Monk Dauv Singx Si, left, walks towards an altar at the Iu Mien Buddha Light Temple on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Gresham, Ore. There is a sizeable Iu Mien community in Portland and its suburbs, with a Buddhist temple and Baptist church, active social organization, and businesses and restaurants. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)AP

After dropping each of its last two conference series, the No. 21 Oregon baseball team got back into the series win column, taking two out of three against conference-leading Utah at PK Park this weekend.

The Ducks (32-15, 14-10 Pac-12) won the first two matchups against the Utes (30-15, 15-9 Pac-12) in a Saturday doubleheader after Friday’s opener was postponed due to weather before dropping the Sunday finale.

Conference sweep eludes Ducks yet again

After taking the opener Saturday, 7-5, then the second game of the day, 5-1, to clinch the series, the Ducks dropped yet another chance for a series sweep in a 9-7 decision Sunday afternoon.

Oregon has yet to record a series sweep in conference play after leading Arizona and USC 2-0 before dropping the Sunday game in each series.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” coach Mark Wasikowski said. “We’re trying to win the league. We’re disappointed in the fact that we weren’t able to sweep the team that came in here in first place. We win a series and we’re disappointed. The standard is high, obviously, when you win a series, and your guys are really disappointed.”

The Ducks fell behind 4-1 in the Saturday opener before scoring two runs in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings to set the tone for a more dominant second game. Jacob Walsh went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the series-opening, 7-5, victory.

In Game 2 Saturday night, Grayson Grinsell allowed just one run in six innings of work and reliever Brock Moore continued his hot streak on the mound, striking out three in three scoreless innings to give the Ducks a 5-1 win. Jeffery Heard knocked in two runs and drew two walks in the win.

On Sunday in the finale, Oregon starter Kevin Seitter got into early trouble and the Duck bats couldn’t complete a comeback late to fall 9-7. Bennett Thompson pinch hit in the eighth inning and hit a three-run homer that cut the Utes lead to just one heading into the ninth, but the Oregon bats went down quietly in the final inning.

It’s Oregon’s sixth conference series win heading into the final two weekends of the regular season.

Bryce Boettcher on a heater

In Oregon’s last five games, Eugene native and starting centerfielder Bryce Boettcher has five home runs, including two last Tuesday in a win over Oregon State.

The senior two-sport athlete went yard in Oregon’s first game against the Utes and its last, bringing his home run total to 11 for the season with a .295 average. Boettcher is one home run short of stamping his name in the Duck record books as one of just 11 players to hit 12 home runs in a single season.

“I feel good,” Boettcher said. “I’ve made a couple of adjustments, mostly just mental adjustments within myself in the box. It’s been nice coming home for these past couple of games, so I’ve been feeling good.”

Where Oregon stands heading into final stretch of regular season

With just two weekends and six games to go before the Pac-12 Tournament begins, Oregon currently sits three games back of conference-leading Arizona. The Ducks are also a game behind both Oregon State and Utah but has tiebreaker advantages over both the Wildcats and Utes.

The Ducks play Washington for a road series in Seattle next weekend and host Washington State the following weekend back in Eugene. The Huskies (18-21-1, 9-14 Pac-12) and Cougars (20-26, 8-16 Pac-12) both rank near the bottom of the Pac-12 conference standings.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.

Peyton Woodyard, a highly touted safety from the 2024 class, has announced his decision to transfer from the Alabama Crimson Tide to the Oregon Ducks football program, bolstering an impressive roster of recent additions.

Woodyard, a 4-star prospect and former Alabama commit, entered the transfer portal last week after the departure of legendary coach Nick Saban. Despite being a true freshman, Woodyard had already made a name for himself, earning a No. 115 overall player ranking and a No. 8 safety rating from 247Sports.