The Oregon Ducks baseball team represents the University of Oregon in NCAA Division I college baseball in the Pac-12 Conference. The head coach is George Horton and home games are played on campus at PK Park.
Video Oregon Ducks baseball
History
Oregon played its first baseball game in 1877 and established the program in 1885.
The UO team made one College World Series appearance, in 1954, and was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Arizona and Massachusetts. A decade later in 1964, in the re-organized Athletic Association of Western Universities, Oregon was once again North Division champions, but lost at defending national champion USC in the district finals (today's super-regionals).
After the 1981 season, baseball and three other varsity sports at Oregon were dropped by the university (men's gymnastics, women's golf, and women's soccer) due to a budget crisis, and baseball became a club sport in March 1983.
In July 2007, the university announced that it would again field a varsity baseball team, beginning with the 2009 season. In-state rival Oregon State had secured their second consecutive College World Series title a month earlier.
In the Ducks' first game in PK Park, they defeated the defending national champions, the Fresno State Bulldogs, 1-0 on a walk-off single by senior Andrew Schmidt. A sellout crowd of 2,777 was on hand for the game.
Maps Oregon Ducks baseball
Stadium
The Ducks previously played baseball at Howe Field (44.041°N 123.074°W / 44.041; -123.074), south of McArthur Court, named in 1936 for Dr. Herbert Crombie Howe (1872-1940), the former chairman of the English department. Howe started teaching at UO in 1901 and was its original faculty representative to the Pacific Coast Conference in 1915, partially responsible for the league's founding. When the university dropped baseball after the 1981 season, the field was converted to use by the Ducks' women's softball team in 1987. Softball was formerly played at Amazon Park.
Baseball became a club sport in 1983 and Oregon was the only Pac-10 school without a varsity baseball program through 2008. Following the reinstatement of baseball, announced in 2007, the university built PK Park, directly northeast of Autzen Stadium, formerly paved parking spaces. It opened for the Ducks in 2009 and since 2010, the park is also home for the minor league Eugene Emeralds of the short season Northwest League, whose season runs from mid-June through August.
Yearly results
Oregon in the NCAA Tournament
- The NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament started in 1947.
- The format of the tournament has changed through the years.
Former players
- Joe Gordon, Hall of Famer as a second baseman
- Dave Roberts
- Steve Baker
- Ray Smith
- Tom Dodd
- Zack Thornton
- H.D. Murphy
See also
- List of NCAA Division I baseball programs
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia