The Oregon Ducks finished their season being swept by the Stanford Cardinals it was a disappointing end to a season that showed so much promise. They finished ninth in the Pac-12 and struggled the most against Pac-12 teams. They ended the season with a record of (29-26, 14-16 Pac-12).
Oregon started out the season strong with a sweep over San Diego State and almost had a second over Illinois State. The Ducks won their third series before being victimized by Mississippi State who beat them soundly each game, 10-4, 9-3, and 5-2.
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As conference play opened up it looked like the Ducks would have a difficult season. Their first Pac-12 series should against Utah as lost a close game and had a good win with a score of 9-5. As the season progressed the Ducks started to put things together and any team coming to Eugene were most likely to lose.
Come mid-season Oregon showed resolve as Cal blitzed them at home 12-2, but they came back to win the next game to take the series. It led to a six game winning streak, that saw them sweep USC. It was their second sweep of the season one in non-conference play and one in the Pac-12.
In-state rival Oregon State meet the Ducks five times during the season the first was an extra inning loss for Oregon as they fell 11-10. About two weeks later they finally got the win this time it was their turn to win close 7-6. The Beavers were also surprised by the Ducks as they dropped the Civil War baseball series in a sport they mostly dominated the Ducks. It was like the Beavers upsetting the Ducks in Football a sport which they are clearly ahead in the last decade. To be fair however the Beavers lost their star pitcher Drew Rasmussen, and depth in the pitching department was wrong and never quite steady.
At the plate the Ducks were lead by A.J. Balta, Steven Packard and Jake Bennett. Balta was Oregon best hitter all season, he finished with nine home runs and 47 rbi’s. Packard was Oregon’s second best hitter with four home runs and 33 rbi’s he helped power the Ducks with Balta. Bennett led the team with 43 hits and 25 rbi’s to round out the Ducks of the best hitters of the season.
On the mound Cole Irvin give the Ducks a chance to win every game. He pitched 105 innings over the course of the season, finished with a 6-4 record and led the team with 90 strikeouts. David Petersen pitched the second most innings 74.1 innings with a record of 4-5 and an impressive 61 strikeouts. Stephen Nogosek was Oregon’s best closer with 16 saves and pitched 29 games in relief.
Even though the Ducks struggled there were some good things to take away from the season they were 19-10 at home, 2-0 on neutral places to play and are a fairly young team. They however did come up short in Pac-12 play and on the road they finished with a record of 8-16. Many of their top players such as A.J. Balta, Cole Irvin and David Petersen come back for at least one to two years. So there is hope they can achieve the level of success that Oregon’s football and now more recently Oregon’s golf team in the future of Oregon baseball.