Oregon baseball sweeps Lafayette Jeffery Heard, Carter Garate continue hot starts
Building off a 2-1 weekend at the Shriners College Showdown in Texas, Oregon baseball swept its home-opening series against Lafayette at PK Park this weekend.
The Ducks (6-1) won their Friday opener in dominant fashion, 17-3, led by a solid performance on the mound from starter RJ Gordon and relievers Collin Clarke, Ian Umlandt and Cole Stokes, allowing a combined three runs with eight strikeouts and four walks. At the plate, the Ducks were electric, scoring 17 runs on 14 hits with three home runs by Drew Smith, Ryan Cooney and Jacob Walsh.
Oregon then clinched the series win with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, winning the first game 15-4, before a much-tighter 7-4 win later that night. In the first game, the Ducks peppered 13 hits for 15 runs, with Justin Cassella going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, five RBIs, and two home runs. In the second game Saturday, Oregon got off to a hot start, leading 4-0, before allowing three unanswered runs through the sixth. A three-run seventh inning helped seal it late, along with Jeffery Heard's 3-for-4 day with two RBIs.
On Sunday the Ducks clinched the sweep with a 12-2 win, headlined by a strong performance on the mound from starter Kevin Seitter. The Quinnipiac transfer went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits with 11 strikeouts. Brock Moore, Jaxon Jordan and Turner Spoljaric came out of the pen and struck out five more while the offense got back on track with 13 hits. Heard again had a multi-hit day, going 2for-4, and Bryce Boettcher and Cooney hit home runs.
Originally toward the back half of the Ducks' lineup, Heard, a Sacramento State transfer, and infielder Carter Garate have slowly crept up the order and have continued to produce after a strong opening weekend.
Heard is hitting .500 in the early season with 14 total hits and six of those hits being doubles. His eight RBIs are good for second on the team and he's slugging .893 in seven starts. The transfer has moved up to the cleanup spot after starting the year in the sixhole.
Garate, meanwhile, was batting ninth through the first six games of the season but moved up to sixth on Sunday and has stayed hot. He's hitting .478 on the year with a team-high 11 runs while being a mainstay in the infield.
“You never really know what the finished product is going to look like,” Heard said after Sunday's win. “But this weekend showed we have the potential to do a lot of damage.”
Freshman Ryan Cooney settles in
After an up-and-down opening weekend in Texas, true freshman Cooney caught fire against the Leopards this weekend, improving his batting average to .263 and hitting two home runs, including his first career bomb on Friday.
The Portland-native has started five games at second base and made his first career start at shortstop on Sunday with no errors.
“It was a mature approach from him,” Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski said. “You don't see many freshmen go out there and handle shortstop as well as he did.”
Cooney went 4-for-10 over the weekend with four runs scored, three RBIs, and a pair of home runs in his first action as a Duck at PK Park.
He said Sunday he was much more comfortable after beginning his collegiate career at a big league ballpark last week at Globe Life Field.
“Big stadium, bright lights, it was a lot of fun for me, but being here with the fans around me, I was a lot more comfortable,” Cooney said. “I just hope I can get the opportunity to keep doing what I'm doing.”
RJ Gordon, Kevin Seitter steady in long outings
Gordon opened the weekend with a
strong performance on the bump, lasting six innings with just one run allowed on three hits with four strikeouts, and Seitter finished the weekend strong with a six-inning outing with 11 strikeouts and two earned runs.
Wasikowski said both improved from their performances last week in Texas and settled in nicely over the weekend thanks to new pitching coach Blake Hawksworth.
“He’s a perfectionist,” Wasikowski said of Hawksworth. “He demands an excellent effort in everything that you do with your details.”
The long outings from Gordon and Seitter also helped them both dramatically improve their ERA, with Gordon checking in at 2.61 and Seitter at 4.50 through two starts and roughly 10 innings.
In Saturday’s games, freshman Toby Twist started his first game and pitched four innings, allowing two runs on two hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Grayson Grinsell started the other game and also pitched four innings, striking out 10 and allowing one earned run on one hit and two walks.
What’s next for the Ducks
The Ducks return to action next weekend at PK Park against Santa Barbara for a three-game series beginning Friday. The series was originally scheduled to be played in Southern California, but weather forced it to get moved to Eugene.