After nearly three decades of being dormant, the Civil War between Oregon State and Oregon’s baseball teams resumes today with the first of three games in the Pac-10 openers for both teams. The Ducks resurrected their program this year after shutting it down in 1981. They’re 10-12 and will host the Beavers (13-5) at 3 p.m. at PK Park in Eugene. The two squads then head north to resume the series with single games in Portland Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at PGE Park.
There’s a fair amount of anticipation for this thing. The Beavers are king of the hill in Oregon until someone proves otherwise. Oregon has posted some impressive wins and has gotten off to probably a better start than a lot of people expected. George Horton, the coach responsible for the Ducks’ decent start, won’t be on hand today. He’ll be serving the final game of a three-game suspension for bumping an ump.
No matter what happens this weekend, OSU won’t lose the series lead. It’s beaten Oregon 150 times and lost 146 times. For the record, the Beavers are working on a two-game winning streak. Their most recent win? May 9, 1981.
The starting pitchers today are Tyler Waldron (1-1, 5.30) for OSU, winner of five straight, and Tyler Anderson (1-2, 3.56) for UO. The Beavers will follow on the weekend with George Peavey and Jorge Reyes, Oregon with Erik Stavert and Bennett Whitmore.
An intriguing story line is that of the Tommasini brothers from Tenmile, near Roseburg: Sophomore John Tommasini starts at second for OSU, and senior Caleb Tommasini is the starting left fielder for the Ducks. Caleb played football at OSU for two years before transferring to Oregon.
There’s local flavor on each team, too. OSU freshman pitcher Sam Gaviglio of Ashland is 3-0 with one save and a 3.32 ERA. He’s started one game and relieved in four others. In 19 innings, he’s allowed 15 hits, fanned 14 and walked one. Logan Boyd of South Medford is hitting .385 for the Beavs, having played in eight games and started five. He has six runs and five RBIs in 13 at-bats. North Medford’s Rob Folsom has played in 15 games, starting 10. He’s hitting .275, with nine RBIs and three runs in 40 at-bats.
For Oregon, John Adamson of South Medford has played 10 games, starting seven. He’s batting .235 with five RBIs and a run in 17 at-bats.
