DuckNews.com/Rick Morgan

Press Release from the U of O:

EUGENE, Ore. – Aaron Payne singled to center field in the bottom of the ninth inning to break a tie and give No. 13 Oregon a 2-1 win over No. 21 Stanford in a Pac-12 Conference game on Friday night at PK Park.

Payne lined a single up the middle past a drawn in infield against Cardinal starter Mark Appel, the eighth overall pick in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.  The Ducks’ junior delivered the walk-off game-winner on a 0-2 pitch driving in pinch runner Desmond Santos.

Sophomore Steven Packard started the rally when he reached base on a throwing error by Stanford shortstop Drew Jackson that allowed Packard to go to second. Santos ran for Packard and moved to third on a bunt single by Connor Hofmann.

Appel, who intentionally walked J.J. Altobelli to load the bases, struck out Brett Thomas on four pitches to bring Payne to the plate for the game-winning RBI.

Oregon starter Tommy Thorpe and a pair of Ducks’ relievers battled Appel pitch for pitch striking out 10 Cardinal hitters. Thorpe allowed just one run in 6.2 innings while striking out seven and walking just one.

Darrell Hunter retired the last batter of the seventh inning, after inheriting runners on the corners with two outs. He got the first out of the eighth inning before turning it over to Garrett Cleavinger. The freshman lefty retired all five batters he faced, including three on strikeouts, to set up Payne’s heroics.

Stanford took the early lead after stranding two runners in both the first and second innings. The Cardinal (23-13, 9-17 Pac-12) finally broke through with a run in the third on a RBI double by Danny Diekroeger. Austin Slater, who singled to open the inning and advanced to second on a groundout, scored the run.

Ryon Healy got the run back for the Ducks in the bottom half of the inning. The junior drove in Payne with a RBI single to right field to tie the game 1-1.

Neither team could manage many scoring threats the rest of the way. Oregon (31-10, 14-5 Pac-12) put runners on first and second in both the fifth and sixth but couldn’t break through against Appel. Stanford’s best chance came when Thomas got out of the first and third jam in the seventh.

Cleavinger (3-0) picked up the win for the Ducks. Appel (7-3) took the loss allowing nine hits in 8.1 innings while striking out nine and walking two.

Scott Heineman went 2-for-4 to lead Oregon’s offensive attack.

The Ducks and Cardinal play game two of the three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. at PK Park.

Oregon Ducks This Week:

Jan 3, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; General view of Oregon Ducks helmets during the 2013 Fiesta Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

First off, in case you missed it, Wednesday there was some news regarding the Recruiting violations committed by Oregon. A Sports Illustrated report said the Ducks met last week with the NCAA Infractions Committee with former coach Chip Kelly in attendance. Word of any potential sacntions will come within the next 60 to 90 days.

Oregon’s athletic department released a statement after the SI report.

“Regardless of when or where the hearing occurs, review is ongoing until the NCAA Committee in Infractions issues its final report,” it said. “The integrity of the process and our continued full cooperation with the NCAA prohibits us from publicly discussing the specifics of this matter.”

Of course, as a friendly reminder, there is no comment on the ongoing investigation, but here’s a glance at what we will see on Saturday at Autzen Stadium for the Spring Game

Oregon Head Football Coach Mark Helfrich met with the media on Wednesday afternoon and talked about the Spring Game, who may(or may not) be participating and the scoring system they will use. With injuries there will not be two teams facing off. Coach Helfrich with more on the game format:

(We’re) Going to go offense vs defense in as much as possible real situations. As much situation correct as possible.

Will he(Helfrich) be ‘coaching?’

I will be (an) observer,  I’m not gonna coach, just make sure everyone knows what’s going on.

This is Hefrich’s first Spring Game as Oregon’s Head Coach. How does he feel, any jitters?

Not any jitters, we want to get our work in, I don’t care who wins or won in the past. I want to compete and stay healthy.

Who will(and won’t) play on Saturday? Helfrich says we will know at gametime.

You will see on Saturday, Some guys could go(who are injured).

Is Helfrich able to know anymore about who the backup quarterback will be in 2013 after Spring Practice?

There’s no way we decide that this Spring, There is no separation between them.

Finally,  the scoring system for the Scrimmage on Saturday at Autzen Stadium.

Offense, going to  have to score, (6 points), Defense (3 points for turnover) or 4^th down stop, almost 1 point for every other stop.

The full Mark Helfrich interview from Wednesday(audio)

Oregon’s Spring Game is Saturday at 11am at Autzen Stadium. Admission is free, but your asked to bring three canned goods for local food bank, Food For Lane County. Last year they brought in over 70,000 pounds of food and hope to top that number this year. The Game(Scrimmage) will also be broadcast on the Pac 12 Network.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for Live Updates from the Game and Recaps from both the first and second half.

Oregon Ducks This Week:

Dec 29, 2011; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich at press conference for the 2012 Rose Bowl at the Marriott Los Angeles Downtown. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

It started out a regular ‘Week 2′ of Spring ball for the Ducks, by Tuesday the tone was altered a bit as a 515 page document citing Oregon’s non compliance with recruiting reared its ugly head. Nothing new on the investigation. It’s what we’ve known for nine months, but now it’s available in paper form for all to read. (more on that later in this report)

On Monday, the midway point of Spring Practice, Head Coach Mark Helfrich said there was a good symmetry going on.

When he was asked about the Spring game:

Were not gonna have a come down to the wire decision. I saw a few Spring games. I tried to figure out what the scoring system was. some were offense vs defense. its’ always tough, you want it to be as gamelike as possible.

As far as what is standing out midway through Spring Practice:

Practice has been great. Resilience of younger guys to have some adversity and bounce back from it. Even in a practice format that will carry over. Ifo, Tony Washington has done a really nice job. Avery Patterson has stepped up and done a god job.

When it comes to improvement, first year Defensive player is looking to make a mark.

 I think across the board we’ve improved. Marcus is better. Our offensive line is better. On defense, Joe Walker is a guy who is really close to breaking through and getting it.

Supposedly, the Oregon Coach as joined Twitter.  His comment:

(laughs)That’s good to have that kind of anonymity. I don’t know who that is

Throughout the season depth can become an issue. Helfrich said he is happy with Oregon’s position:

That’s why we compete. I don’t know what those percentages will be.  The guys coming in you anticipate to be great and push it because you don’t know what their ceiling is. That shakes itself out.

Of course, last night there was some news pertaining to the NCAA’s continued look into Oregon’s Recruiting Practices, as a 515 page document was released by the U of O.  The news is nothing new, it’s the same that we all knew 7 months ago concerning potential recruiting violations. As far as commenting, Helfrich was pleasant with ‘next question’ numerous times. 

We in the media have to ask the questions, and we know that, as Head Coach, Helfrich cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, but…we ask anyway.

He did comment on the Second Spring Scrimmage that happened today in Autzen Stadium:

 Scrimmage was up and down, Defense got upper hand on offense early a bunch, sloppy early. In the end the offense got a little  of the defense. It was productive.

He talked about Colt Lyerla and his progress during Spring Practice:

He’s a dynamic guy with a ton of tools. We’re going to try and use him in every aspect. We’ve used him in different ways. This time of year your trying to expand those guys.

Finally on compliance:

We’re going to do our best to follow the rules 100 percent and that’s it.

Spring Practice wraps up for Oregon next week at the Ducks Spring Game at Autzen Stadium on Saturday April 27th.

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