Oregon @ Belmont (Ducks win series 1-0)

[UOducksTK1]

Game 1: W 13-4

[Coastal Duck]

Ducks go from balmy weather to frigid - hitters won't get the pop they had become accustomed to.

We will find out if the last two games' offensive output is going to continue against Friday and Saturday pitching vs Vandy's aces or are we going to hit only against Sunday-type pitching.

[paduck]

Ducks go from balmy weather to frigid - hitters won't get the pop they had become accustomed to.

We will find out if the last two games' offensive output is going to continue against Friday and Saturday pitching vs Vandy's aces or are we going to hit only against Sunday-type pitching.

Frigid weather? Weather.com calls for a high of 72 in Nashville, TN on Thursday, and in the 50s through the weekend. It's not Hawaii, but I think baseball players coming from Oregon should do okay and square a few up (let's hope).

[duckfan96]

Yeah heard today 74 for a high on Thursday and 50s-60s this weekend.

[oregontrack]

an interesting game. belmont had their best season in school history in 2011, winning 38 games, the atlantic sun championship, and two games in their regional (oklahoma state, troy) before falling to vanderbilt just shy of the super regionals.

last week they beat evansville 2-0, lost to kansas 2-0, and beat st. louis 5-4. two things pop out fairly quickly: they pitched very well, and they didn't really get much going at the plate. in their first three games they have a staff era of 1.33; they have a team batting average of .165. conversely, we have a 3.08 staff era, and a .335 team batting average. we didn't dominate hawaii in the pitching department quite like belmont dominated their opponents, but we sure hit the rainbows better than belmont hit last weekend.

i honestly don't know how this weekend is going to work, pitching wise. belmont is playing four games, like us, but we're the biggest name coming through this little tournament of theirs (they're also playing arkansas little rock twice, and bradley). since they aren't playing a traditional weekend series, like us, we might very well get their ace on thursday. in fact, i would expect it. and i'm not sure who we're going to throw. i can't think of a time in the last three years where we played a team the day before starting a 3-game series with another club, so there's really no precedent to see what horton likes to do. do we just pitch keudell thursday, reed friday, tessar saturday, and gold sunday? i would think not, as vandy will be throwing their ace on friday, #2 saturday, etc. etc., and the pitching just wouldn't match up. and the vandy series means a LOT more than one game at belmont. so who do we pitch? gold is our #4 starter/midweek guy, but he just pitched monday, and likely isn't ready. do we throw healy? a little-used freshman? our staff is severely limited with all the injuries, not as many options as one would like.

we could throw jimmy sherfy. he'd be rested, and he was obviously awesome last saturday. horton used to start mcgough sometimes on 4-game series. but we also had a deeper bullpen back then. not sure we can afford to lose sherfy's arm from the 'pen.

anyway, i expect a low scoring game. love to be wrong and see a big oregon win, but belmont's pretty good.

[cordy02c]

according to goducks.com frosh Jordan Spencer will start

[oregontrack]

... yikes. we are REALLY short on available arms.

[UOducksTK1]

I feel like this one is going to get ugly... don't forget potential jet lag from hawaii to tenn.

[cordy02c]

ducks have 2 on 1 out in 1st with healy up

[oregontrack]

3-0 ducks, top 1.

early runs rule!

[cordy02c]

Alto scores on a wild pitch and then healy hits a rbi single 2-0 ducks top of 1

[oregontrack]

alto scored from 3B on a wild pitch, payne scored from 3B on a healy single to center, and healy came around from 1B the next at bat on a shaun chase double that bounced off the wall.

that's the third ball chase has bounced off a wall in the last three games. get this kid in a weight room and he could be a big HR threat for us going forward. he's already got one.

[oregontrack]

3-1, going to the 2nd.

spencer is pretty wild. couple erratic throws have moved people up a base, and a wild pitch allows a runner to score from 3B.

[oregontrack]

top 2. heineman strikes out, but hoffman singles and alto drives a double to left. two in scoring position, 1 gone.

alto is on fire.

[oregontrack]

4-1. hoffman scores on a sac fly by payne. alto at 2B, jones up.