This weekend’s Civil War baseball matchup in Corvallis will be either the Ducks’ chance to win a conference title, or the Beavers’ chance to spoil the Ducks’ great regular season run. Last season, it was the Ducks who spoiled the Beavers chance at a conference title by sweeping them in the last series of the season. With the Ducks atop the Pac-12 with a 19-8 record, they still only remain one game ahead of Arizona, and the Beavers see a perfect opportunity for revenge. The Ducks still control their own destiny and need to take at least two of three from the Beavers to guarantee at least a share of the conference title. That being said, I believe the 2012 Ducks still look good for a Pac-12 title run.
The Ducks cruised past the Seattle Redhawks last weekend with a three game sweep and finished up non-conference play with a victory over the Portland Pilots on Wednesday. Starting pitcher Jordan Spencer gave up only one run in six innings for the Ducks and outdueled Portland’s Kyle Kraus to give Oregon a 2-1 victory .With only a three game series against rival Oregon State left in the regular season, the Oregon Ducks (42-14) are now a weekend away from a Pac-12 baseball title. They’ve been good all season and great as of lately.
The Ducks, managed by George Horton, are ranked fifth in the nation for a reason. Besides being in first place in one of the three strongest conferences in college baseball (SEC and ACC are the others), they boast a 15-4 record in one run games compared to 5-12 last year, as well as 13-4 record against ranked opponents. The Ducks have an incredible pitching staff with a very low team ERA of 2.93 and oh yeah, did I mention they’ve won nine games in a row, and fifteen out of sixteen? The OSU Beavers that stand in their way are no slouches themselves; they’re ranked 23rd nationally with a record of 35-18 (15-12 in Pac-12). However they haven’t had quite as impressive of a season or team. They didn’t set a new school record for wins like the Ducks did, at 42 currently.
That all said, I’m really pulling for the Ducks this weekend to get that Pac-12 title. I usually root for the underdogs, and the Beavers are going to do their best the ruin their rival’s great season, but I don’t see it happening and I don’t want it to. Having the Ducks fall short of a conference title or getting knocked out of the postseason early would be terrible. Besides being extremely disheartening, it would be way too reminiscent of the 2001 Seattle Mariners choking against the Yankees in the ALCS. This Ducks team seems very determined and maybe even destined to bring some glory back to Pacific Northwest sports, more so than the Beavers. I know it’s not a BCS title or a MLB World Series trophy, but fans of Northwest sports fans will definitely embrace it. There are high hopes for a deep run by the Ducks in the postseason this June.
Looking forward to postseason play with a double elimination format, the Ducks are looking good going into the playoffs. They haven’t lost consecutive games to ranked teams all season. This weekend is going to be big for Ducks baseball, but this June should be even bigger for the program. There are high hopes in Eugene and around the Northwest for this ball club. An amazing playoff run through a gauntlet of Pac-12 rivals and SEC and ACC teams is needed to fulfill those hopes. Oregon could be College World Series champions pretty soon, wouldn’t that be something? The sky is the limit for the Ducks and I look forward to writing more about their successes as the weeks go by. We’ll see you in late June, on ESPN2.
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