Oregon baseball set to kick off crucial three-game series with Arizona
As the month of March comes to a close, the Pac-12 baseball standings are a bit of a logjam.
Arizona State (17-8, 5-1 Pac-12) has been the surprise of the season thus far and has raced out to an early lead in the conference. Close behind are No. 7-ranked Stanford (16-7, 7-2) and USC (14-9-1, 7-2).
Wedged in the middle is Oregon (15-7, 3-3), who will have a prime opportunity to gain ground in the conference this weekend when it travels to Tucson for a three-game series with Arizona (14-9, 3-6) in Tucson.
The series will kick off Friday at 6 p.m. PT and will air on the Arizona live stream.
After a shaky start to the year, the Ducks have found their footing in recent weeks and are in the midst of a six-game winning streak. Last weekend, they notched a four-game sweep of Northwestern State that featured an emphatic offensive showing.
The Ducks outscored the Demons 46-11 during the series and were led by senior outfielder Tanner Smith, who received national recognition after going 9-for-14 with 10 RBI, two doubles, and four homers.
“It was pretty fun to be a part of that,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “Tanner’s a great kid. Had a tremendous weekend. … He ended up breaking multiple records over the weekend. It’s so much fun for Tanner and the team.
“That’s one of the best weekends I can recall — of any hitter.”
The Ducks, who did not crack the top-25 of the latest D1Baseball poll but sit at No. 19 in the RPI, will look to keep their bats hot against an Arizona pitching staff that is stacked with talent.
The Wildcats are coming off an extra-inning 10-9 win over Grand Canyon on Tuesday.
“To be able to do that — tie the game and come back — I’m sure they have really positive energy,” Wasikowski said. of Arizona “Their games (last weekend) against Arizona State were extremely competitive. … They’ve got a good team. (Friday night starter TJ Nichols) has a tremendous arm. He’s been up to 99 miles per hour this year. There will be a ton of scouts watching him.”
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At the plate, the Wildcats boast an abundance of power atop the lineup. Mac Bringham, Nik McClaughry, Chase Davis, and Kiko Romero all produced stellar 2022 campaigns and have picked up where they left off in 2023.
Romero boasts the second-best slugging percentage in the conference at .777, and Davis isn’t far behind at .697.
A projected top-100 pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft, Davis has 10 homers and 27 RBIs on the year.
(Davis) is a guy that arguably is the best hitter in the league, or he’ll be one of them for sure,” Wasikowski said. “Very good power hitter and he’s hitting the ball all fields now. He hit two home runs (Tuesday). So the guy is going pretty good. They’ve got some depth in their lineup, too, with a bunch of older guys.
“So we just need to attack. First pitch strikes and the principles of pitching throughout the first three and having a competitive demeanor and all those kinds of things. I think those are going to be critical this week and then moving forward.”
Junior right-hander Jace Stoffall ( (2-2, 4.64) will get the Friday night nod against Nichols (3-2, 5.29) for Oregon.
Logan Mercado will start on Saturday for the Ducks, and Leo Uelmen will be the Sunday starter.
