Oregon Baseball vs. UC Santa Barbara Game 1: Live updates and analysis
Follow along with live updates as the Ducks begin a weekend series with the Gauchos in Santa Barbara.
The Oregon Ducks (21-4) will wrap up their Southern California road trip this weekend with a three-game set at UC Santa Barbara (15-7) this weekend. The Ducks jumped up two spots to No. 17 in the rankings after taking two-of-three games from Northwestern last weekend, and swept UC San Diego in a two-game midweek series earlier this week.
There might not be a team in the country swinging hotter bats than the Ducks right now. They rank third nationally with 53 home runs as a team this season and cracked five more this week against the Tritons. UC Santa Barbara received two votes to be ranked in the coaches poll this week.
However, the Gauchos are trying to break out of a rough patch, having lost five of their last seven games entering this weekend’s series. It’s been nearly a full year since the Ducks last lost a weekend series. Oregon has won 12 straight weekend sets dating back to last season.
Their most recent weekend series loss came at Ohio State last season on March 29. The Ducks will once again send out their usual Friday starter, Will Sanford . The sophomore right-hander has been excellent so far, holding a 1.