LinkedUp: Oregon Baseball Hosts Vandy This Weekend, Track and Field Championships Underway

Duck Baseball Drops Opener to #2 Vanderbilt, 4-1

June 24, 2011; Omaha, NE, USA; Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

This is a big weekend for Oregon Baseball, currently 10-4 on the season and Ranked #15 in the poll that matters. They rank everwhere from 10-20 in other polls throughout the country. The Ducks welcome the first Top 5 team to PK Park since 2010 in #2 Vanderbilt. The pitching breakdown for the Ducks in the three game series features Jake Reed, who lost the Opener 4-1 and is now 1-3 on the season. Opposing pitcher Vanderbilt’s Kevin Ziomek was stellar. He picked up the win pitching a complete game, his second of the season.  The Vanderbilt left-hander allowed just two hits, while striking out 13 and walking just one. Tommy Thorpe and Cole Irvin will complete the series on the hill for the Ducks. Oregon looks to even things up Saturday at 2pm, the final game against Vandy is Sunday at Noon.

In case you missed the ‘glove throw to first’ that happened last week. Pitcher Jeff Gold and Ryon Healy discussed the play that made the Sportcenter Top 10 at #2 earlier this week.

 Ducks Look to Bring Home the Hardware in Arkansas

Track and Field’s Indoor Season will come to a close this weekend with The Indoor Championships in Fayettteville.

For the latest you can follow @OregonTF on Twitter.

On the Men’s side Oregon’s Mike Berry, who made the qualifier last week at the University of Washington looks to chase down the SEC in the 400 meters. Berry had a record run in the 400 meters on Friday and also advanced runners in the 800 meters  and the 60 meter hurdles. The Ducks are also looking for a individual title in the mile.

For the Women, a runaway victory isn’t the likely outcome this year. It may be a series of win’s but the margin will be a little tighter. They were perfect in Friday’s qualifying rounds and stand in 11th place heading into Saturday.

They’ll compete in six individual events — 60 meters, 400, 800, mile, 3,000 and 5,000 — and the 4×400 and distance medley relays.

Three of those athletes, senior middle distance and distance runners Jordan Hasay, Anne Kesselring and Becca Friday, have never lost an NCAA indoor title.

Geoff Thurner/GoDucks.com

Oregon Softball on 12 Game Winning Streak, Ranked #8

This past week Freshman Cheridan Hawkins was named Pac 12 Pitcher of the Week for her performance. For the third weekend in a row she has kept her ERA under 1. She also leads the Pac 12 in Opposing Batting Average (0.82), saves(3) and games in relief(8).

Oregon Softball will play four games in two days this weekend, returning to Fresno for the second season in a row. The Ducks on a 12 game winning streak will play in the Fresno Classic this weekend. Friday’s games include San Diego State (10-9) and Fresno State (13-10).  Saturday they’ll take on Iowa State (9-6) and St. Mary’s (4-9).

Women’s Basketball’s Season is Over, Now Comes an Important Question

Paul Westhead  has to be wondering about his future. The team, now done with the season and ending at 4-27. After a halftime lead in the Pac 12 Tournament in Seattle on Thursday, 12th seeded Oregon let it slip away against 5 seed Washington, losing 69-62. 

Beat the Utes, Win the Title(or a Share of it)

The Oregon Men’s Basketball team suffered a tough loss to the hands of Colorado Thursday. The Ducks never really had the lead throughout the game and were sloppy with turnovers and missed shots. Oregon shot 37 percent for the game and below 30 percent in the first half. If Oregon can take care of business Saturday against Utah(11:30am, Pac 12 Network) they will win(at least a share) of the Pac 12 Title, and the #1 Seed in the Pac 12 Tournament next week.

Oregon Ducks This Week:

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