Junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded in the Oregon Ducks’ Friday series opener against the Columbia Lions. Any bases loaded situation is important, but this one was extra special for Hellman. Earlier in the second inning, Hellman blasted a first pitch grand slam to make it 7-3 Oregon. This was his chance to recreate that magic he found earlier and do what few have done: hit two grand slams in one game.
He duplicated it exactly.
On the first pitch again, Hellman crushed it to left-center field. He watched it fly as he slowly crept up the first baseline with the bat in his hand, before tossing it and beginning his trot once the ball sailed over the fence.
“We saw this week in practice, he was making some really big strides,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “Two grand slams for a guy like Dom, I’m not surprised because of what we’ve been seeing in practice.”
The amount of times this has happened in college is a hard stat to dig up, but in the MLB, two grand slams in one game have only happened 13 times. Most recently at the college level, this happened on Feb. 26, 2023, when Northern Kentucky’s Liam McFadden-Ackman hit two in the same inning.
This eight RBI burst jumped Hellman from two RBI to 10, good for third on the squad behind first baseman Jacob Walsh, who has 13 and catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus, who has 12.
This was Hellman’s first showing of power hitting this season, but in other aspects at the plate, he has improved drastically.
Starting with the walks, Hellman already has surpassed his mark from a season before with four in six games played. While Hellman’s headlines are one pitch homers, he is working counts better than he has his entire career. In the game against Columbia, Hellman worked a full count before ripping a double to lead off the fifth inning. In the series finale against Rhode Island the weekend before, Hellman walked twice off a four-pitch walk and a five-pitch walk.
Another aspect of his success comes from something he can’t control, his massive size. His large frame automatically puts pressure on pitchers to keep pitches tight. If a pitch gets away inside, it's almost guaranteed to plunk Hellman on his 6-foot-6, 250-pound body. He’s been hit by a pitch five times this year. While it's a smaller stat, a runner on first can be key for any team.
The power hitting, walking and those hit by pitches have ballooned his on-base percentage to .485, which is third on the team behind red hot hitters Maddox Molony and Mabeus. Hellman’s .583 slugging percentage is not something to gloss over as well, good for sixth-best on the team.
It is still very early in the year, but Hellman’s strikeout issue seems to be a thing of the past. Last season, Hellman struckout 26 times in 63 plate appearances, good for an abysmal 41% strikeout rate. So far this season, he’s only struck out four times in 33 plate appearances (down to 12%) as he continues to show that improved discipline at the dish.
Another strong aspect for Hellman is his ability to hit all over the field. His two grand slams came from the pull side today, but he has been able to put balls in play all season, whether he is early or late to a pitch.
“It all turns back to the approach and staying through the middle, it helps me see pitches better,” Hellman said. “It’s kind of the on-plane effect where if I get beat, I can still shoot the ball to the right side, and if I’m early, I can still pull the ball over the fence.”
Hellman proves to be a lethal weapon for the Oregon offense almost every night. Batting second in the order is unorthodox for someone of his size, but he seems to fit perfectly. With typical leadoff guy Mason Neville blazing to start the season, Hellman compliments him perfectly and sets the table for other big hitters like Walsh.
“A huge thing I wanted to bring to the table was making sure my at-bats are really competitive,” Hellman said. “My whole goal is to be on base for the big guys behind me, so that’s all I want to do.”
Hellman and the Ducks will look to continue their hot hitting and winning streak with a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 1 with an 11:05 first pitch.