Baseball Weekly Release: Portland & Long Beach State

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    Oregon (7-1) returns to PK Park for eight consecutive home games after returning from an eight-game road trip that took the Ducks from Honolulu to Nashville, Tenn.
    The Ducks host their home opener at 6 p.m., Tuesday with Portland (5-0) visiting to play the first game of a three-game season series in 2012.
    Oregon will then host Long Beach State (4-3) for a three-game series beginning on Friday. It will be the Dirtbags first trip to PK Park.

RANKINGS
    After beginning the season unranked, the Ducks have jumped into the polls at No. 18 (Baseball America) after sweeping 17th-ranked Vanderbilt at Hawkins Field.

PROMOTIONS
    Tuesday's home opener is a BI-Mart $2 Tuesday as Oregon hosts Portland at 6 p.m. at PK Park. The 2012 Oregon baseball poster will also be given away at the gate.
    To obtain your $2 ticket, bring your BI-Mart card to the ticket window on Tuesday, or pick up at $2 coupon at your local Eugene/Springfield BI-Mart location

KRAUSE & KIRSCH DAY - 6 PM Saturday
    The University of Oregon will honor former baseball coaches Mel Krause and Don Kirsch at PK Park prior to Saturday's 6 p.m. first pitch against Long Beach State.
    Prior to the game, life-size busts of both Krause and Kirsch will be unveiled on the concourse of PK Park, and theirs sons, Guy Krause and Paul Kirsch, are scheduled to throw out first pitches before the game.

LAST WEEK RECAP
    On a seven-game win streak, the No. 18 Ducks return to PK Park on Tuesday for their 6 p.m. home opener vs. Portland. Oregon's seven-game road win streak is its longest road winning streak for the Ducks since prior to 1963 (the first season game-by-game results are available).
    Last weekend Oregon swept No. 17 Vanderbilt on the road in Nashville – it was Oregon's first sweep of a ranked team on the road since the program was reinstated in 2009
    The Ducks are batting .297 as a team, and have totaled 61 runs, 51 RBIs, 19 doubles, two triples and six home runs.
    Currently six everyday starters are batting over .300: Kyle Garlick (.318), Ryon Healy (.323), J.J. Altobelli (.324), Brett Thomas (.333), Aaron Jones (.343) and Scott Heineman (.478).
    Freshman Jake Reed has two quality starts and is 1-0 on the year with a 2.25 ERA, while sophomore right-hander Brando Tessar is 2-0.
    Sophomore right-hander Jimmie Sherfy leads the relievers with two saves – both picked up in the Vanderbilt series, tossing a total of four and 2/3 innings, and allowing one run on one hit and five walks while striking out six.

PORTLAND GAME NOTES
    Portland enters Tuesday's game with an undefeated record of 5-0. The Pilots recently defeated Creighton, 3-2 and 5-3, last weekend and opened the year with a pair of wins over Stephen F. Austin.
    Oregon leads the all-time series against Portland 84-33, and in 2011 the Ducks took the season series, 3-2, for the first time since the program was reinstated.
    Portland will throw right-hander Chris Johnson on Tuesday, while the Ducks will put sophomore right-hander Jeff Gold on the hill.
    Last year in a start against the Pilots on April 19, Gold led the Ducks to a 14-3 win at PK Park, tossing five innings and allowing three runs on six hits while striking out six.

2012 SCHEDULE
    Oregon's 2012 schedule is ranked the third strongest in the country according boydsworld.com. In fact, eight teams from the Pac-12 rank in the Boyd's World Strength of Schedule top-10: Stanford (1), USC (2), Oregon (3), UCLA (4), California (6), Washington State (7), Arizona State (8), and Washington (9).
    Currently five of Oregon's 2012 opponents are ranked in the Baseball America Preseason College Top 25 poll. In addition, 13 opponents on Oregon's schedule reached the postseason a year ago.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Perfect Game
Preseason All-Conference Team
UT        So.     Ryon Healy    .320, 4HR

Top 50 Draft Prospects
28.     Jr.    LHP    Christian Jones
        (missing 2012 season with injury)
40.    So.    1B/RHP    Ryon Healy
47.    So.    RHP    Jimmie Sherfy
50.    So.    C/OF    Aaron Jones

Top 100 College Seniors
46.    Sr.    RHP    Alex Keudell
98.    RS-Jr.    RHP    Joey Housey

BASEBALL AMERICA
Top 50 Freshmen
23.    Fr.    RHP    Jake Reed
26.    Fr.    OF    Billy Flamion

HEALTH REPORT
    The Ducks' starting rotation took a hit in the preseason as Oregon went from returning two starters from last year's rotation to only one - senior Alex Keudell.
    Junior left-hander Christian Jones (7-2, 3.24) will miss the 2012 season with an injury.

FRESHMAN CLASS RANKING
    Once again a highly-touted recruiting class has joined the Oregon baseball program as the 2011 class received a No. 9 ranking from Baseball America's annual recruiting evaluations.
    For the second year in a row, head coach George Horton brought in a top-10 class, and for the fourth consecutive year, Oregon has recruited a top-25 class.

A NEW LOOK
    Oregon enters the 2012 season with 17 newcomers on the roster.
    From the 2011 squad, the Ducks lost three position starters with shortstop KC Serna, second baseman Danny Pulfer and catcher Jack Marder all departing Eugene after being selected in the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
    On the mound, Oregon has taken its biggest hit. The Ducks lost 322 and 1/3 innings of pitching, 15 wins and all 17 saves as Tyler Anderson, Madison Boer, Scott McGough and Kellen Moen were lost to the 2011 MLB Draft. Freshman Porter Clayton (0-1, 1 SV) is also missing from the 2012 roster after choosing to depart on a two-year mission.

VANDERBILT SERIES RECAP
        Last weekend, Oregon swept a series against a ranked opponent on the road for the first time since the program was reinstated.
    The Ducks took three games from 17th-ranked Vanderbilt, outscoring the Commodores 18-10. Oregon's pitching staff was magnificent in the series, maintaining a 2.33 ERA.
    Freshman Scott Heineman led the Ducks at the plate batting .400 and driving in four runs, including a solo home run in Sunday's finale. Sophomore Aaron Jones drove in a team-best five runs, including a two-run double in the sixth on Sunday that scored the game-winner.

MORE NOTES
• Last week, UO recorded three consecutive wins with double-digit runs for the first time since April 22-24, 1974.
• Oregon's seven-game road win streak is its longest since prior to 1963 (the first season game-by-game results are available).
• The Ducks No. 18 ranking is its first since entering the week of Feb. 28, 2011 ranked No. 15.

PITCHING
    The only returner from Oregon's 2011 starting rotation is senior Alex Keudell.
     Keudell was drafted in the 38th round by the Minnesota Twins in the 2011 MLB Draft, but chose to return to Eugene for his senior campaign.
    Keudell (1-1), earned his first win of the season after scattering five hits over seven innings, allowing two runs, walking two and striking out three in UO's series-opening 4-2 win over 17th-ranked Vanderbilt last Friday.
    In three seasons with the Ducks, Keudell posts a 13-16 record with a 3.71 ERA.
    Keudell's junior campaign was his first season as a full-time starter, posting a 7-3 record and 2.89 ERA while striking out 71 and walking just 24 in 90 and 1/3 innings on the mound.

ROOKIE BALL
    Freshman right-hander Jake Reed recorded his second consecutive quality start and earned his first collegiate win in Oregon's 7-2 win over No. 17 Vanderbilt on Saturday.
    The La Mesa, Calif., shrugged of a shaky first inning to toss six innings of three-hit, two-run ball. He walked three – none after the second inning – and struck out five.
    Reed was selected in the 40th round (1,221 overall) of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. he was named to the Max Preps California All-State Second Team, Cal-Hi Sports Third Team, the San Diego Section First Team and the Grossmont Hills League First Team after finishing his senior season with a 9-1 record, 0.63 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched.

SOPHOMORE SHOW
    Oregon's trio of sophomore pitchers - Jeff Gold, Brando Tessar and Jimmie Sherfy - are each playing significant roles in Oregon's rotation.
    Gold will get the start in Tuesday's home opener vs. Portland, while Tessar is the only UO pitcher with two wins in 2012. In Sunday's series finale at Vanderbilt, Tessar tossed five innings and allowed five runs – two earned – on seven hits and four walks while striking out four.
    Sherfy picked up saves in the Vanderbilt series opener and finale, tossing a total of four and 2/3 innings, and surrendering one run on one hit while issuing six free bases and striking out six.

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
    Freshman Scott Heineman enters this week on a seven-game hitting streak to lead the Ducks, batting .478 on the season with five RBIs.
    The Ducks are batting .296 as a team, as Aaron Jones (.343), Brett Thomas (.333), J.J. Altobelli (.324), Ryon Healy (.323), and Kyle Garlick are each hitting above .300.
    Healy leads Oregon with 10 RBIs, followed by Jones (7) and freshman Shaun Chase (7).

THE NEW DUO
    Junior J.J. Altobelli made the move from third base to shortstop this season, and his infield mate is sophomore Aaron Payne.
    In the last eight games, the Duck defense has turned 11 double plays, and posts a .972 fielding percentage.
    Altobelli currently leads Oregon with five doubles, while Payne is a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts.

IN THE OUTFIELD
    Sophomores Kyle Garlick and Brett Thomas both spent time last week patrolling the Oregon outfield along with Aaron Jones and Andrew Mendenhall.
    Garlick is a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases, and is batting .318 this year, while Thomas is batting .333 and in Friday's series opener drove in the game-winning run with a single in the sixth.
    Jones, who led Oregon with seven outfield assists in 2011, earned his first of 2012 in Friday's series opener at Vanderbilt. Jones also has been responsible for driving in the game-winning run twice in 2012.

2011 SEASON RECAP
    Oregon finished the 2011 season with a 33-26-1 record and an eighth place finish in the Pac-10 with a mark of 11-16.
    The Ducks clinched three conference series victories with wins over two Super Regional participants; Stanford and Oregon State as well as regional participant, Arizona.