"Western club baseball hits the field, Red hot Vikings look to smoke Oregon Ducks" -- March 31, 2006

By C. Jennings Breakey
The Western Front

Heavy machinery, shovels and cones surround Joe Martin Field off Lakeway Drive, the home of Western’s club baseball team. Dirt and mud spot the ground outside the stadium and a sign hangs over a gate that reads, “Danger, Construction Area, Keep Out.”

Western head baseball coach Mike Johnson said Joe Martin Field is in for a rumble this weekend.

Ranked No. 9 in the National Club Baseball Association poll the Vikings will host the No. 4 University of Oregon Ducks in a three game series beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday with the first game of a doubleheader. The final game of the series is at noon on Sunday.

“It’s going to determine basically where we’re going to stand,” he said. “First place in our conference, or fall out of the race.”

The Vikings enter the weekend series with a record of 8-2. The Ducks are 9-0.

Johnson said the two teams make up one of the association’s most heated rivalries on the West Coast because both are consistently at the top of the league. This weekend’s games may determine the rest of Western’s season.

He said he wants a three-game sweep of the Ducks. Because of Western’s strong pitching, balanced lineup and speed Johnson said his team has a chance.

A three-man pitching rotation of seniors Brandon Boyd, Andrew Irvine and Ryan Kauffman, pitch for the Vikings. Johnson said Irvine and Kauffman are player-coaches and are the backbone of the team.

“We’re a team that revolves around our pitching,” he said. “The new guys that have come in this season have stepped up to the plate and pitched very well.”

Using an effective curveball and changeup to compliment his fastball, Boyd is 1-1 and has yet to allow an earned run this year, Johnson said.

Irvine possesses the most finesse among Viking starters because he doesn’t over power batters, Johnson said. Irvine is 3-0 on the season with a 2.08 ERA.

Kauffman, the power pitcher of the bunch, has a 3.21 ERA and leads the team with 14 innings pitched and 19 strikeouts, Johnson said.

“In the past we’ve had to rely quite a bit on our offense,” Johnson said. “But this season I feel like it’s our defense that’s going to hold us together, with pitching.”

Offensively Johnson said the team plays small-ball and relies on bunts, hit-and-runs, stolen bases and base hits.

“I love playing baseball like that,” said Western senior outfielder Matt Rhode, who’s hitting .400 with three doubles this season. “I think that’s the way baseball should be played. We’re bunting people around, trying to take the extra base. There’s a lot more strategy to it.”

Rhode, a speedster who’s stolen six bases in 10 games without being thrown out, bats leadoff for the team.

Senior second baseman Lincoln Beppu bats second and is hitting .400 with eight RBIs.

Beppu is responsible for making contact with pitches and moving runners along with bunts or ground balls, he said.

Batting third in the line-up is sophomore third baseman and pitcher Kevin Roach, who’s the team’s closer and leads the team with a .522 average, two triples and 10 RBIs. Roach leads the Vikings with seven walks.

While small-ball is the team’s offensive mentality, Western still has two sluggers at the heart of its lineup, Johnson said.

Senior Eric Peterson and sophomore Mike Morris hit in the four and five slots in the lineup, and rotate between playing first base and designated hitter.

Peterson’s batting average is .500 with two home runs and 12 RBIs, earning him the offensive player of the week award the first and second weeks of the season.

Morris is second among fielders in runs scored with 11 and is hitting .300 with one home run.

“They are our powerhouses,” said Kauffman, who will start the final game of the three-game series Sunday. “Those are the guys who hit the ball out of the ballpark for us.”

If Western heads into the last two innings of a game with a lead, the team feels comfortable because Roach will take the mound as the Vikings closer, Johnson said.

Roach is 1-0 and has a 2.84 ERA to go along with the team’s only save.

“Pitching is going to carry us as far as our team can go,” Kauffman said. “He’s (Roach) got all the pitches and all the confidence to go out there and go one, two, three every time.”

With Oregon’s powerful, hard-hitting lineup coming to town, Western’s pitching staff must remain sharp this weekend, and the Vikings must stick to their small-ball strategy, Rhode said.

“Oregon is a slug-it-out type of team,” he said. “They’re going to be a team that’s going to get up there and just swing. I think our pitching can neutralize them, but we don’t want to get into something where we’re trying to put up the same amount of runs as them, because we’ll lose that battle.”

Rhode said when he steps to the plate in the first game Saturday, he’ll be thinking about getting on base any way he can, not just how hard he can hit the ball.

“When we win is when we’re playing our game,” he said. “(We) make them adjust to what we’re doing.”

C. Jennings Breakley / The Western Front

Ryan Kauffman pitches to matt Rhode while Matt Fink catches at baseball practice Tuesday.