The Oregon Ducks won the Nashville Regional, and now they’re reaping the awards.
Sabin Ceballos, Drew Cowley, Rikuu Nishida and Grayson Grinsell were all named to the Nashville All-Regional Team on Monday, following the Ducks’ three-game sweep on Vanderbilt’s home turf.
Ceballos only recorded two hits in the regional, but he made them count. He homered in the regional final Sunday night, and collected four RBIs in the last two games. He also played tremendous defense at third base, including two particularly stellar barehanded plays on slow rollers. The most noteworthy play was on Saturday against Vanderbilt, which came with the bases loaded. Oregon won that game 8-7 and very well may have lost if it weren’t for Ceballos’s effort.
Cowley continued what he’s done his entire career: get hits. He recorded two base knocks in each of the three games, while totaling six RBIs. He hit a three-run homer on Sunday to put the icing on the cake of an 11-2 victory. Cowley is tied with Ceballos for the team lead in home runs, with 16. Before this year, Cowley had only hit five total home runs in four seasons of college baseball.
Nishida was a spark plug at the top of the order like always. Like Cowley, he recorded two hits in each game, and swatted a three-run double in the same inning that Cowley hit his three-run homer. He came around to score seven times during the regional. Nishida was also named the Nashville Regional MVP for his efforts. On the year, he’s hitting .322 with an .859 OPS.
Grinsell was the lone Oregon pitcher to earn the honors. The Ducks’ pitching has been strong lately, due mostly to the collective efforts of the bullpen. But Grinsell definitely stuck out, pitching four scoreless innings with seven strikeouts on Sunday. Both marks were career highs. He also threw two innings in Friday’s win over Xavier. The freshman has been one of the team’s best pitchers all season, and has come through in a big way with two starts during the postseason.
Oregon pitching limited the opposition to 12 earned runs in three games, with seven of those runs coming against a high-powered Vanderbilt offense. While the aforementioned four players took home the honors, it really was a team effort with contributions up and down the lineup and from a multitude of pitchers.
The Ducks, now the winners of nine straight, will play in the Super Regionals against Oral Roberts this weekend. The times, dates and location are yet to be announced, though Oregon is expected to host because it’s the higher seed.