Ducks’ bullpen struggling
On a cold, wet Saturday afternoon at PK Park in Eugene, on March 26, as I sat through 17 innings of amazing baseball, I could see why so many had been enamored with the possibilities for this talented Oregon Ducks team and its chances for success. This was the third of a four-game weekend series against the visiting Wichita State Shockers.
It was also the last series before the beginning of Pac-10 Conference play, the last series of a frustrating preseason of squandered opportunities for the Oregon baseball team.
This game would go on to become yet another one-run loss for the Ducks. At 14-9 after that weekend, Oregon had fallen a long way from its promising preseason hopes. The 17-inning loss to the Shockers was the sixth one-run loss of the season — two thirds of the Ducks’ losses coming by that slimmest of margins. This game was in startling contrast to the Ducks’ previous five one-run losses, however, in that it featured excellent relief pitching from the Oregon bullpen.
An examination of Oregon’s previous five one-run losses reveals the difficulty the bullpen has had in pressure situations this season.
Oregon lost a heartbreaker to Hawaii in the season opener in Honolulu on February 18. Oregon starter Tyler Anderson gave up four hits and one run in six innings as the Rainbow Warriors managed a meager .235 batting average against him. Following his quality start, Anderson left the game with a two-run lead, only to watch the Oregon bullpen surrender three runs in the eighth inning to lose the game. Oregon relievers pitched only two innings, surrendering a .400 batting average against. It took three Oregon relievers to collect only six outs; Anderson collected 18 on his own.
This same disturbing trend took place following another quality start from Anderson against St. Mary’s, a 3-2 loss on February 25. Anderson was lights out over 7 1/3 innings, surrendering only two runs on three hits while striking out 12, only to see the bullpen, in less than two innings, give up consecutive walks and a wild pitch to plate two St. Mary’s runners and lose the game.
In a 7-6 extra-innings loss to Long Beach State on March 5, we saw more of the same. Oregon’s Madison Boer started the game and threw eight excellent innings, surrendering only three hits and one run. Boer left the game with a 5-1 lead, and the Ducks made it 6-1 in the top of the ninth. Oregon relievers then surrendered that lead, allowing five runs in the bottom of the inning. After three extra innings the bullpen had thrown three wild pitches, hit a batter and surrendered six runs, suffering the loss in 12 innings.
In an 11-10 loss at Hawaii, on February 19, after less-than-stellar starting pitching from Oregon’s Christian Jones, the Ducks’ bullpen failed to hold a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, giving up two runs and losing the game. Oregon relievers surrendered four runs on six hits, one walk, four wild pitches and hit one batter in that game.
In a 6-5 loss to Wichita State on March 25, the night before that 17-inning extravaganza, the Ducks entered the ninth inning in a 4-4 tie with the Shockers. The Ducks’ bullpen surrendered two runs to lose the game.
Of course, the Oregon offense has not produced consistently, sporting a team batting average of only .235 heading into Pac-10 play, which the Ducks opened in Tempe, Arizona, on April 1 with a three-game sweep at the hands of Arizona State. In fact, in two of Oregon’s six one-run losses this season — one to St. Mary’s and one to Hawaii — the offense scored only two and three runs, respectively. The Ducks had averaged nearly five runs per game to that point, and in the other four one-run losses, Oregon scored 10, six, five and six runs — plenty of offense with which to win ballgames.
In Arizona State’s three-game series sweep of Oregon, the Ducks’ relievers showed signs of improvement, giving up only three runs in eight innings pitched during the series. In all three games, however, there was no lead to protect.
The bullpen will simply have to perform better, otherwise the Ducks will be fodder for an extremely tough Pac-10 conference and a schedule that features five more nationally ranked conference opponents in California, Stanford, Arizona, UCLA and Oregon State.
Next up for Oregon is a three-game home series against Washington that begins on Friday, April 8 at 6 p.m.
