The Young And The Fearless

Friday, March 3

Eugene, Ore.

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

Mississippi State

03/03/17 | Baseball, @GoDucksMoseley

Game Notes: Oregon vs. MSU/Davis

Freshmen are thriving in late-inning situations out of the bullpen for Oregon, which plays its home opener Friday against Mississippi State in PK Park at 6 p.m.

By: Rob Moseley

Before he was the center fielder and No. 3 hitter for the Oregon baseball team, Jake Bennett was a fan of the Oregon baseball team.

A native of Forest Grove, Bennett has been following the program since its reboot in 2009. And what he's seen through two weeks of this season, in which the back of the Ducks' bullpen has been anchored by three freshmen, is unprecedented.

"I can't ever remember a year where it's like, we need this game and we're going to go with three freshmen," Bennett said. "I would have said you're crazy. You think about the Stephen Nogosek's and all those guys who were juniors and seniors closing the door, and we have freshmen who not only have the ability but are actually doing it? It's pretty impressive."

As Bennett accurately recalled, Oregon's recent history is littered with closers who stepped into the spotlight as upperclassmen, after earning their stripes as freshmen. That was the path Nogosek took to the closer role last season, and the path Brac Warren was on for this season before being sidetracked by an injury. Before that, Garrett Cleavinger, Jake Reed and Jimmie Sherfy all played key roles as freshmen — Reed as a starter — before becoming closers.

But through two weeks of the 2017 season for the Ducks, who play their home opener Friday against Mississippi State at 6 p.m., freshmen are dominating at the back of the bullpen. Beaverton native Kenyon Yovan has pitched two scoreless innings for two saves, and setup men Ryne Nelson and James Acuna (below) are unscored upon so far this season as well.

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In all, that trio has combined for 11 scoreless innings through Oregon's 4-3 start. The Ducks also have four scoreless frames from senior Connor Zwetsch and got two from Parker Kelly this past Saturday in San Diego. But in the most high-leverage innings of the season so far, it's been the freshmen getting the ball.

"They're proving to me that they have what we're looking for in the back end of the 'pen," pitching coach Jason Dietrich said. "They're buying in, their focus is great and they're building confidence."

The freshmen in the bullpen announced their presence Feb. 20 at Fresno State, where Acuna pitched three scoreless innings of relief before giving way to Nelson and then Yovan in a 3-2 Oregon victory. Acuna earned his first career win, and Yovan pitched around a hit for his first save.

Last week in San Diego at the Tony Gwynn Classic, Acuna and Zwetsch combined for three scoreless innings of an 11-5 win over UC Irvine. The next day, in a tense 1-0 win over Seton Hall, Nelson and Yovan each backed starter Matt Mercer with a scoreless inning, clean 1-2-3 frames for both.

"Diets has put a lot of confidence in me," said Nelson, a lanky right-hander from Henderson, Nev. "He's really helped me get to that next level."

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Both Nelson (above) and Yovan credited Oregon's new pitching coach with preparing them to shoulder prominent roles as freshmen. While Yovan naturally exudes confidence, Dietrich has reinforced Nelson's mentality to the point he's thriving in the setup role.

Yovan, meanwhile, spent fall and winter honing his mechanics under the guidance of Dietrich, to find a repeatable delivery that has resulted in two dominant outings so far this spring.

"In high school I was effectively wild; I got a lot of strikeouts, but it's because guys were swinging at everything," said Yovan, who struck out 133 in 71 2/3 innings on the way to being named state player of the year last year for Westview High. "Once I got here, you have to hit your spots. You've got to bite the bullet sometimes — all right, I'm not going to try to overpower these guys. I've just got to stay within my legs and try to throw strikes, and it's going to be there. Can't try to strike everybody out, because that's when stuff starts to go haywire."

So far, Yovan has been successful in those efforts. He has three strikeouts in two innings; against Seton Hall this past Saturday, he struck out the first two hitters he faced. Yovan said he was calmer in that outing after making his collegiate debut the week before.

"It was nice," he said. "I just went out there and got the job done. Tried to do my best to throw strikes and if they hit it, they hit it. But it felt really nice to get out there the second time."

Dietrich said that, when identifying a closer, "You need a different person between the ears. A guy that will bend but not break, and thinks he's the man and believes in his stuff."

Yovan seems to embody that mentality. In the bullpen before an outing, he's loose and confident. When warming up and then making the walk to the mound, he said, he's aware all eyes are on him, and he tries to exude positivity.

He did so against Seton Hall for the ninth despite making the last out at the plate in the bottom of the eighth.

"Negativity can bring people around you down," Yovan said. "I've got guys in the bullpen watching me warm up, and as I come through I don't want them thinking, 'Uh oh.'

"We get to play baseball; it's the best game on the planet. We're blessed to play this game, and you've got to enjoy every moment. You've going to fail sometimes, but I try to do my best to keep a positive mentality."

The freshmen know their run of unblemished outings is bound to end at some point. Yovan said his summer ball experience, taking lumps and then making adjustments against hitters with college experience, prepared him for the difficulties he'll inevitably encounter with the Ducks.

For Nelson, who is more soft-spoken than Yovan but no less confident, they key will be consistency, he said.

"Everything goes back to mentality," Nelson said. "Even though you're getting hit, you know you can make pitches. Just keep the same mentality: Go out there and get after it, every time."