Oregon
Takeaways: Oregon baseball goes 2-1 at Shriners Children’s College Showdown in Texas
Led by an impressive showing from its bullpen in its first two games, the Oregon baseball team won its season debut against Oklahoma on Friday, 4-2, then defeated Baylor 7-4, before falling to Texas Tech on Sunday, 11-7, all at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Texas.
The Ducks (2-1) new-look bullpen was on full display in its two openers, shutting the door on both the Sooners and Bears to take home victories before an inconsistent showing against the Red Raiders.
In their season opener against the Sooners the Ducks took an early 2-0 lead before Oklahoma tied it with two runs in the third. The teams traded scoreless innings until the Ducks finally broke through in the eighth, putting two runs across to earn the win.
Sacramento State transfer Jeffery Heard went 2-for-4 in his debut with a double, and Dominic Hellman had the lone RBI of the day. Starter RJ Gordon pitched 4 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and two earned runs. Grayson Grinsell pitched the next three scoreless innings with a punchout and just one hit allowed, and Michael Freund earned the save.
In their second game against Baylor, the Ducks fell into an early hole, trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Oregon responded with a run in the bottom of the inning, and then back-to-back three-run innings in the fifth and sixth while the bullpen continued to deal.
Drew Smith went 2-for-5, Justin Cassella added a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3, and Heard continued his strong start with another 2-hit day and an RBI. Six Ducks had RBIs in a well-rounded day at the plate after a slow start. On the mound, transfer Kevin Seitter got the start and pitched four innings, allowing four runs with three earned on five hits.
Bradley Mullan earned the win out of the pen, pitching two scoreless innings with four punchouts. He, Jaxon Jordan and Logan Mercado combined to throw five scoreless with nine strikeouts, with Mercado earning the save.
In the Ducks finale against the Red Raiders, Oregon dug itself into too deep a hole, and stranded 13 on base in its first loss of the early season. At the plate, Smith continued his strong weekend, going 4-for-6 with three RBIs, and Carter Garate added a 4-for-4 line with a pair of doubles. Heard once again had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-5.
The Ducks were far less consistent on the mound Sunday, with six arms combining to allow 13 hits and 11 runs with 10 earned in eight innings pitched. Turner Spoljaric earned the start and only pitched an inning and a third, allowing five earned runs before getting yanked in the second inning. Freshman Toby Twist came out of the pen and pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs and striking out six.
Oregon takes on Lafayette in its home-opening four-game series at PK Park starting on Friday.
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 Twitter @AlecDietz.
Three Oregon lawmakers say they plan to introduce a bill that would bar utilities from raising rates if they have unresolved wildfire lawsuits for three or more years, describing it as an effort to hold PacifiCorp accountable as the utility faces a series of lawsuits stemming from the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state.
Republican state Reps. Jami Cate, Virgle Osborne and Ed Diehl announced their proposal in a statement Monday, on the heels of an approved rate increase for PacifiCorp customers and a federal lawsuit against the electric power company.
The federal government sued PacifiCorp last week over the Archie Creek Fire, which ignited in Oregon’s Douglas County in September 2020 and burned more than 200 square miles, about half of which was federal land. The complaint accuses the company of negligence for failing to maintain its power lines to prevent wildfires. In its filing, the government says it brought the suit to recover “substantial costs and damages.”
A PacifiCorp spokesperson said in an emailed statement Monday that the company was working with the U.S. government to resolve the claims.
“It is unfortunate the U.S. government decided to file a lawsuit in federal district court, however PacifiCorp will continue to work with the U.S. government to find reasonable resolution of this matter,” the statement said.
The federal lawsuit was filed on the same day the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved a 9.8% rate increase for PacifiCorp’s residential customers next year. In its rate case filings, the company said its request to increase rates was partly due to higher costs stemming from wildfire risk and activity.
When the new rate takes effect in January, PacifiCorp rates will have increased nearly 50% since 2021, according to the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, which advocates on behalf of utility customers.
The three lawmakers said they will introduce their bill in the upcoming legislative session, which starts in January.
“The federal government is doing the right thing by filing this lawsuit, and we stand firmly behind it,” Osborne, who is set to be the future bill’s co-chief sponsor, said in a statement. “PacifiCorp needs to pay up and take responsibility for the destruction they’ve caused, and putting a stop to rate hikes is the best way to achieve it.”
PacifiCorp is poised to be on the hook for billions in damages in the series of lawsuits over Oregon’s 2020 fires.
The company has already reached two settlement agreements over the Archie Creek Fire, including one for $299 million with 463 plaintiffs impacted by the blaze and another for $250 million with 10 companies with commercial timber interests, according to its website.
In other litigation, an Oregon jury in June 2023 found it liable for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials and determined it should have to pay punitive and other damages — a decision that applied to a class including the owners of up to 2,500 properties. Since then, other Oregon juries have ordered the company to pay tens of millions to other wildfire victims.
The wildfires that erupted across Oregon over Labor Day weekend in 2020 were among the worst natural disasters in state history, killing nine people and destroying thousands of homes.
— The Associated Press
On Wednesday at 2:18 a.m. the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory valid from 10 p.m. until Thursday 10 a.m. for North Central Oregon and Central Oregon.
The weather service states, “South winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected.”
“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” adds the weather service. “Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.”
Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
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