PREVIEW: The Seattle University baseball team hits the road for the fourth consecutive weekend, this time traveling south for a four-game series against the Oregon Ducks. Last season, Oregon went through its first year of baseball since the 1981 season, posting a 14-42 record. Now SeattleU is ten games into its first season of intercollegiate baseball since the 1986 campaign. If all four games are played this weekend, the Redhawks will start the season with 13 of their first 14 games away from home. SeattleU will look for offensive improvement this weekend, but Oregon has a solid pitching staff, and the hitting of the Ducks has improved from last season. This is the second of four Pac-10 teams SeattleU will face this season. The Redhawks lost the first two games of the season to Washington State with another game against the Cougars scheduled, will face Washington three times this year, and has a two-game series at Oregon State scheduled for May.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS:
Friday, March 12 @ 5 p.m.: RHP Blaine Jones (0-1, 16.20 ERA) vs. LHP Tyler Anderson (2-1, 1.93 ERA)
Saturday, March 13 @ 12 p.m.: LHP Conor Spink (0-2, 8.56 ERA) vs. RHP Justin LaTempa (0-1, 1.69 ERA)
Saturday, March 13 @ Approx. 3 p.m.: RHP Brian Shannon (0-1, 11.70 ERA) vs. RHP Zack Thornton (2-0, 3.63 ERA)
Sunday, March 14 @ 1 p.m.: RHP Arlo Evasick (1-1, 7.04 ERA) vs. RHP Alex Keudell (3-0, 1.80 ERA)
WEATHER FORECAST (Courtesy of The Weather Channel and www.weather.com):
Friday, March 12: Showers, 45 degrees, Wind SSW 9 mph
Saturday, March 13: Showers, mid-50s, Wind SW 10 mph
Sunday, March 14: Mostly Cloudy, mid-50s, Wind ENE 4 mph
SCOUTING OREGON: The Ducks come into the weekend series with a 9-5 record after sweeping Fresno State in Fresno, Calif., last weekend. As a team, Oregon has a .279 batting average, a 2.67 earned run average, and a .964 fielding percentage. Current Pac-10 Player of the Week Eddie Rodriguez leads the team in batting average at .385, followed closely by K.C. Serna at .383, leading the squad with 23 hits, five doubles, and three stolen bases. Danny Pulfer is batting .364 with team highs in runs (13) and runs batted in (11). The four starting pitchers scheduled for Oregon have combined for a 7-2 record with a 2.29 earned run average and 60 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings of work. Drew Gagnier leads the team with two saves.
LIVE COVERAGE: Live stats, audio, and video for all four games of the series are scheduled to be available through Oregon's athletics website (www.goducks.com). Sunday's game will also be televised live by Comcast Sportsnet Northwest thanks to the Oregon Sports Network.
SCOUTING SEATTLEU: The Redhawks enter the weekend with a 2-8 record after losing three of four at Pacific last weekend. As a team, SeattleU has a .240 batting average, a 10.44 earned run average, and a .948 fielding percentage. Cullen Hendrickson is the team's leading hitter, batting .414 with 12 hits, six runs scored, two home runs, 10 runs batted in, a .655 slugging percentage, and a .485 on-base percentage. Josh Kalalau has been the other big hitter for the Redhawks with two home runs and nine runs batted in. Arlo Evasick is the only SeattleU starter to earn a victory this season, while Bryan Dalton has served as the late-inning reliever, picking up his first save last weekend against Pacific.
SCHEDULE ADDITION: Seattle University has added a game at the University of Washington, to take place Monday, March 29, beginning at 5 p.m. at Husky Ballpark. That will come less than a week after the crosstown rivals renew their baseball series Tuesday, March 23, at Bannerwood Park at 6 p.m.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: After being on the road for the first month of the season, Seattle University begins a six-game homestand with a four-game series against Cal State Northridge next Friday, March 19, at 6 p.m. at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue. The Matadors are 6-5 heading into a weekend series against Loyola Marymount and a midweek game against UNLV.