Oregon 9, Oregon State 4: We Now Know Something Is Wrong

Oregon 9, Oregon State 4

The seven game losing streak may be over, but the issues aren't fixed.

And it wasn't just because this was a rivalry, against a team who has seemingly stolen all the momentum the Beavers have developed in the sport of baseball over the past several years.

The Beavers lost their eighth game in nine tries on Tuesday, and for most of it, it wasn't pretty. The final score doesn't look as bad as the majority of the game did. 

I won't go into the details of how the runs were scored in this one... I watched the game in a crowded restaurant over dinner, and I'm not going to go through the stats and pick out all of the minor details. But here are some of the miscues from tonight's game that I saw. If I missed any, chime in down below in the comments section.

- After a UO triple that scored a run, catcher Andrew Susac thought he had called time and trotted out to the mound. Apparently, he hadn't been acknowledged by the umpiring crew, and the runner scored easily from third.
- Two outfielders collided while going for a ball in the outfield, failing to make the catch. That's something you hardly ever see even in the high school game.
- Santos dropped a routine fly ball in center field. He attempted a sliding catch, but it looked like he made a poor jump on the ball. Still, that ball has to find the web of his glove, not the palm.
- Romero bobbled a hard hit ball at third base, everybody was safe
- On at least one occasion, Oregon layed down a bunt without the Beavers even getting an out.
- A balk in the late innings that scored a run (both Casey and Tyler Waldron were upset, perhaps it was a poor call.)

The brunt of the defensive/mental errors came near the fourth inning, when the Ducks were able to score five runs, most of them easily preventable.

It's puzzling to me how this team could win 16 of it's first 19, against legitimate competition, and then struggle so mightily in Pac-10 play.

The Beavers did get the tying run into the on-deck circle in the top of the ninth anything, but I had seen everything I needed to up to that point. The Beavers are struggling defensively, mentally, the offense can't produce runs like it used to, and the pitching has been spotty.

Is this just a slump? A really bad slump? Or is it something greater?

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)