By Knight Jarecki
EUGENE, OR — The 2022 Oregon Ducks (24-11) baseball season has been historic. The Ducks, who were just recently ranked #20 in the D1 Baseball rankings, have been setting records and accomplishing tasks not seen in Eugene for a long time. In fact, over the weekend, Oregon swept Washington in Seattle for the first time since 1976 and bested the Huskies in a 3-game series on the road for the first time since 2010. That’s in addition to the Ducks' four home runs over the weekend that put them at 55 home runs for the season — one short of the program record for home runs in a season with 21 games left to play. At this pace, Oregon is projected to finish with 88 home runs in the 56-game regular season.
Oregon now heads 175 miles South down the I-5 from Seattle to Portland as the Ducks have a one-game Tuesday night matchup against the Portland Pilots (20-14). This is the second time this season the Ducks and Pilots will meet as Oregon dismantled Portland 18-2 on March 8th in Eugene. In the March 8th game, Oregon was able to hit four home runs and have explosive innings of 5 runs in the 1st and 8th innings. It also was a palindrome night of scoring for Oregon as they finished with 5,1 3, 0, 0, 3, 1 and 5 runs in the 8 frames on offense. Tanner Smith finished the game 3-for-3 with a home run and walk while Jacob Walsh added 2 doubles and 3RBI’s. Tyler Ganus, who hit a walk-off last week against Ball State, pinch-ran in the game and later hit his first-career home run in the 8th inning.
Pitching Matchup:
Portland — The Tuesday man for the Pilots this year has been Sophomore Brock Gillis. Gillis, a transfer from Washington, posts a (2-3) record hand and has a 5.35ERA in 10 games and 8 starts. Portland has continued to play tough teams on Tuesday throughout the season and Gillis has been the man they have sent out to the mound. Gillis has thrown against Washington twice and Oregon, Oregon State and Gonzaga once this season. Gillis had his worst start of the season against the Ducks during the March 8th game. The 6'2 right-hander gave up 10 hits that resulted in 9 runs in 5 innings as he picked up his first loss of the season at the time. Gillis, however, is coming off of his best performance of the year as he threw 6.2 innings of three-hit, one-run ball against #12 Gonzaga last week. Gillis brings a high-80’s-low-90’s fastball with off-speed pitches in the mid-to-high 70s. If Gillis doesn’t get the start, look out for West Linn, Oregon, native Caleb Franzen (1-5, 5.66ERA) to get the nod. The lefty has made 7 starts this season and only came in for 2-innings of relief last week against the Zags.
Oregon —In the last 3 Tuesday games, Oregon has brought out Jacob Hughes to throw. This season Hughes is (1-0) with a 5.02ERA in 7 appearances and 3 starts. All three of his starts have been on Tuesday’s and his first start of the year was the March 8th victory against the Pilots. Hughes finished with three scoreless innings while striking out one and allowing just 3 hits the first time through against Portland. The 6’3 Freshman from Eagle, Idaho brings a fastball that sits mid-to-high 80’s as well as a curve/slider that is in the low 70s and a changeup that runs around 80mph. Expect Hughes to pitch 2-3 innings in a bull-pen lead game for the Ducks.
Batting Numbers:
Portland Projected Lineup:
- 2B Jake Tsukada .266/.312/.671
- RF Evan Scavotto .239/.239/.577
- LF Briley Knight .260/.521/.911
- DH Trace Tammaro .321/.536/.983
- 3B Ben Patacsil .292/.354/.726
- CF Jake Holcroft .298/.412/.792
- C Nich Klemp .295/.328/.705
- 1B Sam Brown .254/.426/.771
- SS Ty Saunders .213/.298/.600
Oregon Projected Lineup:
- LF Tanner Smith .316/.533/.914
- CF Colby Shade .352/.536/.983
- DH Brennan Milone .324/.549/.942
- 1B Jacob Walsh .313/.500/.876
- SS Josh Kasevich .324/.446/.850
- RF Anthony Hall .304/.608/1.017
- C Josiah Cromwick .300/.513/.891
- 3B Sam Novitske .274/.347/.707
- 2B Gavin Grant .310/.513/.935
Keys for Oregon:
- Jump out to a fast start like the first matchup
- Preserve the bullpen for Wazzu next weekend
- Keep producing like they have been doing all season
Final Thoughts
Oregon should be able to easily handle the Portland Pilots. Oregon is coming off a huge sweep against Washington and I don’t see the Ducks slowing down against Portland. Oregon wins the battle against the Pilots in not only hitting but also in pitching. Even if this is a bullpen game for both squads, Oregon has such an explosive offense that it is going to be hard for anyone on Portland to stop the Ducks from scoring. I think the 18-2 win for Oregon in the first matchup is a clear indicator of how this one should go.
Prediction:
Oregon wins by 5+ runs against Portland.