Beaver Baseball: Bring on the Ducks

The Beavers have lost any margin for error in the Pac-12 title race, but still have a clear path to claim the title. OSU plays two teams above them in the title race over the last 4 weekends as well as two teams at the bottom of the Pac-12. The stretch finishes with a series at Pac-12 leaders Arizona. The Beavs need to keep the Wildcat’s lead within 3 games going into that series, and that begins with taking the last conference series the Beavers will play against the University of Oregon. Last year the Beavers turned the season around in dramatic fashion against the Ducks, coming back from behind to win the Saturday game before taking the series on Sunday. A similar performance (although preferably more decisive) can get the Beavs their mojo back.

Mark Wasikowski is in his 5th year as the Oregon head coach. He made the jump from Purdue in 2020 and has put the Ducks in the postseason for three straight years. 2024 was considered to be a rebuilding year for UO, with most of the lineup headed out the door. They have exceeded expectations, winning games against Oklahoma and Baylor to start the non-conference schedule and winning their first five Pac-12 series until tripping up on the road against Stanford last weekend. The Ducks follow a similar model to the Beavers with a strong lineup, solid starting pitching, and some questionable bullpen performances. OSU is a level above in offensive performance, they key this weekend is to be better in the other two phases as well.

It will be an appropriately wet weekend for an Oregon-Oregon State rivalry series with chances of rain surrounding all four games. The Pac-12 network will carry the set, with Pac-12 Network Oregon catching the conference weekend series, and the main feed running the non-conference Monday game in Eugene.

• Friday - April 26th @ 6:05 PM PT
• Saturday - April 27th @ 6:05 PM PT
• Sunday - April 28th @ 2:05 PM PT
• Tuesday - April 30th @ 6:05 PM PT (Non-conference game @ Eugene)

Offense

Jacob Walsh is the only impact bat that returns from last year’s Duck team, and he has more than stepped up. The first baseman is hitting .313/.415/.714 with 16 home runs and trails only Travis Bazzana in Pac-12 OPS. His walk and strikeout numbers are not remarkable (14% BB, 24% K), but he can absolutely mash as evidenced by a .401 ISO. The Beavers don’t let many top-rated in state recruits get away, but Maddox Malony is one of them. The Springfield native has ties to the Ducks (his grandfather played there) and has been on an absolute tear since becoming a regular starter at the end of March. Maloney went 9-for-12 in the last three games of Oregon’s series against Seattle and has multi-hit games in 5 of his 14 games since then.

The Beaver with the highest OPS over the last 14 days is not Bazzana (who has 10 walks in 8 games over that stretch) but Dallas Macias. Macias has played centerfield the last couple games as Brady Kasper has settled into his regular right field role and Micah McDowell has missed the last two games. The Colorado native has 4 home runs and 2 doubles over his last 9 games and has become a middle-of-the-order presence against both right- and left-handed pitching.

Advantage: Oregon State

Starting Pitching

The Ducks’ rotation has stayed consistent throughout the year. RJ Gordon is back after missing last year due to injury and has held down the Friday role. He had his worst start of the season last week, giving up 9 runs to Stanford in 5 innings to take the series-opening loss. Grayson Grinsell was a bullpen arm last year that has moved into the rotation in 2024. The sophomore has only allowed 28 hits in 46.2 innings this year and leads the team in strikeouts. He also leads the team in walks (29) and hit batters (11). Kevin Seitter is a grad transfer from Quinnipiac who has been a reliable Sunday starter for Oregon throughout the year. Similar to Gordon, his worst start of the year came last week against Stanford when he could only muster 4 innings and allowed 6 runs.

It was a rough week last weekend for Aiden May, but overall, the Beavers have to be happy with their starting pitching is at this point in the year. Jacob Kmatz is pitching as well as he has in his career and Eric Segura has bounced back from a tough stretch in conference play. The Beavs should be even or have the advantage on the mound in each of the three games in this series, with the best matchup being the Kmatz-Grinsell faceoff on Saturday.

Advantage: Oregon State

Bullpen

Two relievers pick up the bulk of the work for Oregon out of the bullpen. Lefty Bradley Mullan has thrown 25.1 innings to the tune of a 1.42 ERA. The Gonzaga transfer sits in the low 90s and is striking out over a batter an inning. Former starter Logan Mercado has pitched out of the bullpen so far in 2024 and while his ERA doesn't sparkle quite so much as Mullan’s, the strikeout numbers are better (10.3 K/9 vs 9.6 for Mullan), and he is better at limiting walks.

Oregon State pitched a clean mid-week game against Portland to steady some of the bullpen nerves. We don't talk about him much on weekend previews, but Tuesday was Jaren Hunter’s best start of the year. He is starting to round into the 4th starter the Beavs will need if things get dicey in a regional, and it takes the pressure off the bullpen (only two relievers were needed to close out the Portland game). Two relievers to keep an eye on this week are Bridger Holmes and AJ Hutcheson. Both are arms OSU relies on that are coming off of three straight rough appearances. Both have been successful earlier in the year (Holmes to the point that he has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watchlist) and the Beavers need them back in form to succeed down the stretch.

Advantage: Push