The 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament is getting underway this weekend and one of the most exciting times of college baseball is nearly upon us. Following a 37-18 regular season and a 0-2 record in the Pac-12 Tournament, the Oregon Ducks were given a No. 3 seed in their regional of the NCAA Tourney, where they’ll face off against No. 2 San Diego. Earlier in the week, Ducks head coach Mark Wasikowski had a feeling his team’s body of work was good enough to get in.
Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski knew his team was in
“When you leave anything in the hands of the committee and you don’t win an automatic bid. Then you leave it up for grabs. Did feel strong with the body of work we had. The number of conference wins that we had. The number of conference weekends that we won or just overall in the entire season. A 14-week regular season when we lost two conference or two weekends at all. And so, you know, that body of work, yeah, pretty good. And I think that was what merited us getting in there,” Wasikowski explained.
“And obviously, just being one game out of first place. You know, we win one more game in the Pac-12, we win first place. And so, it didn’t happen. We’re happy to be in the tournament. And now it’s an 0-and-0 like everybody else and there’s 64 great teams in there,” Wasikowski finished.
The Ducks feature some impressive power in their lineup, with four players with double-digit home runs this year: Jacob Walsh (17), Mason Neville (16), Maddox Moloney (10), and Bryce Boettcher (11). On the mound, they’re led by Grayson Grinsell, who’s posted a 6-2 overall record with 88 strikeouts this year. RJ Gordon is another pitcher for Oregon who has a 7-5 overall record with 80 strikeouts this season.
The University of San Diego will face off against Oregon at noon on Friday. The game will be televised on ESPNU. The No. 2 seeded Toreros (40-13 overall, 20-4 in WCC), clinched the West Coast Conference’s automatic bid.
Also in the regional are top-seeded host UCSB and No. 4 seed Fresno State. The regional winner will be determined on Sunday, with one more game set for Monday if necessary. All of the games will be played at UC Santa Barbara’s Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
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