NCAA baseball rankings are, for the most part, meaningless. Oregon’s rankings earlier in the week is a case in point:
The more meaningful ranking heading into this weekend’s series with the UCLA Bruins was RPI. UCLA’s RPI is the same as their national ranking – #1. Ducks baseball? Well, their RPI is 27.
That’s why Oregon’s run-rule drubbing at the hands (and bats)
of UCLA should not have come as a surprise.
All facets of Oregon’s play last night fell short of what was needed to compete against the #1 team in the country. Pitching, fielding, batting; all failed to rise to the occasion, and the Ducks lost Game 1 in seven innings, 11-1.
UCLA starter Wylan Moss pitched strong in the complete-game win. Oregon could only muster three hits and their only run came in the fourth inning, when Drew Smith hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the Ducks’ sole run of the game.
Meanwhile, Will Sanford suffered his worst outing of the season, pitching three innings and allowing 6 runs on 5 hits with an ERA of 4.68. The relief pitching was not going to save the day, as Jonah Barkoff allowed two runs and Leo Uelmen was tagged for the other three runs.
Defensive errors in the third and fourth innings contributed to the six runs that the Bruins scored in those innings.
Oregon baseball will go at it again today in Game 2. If they want to come away with a win, they’ll have to fire on all cylinders – not misfire on all cylinders. That game is tonight at 6:30 pm PT and can be viewed on the Big Ten Network.
