For the second year in a row, the Oregon baseball team is moving on to a Super Regional. Once again, Oregon went on the road for the Santa Barbara Regional, and once again the road didn't end there for Mark Wasikowski and his Oregon Ducks.
Oregon, originally the regional’s 3-seed, showcased plenty of poise, resilience, and determination, cleanly sweeping through the Santa Barbara Regional with three wins and zero losses (although the Ducks did face some tough tests along the way).
Still, Oregon bounced the host UC Santa Barbara Gauchos to secure a spot in the next round of the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament. As such, Oregon is moving on to meet up with the winner of the College Station Regional.
Oregon baseball: Ducks' starting pitcher Kevin Seiter silences UC Santa Barbara's bats with complete game shutout
The Ducks’ success in the Santa Barbara Regional Final can mostly be attributed to the stellar pitching performance delivered by Kevin Seiter. He scattered four hits and delivered a walk to the Gauchos, but Seiter also managed to pitch a complete game shutout when his team needed him to step up. With 128 pitches, Seiter silenced the home crowd of 1270 fans and moved Oregon on to a Super Regional.
The Ducks didn’t do much at the plate. Seiter was great and the folks on the mound for UC Santa Barbara did well to nullify much of Oregon’s approach at the plate. Still, the Ducks scored on three different occasions. Once via an RBI single in the first inning, another thanks to a fifth inning RBI single, and then one more with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.
And that put Oregon up 3-0, which was certainly enough to get the win for the Ducks.
Looking ahead to the College Station Super Regional, Oregon will face off against a rather formidable foe in the Texas A&M Aggies. A&M has consistently been one of the more dominant teams around the country this season and they’ve got a ton of buy-in from their fans. That should be a tough challenge for Oregon.
But we’ll see how that plays out. For now, let’s enjoy the fact that the Oregon Ducks are one step closer to advancing to the College World Series.