Ducks open Pac-12 series at Oregon State Friday

Series History vs. Oregon State

• Oregon State leads the all-time series 189-169, including a 38-25 edge in Corvallis.
• The Ducks have won seven of the last 12 after snapping a 10-game losing streak at the hands of the Beavers on April 9, 2019 in Corvallis.
• Oregon has won three of the last four games played in Corvallis, including two of three in a nonconference series last season.

 
RPI & National Statistical Rankings

• UO is No. 23 in the RPI heading into its series at Oregon State.
• The Ducks also rank among the national leaders in a number of statistical categories, including in the top 50 in 10 categories.
• Among those 10, the Ducks are seventh in double plays, 13th in hits, 16th in average, 32nd in runs, 40th in slugging percentage, 42nd in OBP and 46th in home runs.

 
Two Ducks Among 10 Finalists

• Oregon closer Kolby Somers and left fielder Tanner Smith are finalists for the 2022 Senior CLASS Award® for baseball.
• The honor is given to a Division I senior with notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
• Somers and Smith are two of 10 finalists with the award presented at the College World Series.

 
Well-rounded student-athletes recognized

• Three Oregon student-athletes were selected as candidates for the 2022 Senior CLASS AWARD®, with two of them named finalists on May 5.
• Third baseman Sam Novitske, left fielder Tanner Smith and closer Kolby Somers were among the 30 candidates.
• The 10 finalists include both Smith and Somers.
• and Somers both earned third-team All-America honors in 2021, while Novitske was a 2020 COSIDA first-team All-District 8 selection.
• All three have been involved with Oregon's partnership with Team IMPACT, while excelling in the classroom.
• To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

 
Record run of long balls ends

• Oregon put a string of impressive home run streaks together before having them snapped during the two-game midweek series with San Francisco.
• Oregon homered multiple times in eight consecutive games, the longest streak since the program returned.
• Before the season, Oregon hadn't hit multiple home runs in more than three consecutive games before going deep more than once four times earlier this year (from Feb. 21 to Feb. 26-- vs. USD, 3x vs. SJU).
• Oregon also hit at least one home run in 17 consecutive games before seeing the streak snapped in a 4-3 win over San Francisco on March 30.
• The longest streak for consecutive games with a home run coming into this season was six, set by the 2021 team on two occasions.
• The Ducks later homered in 11 straight games, which now ranks as the second-longest streak.
• Oregon has homered in 34 of its 40 games this season.

 
Ducks break school home run record

• Oregon has already set a new school record with 59 home runs (set vs. WSU on April 23).
• UO hit its 56th home run of the season at Portland on April 19 in game No. 36 of the season, matching the school record set last season during Oregon's 55-game campaign.
• Heading into the Oregon State series, UO is on pace to hit 75.1 HRs during its 56-game regular-season schedule.
• Oregon hit its first 56 home runs in 1,267 at-bats this season, while hitting 56 in 1,890 at-bats last season (623 fewer ABs).

 
Single Season Home Runs
Rank     Team           HR
1.           2022           59
2.           2021              56
3.           1974              48
4.           1973              46
5.           1965              43
 
Assault on other records in progress

• It is not just the home run record that Oregon is threatening offensively.
• With the team currently batting .309 (a mark that would set a new school record), Oregon is also approaching other records.
• Besides long balls and batting average, the Ducks have already cracked the top 10 in four other categories and should move into the top 10 in a number of others over the next few weeks.
• Oregon batters have already moved into the top 10 in RBI (4th), runs (4th), total bases (5th) and doubles (9th).
• Heading into the OSU series, Oregon needs four triples to crack the top 10.

 
Inning and game offensive records

• Oregon scored 12 runs in the top of the eighth inning at San Diego in a 21-11 (8-inning) win on Feb. 21.
• The 12 runs were the most ever scored by a Ducks' team with the 12 runs also setting a new record for most runs scored by both teams in an inning (old record of 11 both came when UO scored 11 in the sixth inning at WSU on 4/29/19).
• Oregon also set a school record for hits in an inning with 10, breaking the old record of eight set in the same game at WSU in 2019.
• The Ducks also tied school records for most doubles (3) in an inning and most extra-base hits (5) in an inning.
• The record-setting 12-run inning remained a record for exactly seven more innings before Oregon broke it again with a 13-run eighth inning in the series opener against St. John's on Feb. 25.
• The 44 combined runs scored by Oregon in the San Diego series finale and the St. John's series opener were the most ever scored by the Ducks in back-to-back games.

 
Among the best

• Oregon heads into the Oregon State series among the national leaders in a number of statistical categories.
• Oregon leads the Pac-12 in three major statistical categories, while ranking in the top two in eight others.
• The Ducks lead the league in batting average, home runs and slugging percentage at the plate, while also ranking second in the conference in hits, runs, runs per game, home runs per game and OBP.
• Oregon is also second in RBI in the Pac-12 and total bases (12 fewer than leader ARIZ in 3 less games played).

 
Smith named preseason All-America

• Coming off a season where he claimed Collegiate Baseball third-team All-America honors, JR OF Tanner Smith has been named preseason third-team All-America by both Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA.
• A junior from Newport Beach, Calif., Smith finished last season batting .324 with five home runs and 36 RBI while batting leadoff for the Ducks.
• He had a Pac-12 best 24 doubles, which set a new Oregon single-season record for two-baggers, while reaching base at a .417 clip and slugging .533.
• The Ducks' left fielder ranked third among all Pac-12 players with 33 extra-base hits.
• His 24 doubles ranked fifth nationally and his 0.44 doubles per game were the best in the Pac-12 and 12th overall in the country.
• He also tripled four times, which was good for second in the Pac-12 and 28th nationally.
• is batting .319 (61-for-191) with 10 doubles and nine home runs heading into the OSU series.
• All 15 of his extra-base hits this season have come in the last 33 games.

 
Smith sets Oregon career runs record

• In his fourth season, JR OF Tanner Smith has put together one of Oregon's baseball's marquee careers.
• The Ducks' left fielder set a new career runs scored record at Oregon in game one of the Washington series.
• With 143 career runs and counting, Smith broke the record shared by Gabe Matthews (2017-21) and Aaron Payne (2011-14) who both scored 135 runs during their careers.
• Besides runs, Smith ranks in the top 10 in a number of other career categories at Oregon.
• Against Portland, he set a new record for consecutive starts with 138 breaking the record Matthews set from 2017-2019 (streak is now 146).
• He is tied for second in multiple-hit games (58), third in hits (202), doubles (46), fourth in at-bats (665), sixth in RBI (101), walks (85) and starts (166), ninth in home runs, 10th in HBP (19) and 11th in multiple-RBI games (20) and triples (7).
• He will move into the career top 10 in both triples and multi-RBI games with one more of each.
• Defensively, Smith is second in the modern era in outfield assists with 11.

 
Cowley back after missing 21 games

• Oregon's hottest hitter the first three weeks of the season before suffering an injury, JR INF Drew Cowley returned to the lineup on April 19 at Portland after missing 21 games. 
• Playing both third base and second base, Cowley was off to a blistering start batting .467 (21-for-45) with the nation's 13th-best OBP (.571).
• He also ranked 16th nationally in batting average, and 35th in slugging percentage (.822).
• In addition to batting average and on-base percentage, he led the team in slugging percentage and base on balls (9), while ranking second in doubles (5).
• In nine games since his return, Cowley is 15-for-37 (.405) with three doubles, a triple, nine runs scored and three RBI.
• He has five multi-hit games since his return, including a four-hit game and a 3-hit game.

 
Hall on fire in Pac-12 games

• After a slow start to the season, SO RF Anthony Hall has shifted his game into another gear in Pac-12 conference games.
• Hitting in the six-hole, Hall is batting .346 (27-for-78) with seven home runs, four doubles, three triples, 23 RBI and 27 runs scored, while reaching base at a .435 clip and slugging .795 in league games. 
• In Pac-12 games, Hall leads the conference in home runs, triples, runs scored and slugging percentage while ranking third in total bases and 14th in OBP.
• He leads the Ducks in runs, triples, homers, RBI, slugging percentage and walks in league games.

 
Power coming from slew of Ducks

• While Oregon is hitting home runs at an unprecedented rate, it's not just a handful of players contributing with long balls.
• The Ducks have had 12 different players hit a homer, tied for the most ever for a modern era Ducks team.
• Ten Ducks have multiple homers, the most for a Ducks team since 2009.
• A school record six players have hit five-or-more dingers, with one more hitting four.

 
Turn two

• The old saying that a "pitcher's best friend is a double play", has been on display for Oregon this season.
• The Ducks head into the Oregon State series ranked seventh in double plays and eighth in double plays per game.
• After turning one double play in the Cal series, Oregon trails only Baylor (51), New Mexico (50), New Orleans (49), Arizona (47), UNC Ashville (45) and George Mason (44) for the most DPs in the nation.
• The Ducks are averaging 0.98 double plays per game, which is .02 behind Arizona and George Mason for sixth.
• UNC Ashville leads the country with 1.18 per game, while New Mexico (1.17) is second.
• Oregon's has turned 38 conventional double plays involving the infielders, pitcher or catcher while also having three double plays with a fly out and an outfield assist and two strike-him-out, throw-him out DPs.
• The most common double play has been the 6-4-3 (12 times), followed by 4-6-3 (7) and the 5-4-3 (7), then the 1-6-3 (3) and the 3-6-1 (2), the 6-3 (2) and the K2-4.

 
Making the plays

• In addition to ranking in the top 10 in double plays turned and double plays per game, Oregon ranks in the top 20 in the nation in fielding percentage.
• The Ducks boast a .978 fielding percentage, good for No. 20 in the nation.
• Oregon has committed just 35 errors in 1,619 chances with 1,176 putouts and 408 assists.
• The Ducks have been even better in Pac-12 games with a .979 fielding percentage.

 
Somers named to NCBWA midseason Stopper of the Year watch list

• The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has named Oregon closer Kolby Somers to its midseason Stopper of the Year watch list. 
• Somers, who claimed first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors and NCBWA All-America honors last season, has continued his stellar work as the Ducks' stopper for the second straight season.
• The lefty is 4-3 on the season and leads the Pac-12 Conference with eight saves.
• He has a 2.88 ERA in 20 appearances and has allowed just eight earned runs in 25.0 innings pitched with 29 strikeouts and 11 walks.
• He is holding opponents to a .235 batting average.

 
Somers named preseason All-America

• Coming off a season where he claimed NCBWA third-team All-America honors, SR LHP Kolby Somers has been named preseason third-team All-America by both Collegiate Baseball and D1Baseball.
• A senior from Hillsboro, Ore., Somers claimed first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors in addition to NCBWA All-America honors last season.
• He was dominant closing out games for the Ducks in 2021.
• The lefty finished the season with a 2-2 record and a 3.08 ERA with 11 saves.
• He fanned 37 in 26.1 innings pitched while holding opposing hitters to a .149 batting average.
• He ranked third in the Pac-12 in saves, as well as ranking sixth all-time in single-season saves at Oregon.
• His seven saves in conference games were the second most in the league, one behind the leader.

 
Somers leads Pac-12 in saves, moving up Oregon record books

• For the second straight season, SR LHP Kolby Somers is proving to be among the nation's elite closers.
• Heading into the OSU series, Somers is tied for the Pac-12 Conference lead in saves with eight, while ranking 28th in the country.
• He also ranks among Oregon's all-time leaders in career saves, moving into a tie for second with a save vs. Cal on April 29.
• The Ducks' lefty also ranks fourth all-time in appearances (81) and games finished (36).
• For the 2022 season, Somers has moved into a tie for eighth all-time with Kellen Moen (2011) on the single-season saves list.
• He needs to finish two more games to crack the top 10 for games finished.