By: Ian Sutliff

Eugene, OR-- After a sharp opening weekend with Xavier to get the season started, the Ducks followed up with a disappointing sweep in a surprise home series with UC Santa Barbara last weekend. Now Oregon will look to bounce back as they start a four game series against San Diego after dropping out of the latest rankings. On the other hand, the Toreros have been great so far this season and their only loss was to UC Irvine on Monday. San Diego’s success has come mainly from its offense this season as the team has averaged over nine runs per game over this 5-1-1 span. This will easily be one of the toughest tests for an Oregon squad who has struggled to put up runs at times this season.

Oregon:

One of the biggest strengths for this Ducks squad last year was the offense and the ability to keep the team in ball games behind an inconsistent pitching staff. Over the first two series though, Oregon is batting just .202 as a team with Josiah Cromwick and Tanner Smith being two of the only regular starters to see consistent success at the plate. Jacob Walsh has struggled mightily and the term “sophomore slump” has been ever present for the first baseman. He has gone just 1-19 with nine strikeouts and has drawn just one walk. Drew Cowley has also been ice cold to start the season as his average sits at just .154 through his first 26 at-bats. That’s a concern for Cowley as the third baseman batted .424 over 38 starts last year and his on-base percentage in the 2022 campaign ended at an incredible .506. Walsh and Cowley are just a couple Ducks hitters who have started the season off slow, but the positive outlook for this team is that things can only get better from here on out. Gavin Grant and Owen Diodati will be a couple of other big bats to watch this weekend as they look to right the ship after a shocking sweep.

San Diego:

San Diego has been rolling to kick off its 2023 campaign. The Torerors have six regular starters who’s average sits above .300 for the season and that’s not including its talented junior outfielder Dustin Allen. Jack Costello is the player to watch for this team over the weekend. Over his first two seasons as a starter, Costello has hit .319 with ten home runs, as well as just 60 strikeouts in 395 at-bats between 2021 and 2022. He has been even better as one of the veterans for this club as his hot start to 2023 has seen him go deep five times and bat .345. After going just 1-11 to start the season, Costello has now had four straight multiple hit games. Another stand out for the Toreros is junior Angelo Peraza who is in the midst of a breakout season in his first full year as a starter. After totaling two home runs as an underclassman, Peraza has equaled that total in his first seven games this year. What’s been even more impressive is the .348 batting average and his 2:1 walk to strikeout ratio which has helped the infielder to a .531 OBP mark thus far. Kevin Sims (.304/.467/.739) and Justin DeCriscio (.360/.370/.440) are two other standouts that the Ducks will have their hands full with this weekend. 

Starting Pitcher Probables- Oregon

Thursday: Jace Stoffal (6.00 ERA, 3 IP, 2 K, 0 BB)

Friday: Leo Uelmen (3.00 ERA, 9 IP, 7 K, 2 BB)

Saturday: Jackson Pace (3.00 ERA, 9 IP, 8 K, 3 BB)

Sunday: Matthew Grabman (3.00 ERA, 6 IP, 5 K, 5 BB)

Starting Pitcher Probables- USD

Thursday: James Sashin (1.17 ERA, 7.2 IP, 5 K, 10 BB)

Friday: Garrett Rennie (0.75 ERA, 12 IP, 16 K, 2 BB)

Saturday: Ivran Romero (12.60 ERA, 5 IP, 4 K, 6 BB)

Sunday: Morgan Lunceford (9.82 ERA, 7.1 IP, 8 K, 1 BB)

Projected Starting Lineups:

Oregon-

2B Rikuu Nishida 

3B Drew Cowley

LF Tanner Smith

DH Sabin Ceballos

C Josiah Cromwick

RF Owen Diodati

CF Colby Shade

1B Jacob Walsh

SS Gavin Grant

San Diego-

RF Angelo Peraza

CF Dustin Allen

3B Jack Costello

1B Kevin Sims

2B James Arakawa

LF Austin Smith

C Ariel Armas

DH Jack Gurevitch

SS Justin DeCriscio

Prediction:

Oregon and San Diego split the series as both offenses put up big numbers.