, Smith will also see an increased role as an offensive producer in his senior year. Oregon will also get a full season of Drew Cowley, another senior who helped command the offense last year. Cowley missed most of April last year with a wrist injury, but led the team in batting when he was healthy. Offense has been the Ducks’ strength for years now, hitting .310 and slugging in the .480’s as a team last year, but the main focus, and one of the key stories entering the opening series this weekend, is where Oregon will find 27 outs a game from. Last season, just one Oregon pitcher with more than five starts had an ERA under 4.00, and the team collectively allowed over five runs a game. Outside of the Pac-12, where the Ducks played their best ball, the high offense approach could outslug some teams. In the Pac-12 this year, Oregon is going to need younger starters to take steps forward to keep them in games just a bit longer. This roster will likely be able to hit a respectable amount, at the very least, but they’ll need to rely on their pitching to stay in games, which might not always happen. Seeming to sense this, head coach Mark Wasikowski shook things up in the rotation to start 2023. Getting the ball Friday night will be junior Logan Mercado, in what will be his first collegiate start. In fact, entering this weekend, no scheduled Oregon starter has started a game in college before. Mercado did lead the team in ERA last season, but his new stamina to start from offseason work will be put to the test in the opener. After Friday night, Wasikowski will turn to a trio of freshmen for Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s closer. Matthew Grabbman was less of a surprise to make the rotation, boasting some very impressive raw talent, including a fastball that has touched the mid 90’s, former USC commit Jackson Pace also impressed in the fall in preseason. Leo Uelman, the final piece of the new look starting set, sits in the 90’s on his fastball, and has a chance along with Pace and Grabbman to take the opportunity and rack up experience and innings as freshmen. It is also worth noting that projected Friday night arm Jace Stoffal is on the outside looking in on the Ducks rotation for now. While Wasikowski assured media that all four rotation members have “pitched incredibly well”, it is still a unique strategy from a program like this to begin the year with so little experience on the mound. New closer Josh Mollerus, also likely to make his PK park debut at some point this weekend, was confident in the young set of arms, saying that “it seems like they’ve been doing this for two or three years now.” Xavier brings a solid program to town in their own right, finishing above .500 each of the last two seasons under relatively new head coach Billy O’Conner. After beginning 2022 0-9, the Musketeers found a groove, but have now lost all of their top four average leaders. In contrast to Oregon, the Xavier staff is well seasoned, and a touching moment is set to take place when Musketeers opening night starter Ethan Bosacker makes his first start since 2021 after injury issues. Super senior lefty Brent Alazaus makes his Xavier debut after transferring from Walsh College, and while O’Conner has yet to name a starter for the second half of Saturday’s double header, the 6’4”, 205 pound junior Nick Boyle will close things out on the mound on Sunday. The 20 spot on the preseason rankings is already an achievement for Oregon, and they’ll have four games to prove their worth in front of the home crowd this weekend.