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Super Regionals: Kent State vs Oregon (Game 1) Preview

By Brian Spaen

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Coming in unblemished a week ago in their regionals, Oregon will face the MAC champions, Kent State, in the first baseball super regional in PK Park. This marks the first time that the Ducks will host a super regional since 1954.

Probable starters will be both teams’ aces, Alex Keudell (11-4) for the Ducks and David Starn (10-3) for the Golden Flashes. Both players are coming off similar outings in their regional, giving up around four to five earned runs but striking out five to six batters. Neither player has an ERA above 2.5 for the season.

Despite a few bad innings for the Oregon pitchers, the offense helped out with 30 hits and 21 runs scored combined in the regional. The top of the other picked apart both Austin Peay twice and Cal State Fullerton, with both Brett Hambright and Ryan Hambright picking it up toward the bottom.

If anyone can slow down the hot bats for the team, Starn is the pitcher that can and will need to set the tone right away.

Cleanup hitter and first baseman, George Roberts, will be biggest trouble that will face Keudell and the Ducks defense in general. Roberts cleaned up in the regional, only giving up one person on base and had five RBIs combined in the first game against Kentucky and the regional hosts, Purdue. He leads the team in batting average (.369), RBIs (62), and has hit seven home runs.

Oregon will play as the home team tonight and teams will switch sides tomorrow. If a game three is necessary, a coin flip will determine who will be the designated home team. Game time is at 8:00 p.m. PST and can be followed in multiple ways (courtesy of GoDucks):

  • TV: ESPNU – Adam Amin (play-by-play) & Paul Lo Duca (analyst)
  • Radio: KUJZ 95.3 FM in Eugene/Springfield: Jerry Allen & Brian Prawitz
  • Webcast: ESPN3
  • Audio: O-Zone at www.GoDucks.com
  • Live Stats: www.NCAA.com
  • Twitter: @OregonBaseball for in-game updates, stats, etc

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo, follow the site on Facebook and Twitter. Read about his love for lacrosse at Around the Crease or get to know him more at The World of Santa Destroy.