Wins in and of themselves are good things for any and every college baseball team. But winning both the first and second game of a regional happens to be a great thing for anyone in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
And so, it was a pretty big deal that Mark Wasikowski and his Oregon Ducks handed UC Santa Barbara a loss Saturday evening.
Not just because it allowed the Oregon baseball team to advance to the Santa Barbara Regional final, but also because the path to a Super Regional suddenly becomes much more attainable for the Ducks than it does for either San Diego or UC Santa Barbara.
As the only undefeated team left in the regional, the Ducks control their own destiny and are just one win away from clinching a spot in a Super Regional.
Oregon baseball: Ducks have attainable path to Super Regional
Because of the Regional structure, Oregon’s path to advancement is significantly less daunting than that of the other teams left in the Santa Barbara Regional. Again, all Oregon needs is just one more win to clinch a trip to a Super Regional. Both UC Santa Barbara and San Diego face a far more challenging road that involves being perfect through up to three more games to advance on to a Super Regional.
Shoutout to the double-elimination format of this part of the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Oregon's path to a Super Regional: pretty attainable
— The Underdog Tribune (@UnderdogTribune) June 2, 2024
The path to a Super Regional for UC Santa Barbara or San Diego: less attainable
winning your first two games in a Regional kinda matters a bit pic.twitter.com/Sws2IxvUdP
With this structure and the two wins that Oregon has from the first two games the Ducks have played in the Regional, the Ducks hold a commanding position here. They’ve beaten both UC Santa Barbara and San Diego (albeit in close contests) and could certainly do it again.
And for the Ducks, the best thing is that the Gauchos and Toreros get to beat up on each other before the winner has a chance to meet with Oregon once more.
And from there, Oregon gets two chances to get one more win. The Ducks have a pretty significant advantage at this point. San Diego and UC Santa Barbara have to stay perfect through three games in two days.
All Oregon needs is one more win and the Ducks have two chances at that victory.
We’ll soon find out who Oregon plays in the Santa Barbara Regional final. The Gauchos and Toreros play an elimination game at noon. After that, Oregon gets the winner of that elimination game this evening at 6 p.m.
We’ll see if Wasikowski and the Oregon baseball team can clear that hurdle today or if a game two of the regional final is necessary. Either way, the Ducks have two shots to get one win. And that’s good.