Freshmen Stepping Up To The Plate, And the Microphone

The singing was off-key, and the lyrics were mangled. But for an Oregon baseball team looking to cement its chemistry at the outset of this season, an impromptu karaoke session on the team bus last week suggested the Ducks are operating in harmony.

On Friday, the UO baseball team plays its 2017 home opener, against Mississippi State in PK Park at 6 p.m. The Ducks will debut for their home fans a lineup with a significant freshman presence. During last week's Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego, the new faces proved they're blending in well, on and off the field.

In Oregon's opening game of the tournament, second baseman Morgan McCullough and designated hitter Gabe Matthews each tallied his first career hit. Third baseman Spencer Steer hit his first home run. The production didn't stop there, as that trio ended up with nine of the Ducks' 16 hits in an 11-5 win over UC Irvine.

"They got their first hit, and the pressure was gone," said senior center fielder Jake Bennett, the most prominent vocal leader among UO position players. "And they explode for three or four hits each. It was contagious, and it was fun to see a lot of smiles."

The freshmen weren't through performing — or smiling — once the game ended. After dinner in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, veterans prodded the freshmen to the front of the team bus to sing karaoke. Steer, who said he's "always been kind of a performer," confidently grabbed the microphone and belted out "Sweet Caroline." Matthews stammered his way through "Don't Stop Believin'." Most songs ended up with the full team singing along in unison, amid cackles of laughter and flashes from cellphone cameras.

When the bus reached the Ducks' hotel and players and coaches piled off, none could remember such a moment of unity in recent years. For an Oregon team looking to blend together old and new faces, and outplay expectations of a rebuilding year, it was a night the Ducks may look back upon as a major key to the 2017 campaign.

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"I've been on plenty of teams — and I've been on teams where I might be uncomfortable in that situation," said Matthews (above), a Salem native. "That's the first time I've ever done anything like that and been like, 'Let's go for it.' I think this team's special like that."

The karaoke performance capped a long day in the spotlight for the freshmen. It began against UC Irvine, as the Ducks kicked off the second weekend of the season following a split of four games at Fresno State the week before.

Oregon trailed UC Irvine 3-0 entering the fourth inning. With one out, junior Tim Susnara homered to get the Ducks on the board. Matthews, a former high school shortstop who grew up cheering for Oregon State, followed with his first career hit. He scored on a two-out home run by Daniel Patzlaff, which McCullough followed with his own first collegiate hit.

The Ducks scored three more times in the fifth, when Steer lashed an RBI double down the left-field line. Matthews and McCullough (below) each singled again in the four-run seventh, the big blow of the inning a two-run homer by Steer.

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"The first series (at Fresno), we were all just a little anxious, it being our first college experience," said Steer, a native of Long Beach. "Getting that under our belt, we were able to play more of our game, be more comfortable."

The Ducks won against the next morning, beating Seton Hall 1-0. Yet another true freshman, catcher Matthew Dyer, scored the only run after reaching on an error. The Ducks also have relied heavily on freshmen at the back end of the bullpen through two weeks of the season.

In between victories was the karaoke session, which Steer said proved the Ducks have "everybody pulling the same side of the rope" at this point in the season.

"Stuff like that is so much bigger than baseball, and just shows the relationships this team has," Bennett said. "Having chemistry like that will actually win you ballgames. The closest-knit teams are the ones that go farthest, it seems like."

When players get along off the field, Steer said, they root for each other in the dugout, a positive atmosphere that lifts everyone's play. That can be crucial in situations like the opening series in Fresno, when the Ducks dropped the first two games of the season.

"We took two losses, but we didn't let that affect us, and we bounced back and took the next two games," Steer said. "I think that set the tone that we're a team that's not going to give up, even if things aren't going well for us. If we lose the first two games of a series, we're not just going to roll over on Sunday and get swept. We're going to come back and do anything we can to win every game."

The 2017 season won't be without challenges. After pushing across just one run to back the pitching of Matt Mercer against Seton Hall, the Ducks faced more left-handed pitching later that day against San Diego and lost 7-2. But after strengthening their team chemistry over the course of the weekend road trip, the Ducks are optimistic they can contend for the postseason this spring.

"We've shown what we can do," Bennett said. "Now, can we keep it going and continue it? Not getting too high or too low will be key."