In the bottom of the eighth in Game 2 of the Oregon Ducks doubleheader against the Rhode Island Rams, the Ducks were sitting pretty with a 17-12 lead on their way to a 2–1 series lead.
Somehow, Oregon wasn’t satisfied with the already monstrous day from the offense. Third baseman Carter Garate doubled to lead off the inning, setting up for red-hot center fielder Mason Neville. He got ahead in the count 2-0, and on the next pitch, his eyes lit up when he saw the ball soaring right into his sweet spot. Neville swung and got all of it. He sat in the batter's box for a second to watch it fly into the PK Park parking lot, then took his trot as he put the dagger into the double-header sweep for Oregon. This was Neville’s second homer of the game.
“He got me on a changeup that I rolled over on the at-bat before that, so I was just focusing on letting it get deep,” Neville said. “I tried to put a good swing on it and let the ball travel.”
While that game was an offensive explosion for Oregon, the game before was a complete flip, and that inconsistent play has defined the early parts of the season.
In Game 1 of the doubleheader, Oregon went 10 innings without scoring a run. Luckily, Rhode Island one-upped the Ducks by going 11 innings without a run. In that eleventh inning, Oregon needed the assistance of poor Rams fielding as designated hitter Dominic Hellman grounded to short, but the Rhode Island shortstop threw it away, bringing home the winning run from third.
So Oregon won the game but didn’t score a single earned run. Unless lightning strikes twice, that is an unsustainable way to win baseball games, especially when the Ducks start to face tougher competition.
“We were taking a lot in the game, but the problem is when you’re taking pitches and he’s throwing strikes,” manager Mark Wasikowski said. “I don’t know exactly how many strikes he ended up throwing, but I’m sure the percentage was very high. He was tough to hit.”
On Friday, the offense showed out again, scoring eleven runs. While this is a solid run total, it continues to show the day-to-day inconsistency of the offense.
This can be traced back to the weekend before against the Toledo Rockets, where the offense scored nine, then three, then nine again before meeting the pattern halfway for six in the final game.
This can go deeper than just looking at final scores. In the first five innings of the season opener, Oregon could only muster up one run. In the game two loss of the same series, they didn’t score until the eighth inning. In the Friday loss against Rhode Island, the Ducks only scored one in the first four innings. They went ten without scoring the next day before scoring in all but one inning in the Game 3 win.
These inconsistent starts to games will most certainly cost Oregon down the line. Early season streakiness is common and this issue could be gone by next weekend, but if this problem lingers the Ducks could get into trouble.
Jumping out to early leads is key in baseball. Playing from behind against teams that have top-tier pitchers and hitters will lead to losses and could define a season.
This could especially cost Oregon in their series against the USC Trojans starting Mar. 7. The Trojans have scored in the first two innings in four of their six games, surging them to a 6-0 start. This includes a 10run first inning in their season opener on Feb 14.
“We’re competitive, we have some toughness to us,” Neville said. “It’s early on and we have a lot of work to do for sure. I trust in my guys and I trust my coaches so I’m looking forward to that.”
Oregon hitters can turn around these inconsistencies by being patient and waiting for their pitch. First-pitch outs kill momentum and lead to these slow starts, and can let great pitchers stay in the game for longer. Hitting with runners on is a necessity as well. In the loss to Rhode Island on Feb. 21, Oregon left 14 on base.
Oregon can shut down these early season issues with another opportunity against the Rhode Island Rams on Feb. 23 for the final game of the series. The game will start at 12:05 p.m. Sunday and freshman Will Sanford will take the mound for Oregon.