A great day for Oregon Ducks baseball

I’ve been waiting 28 years to say -- or write -- this about a University of Oregon baseball team: Go Ducks!

I watched my former team beat St. Mary’s last week in their season-opener in Moraga. Today, I followed the inning-by-inning action via Adam Jude’s “Talkin’ Baseball” blog for the Eugene Register-Guard as the Ducks beat defending NCAA champion Fresno State 1-0 in their home-opener at PK Park.

Not bad for a program that was disbanded after the 1981 season for reasons that still don’t make sense to me nearly 30 years later. But that’s history. I’m more interested in the new era of Oregon baseball.

From what I saw at St. Mary’s, this young Oregon team has amazing fire and spirit, which is a credit to coach George Horton. The Ducks may not have a ton of power, but they hustle and play hard.

It looks like Horton found himself an ace in Tyler Anderson, a freshman lefty from Las Vegas, who held Fresno State scoreless for eight innings. I saw him pitch against St. Mary’s. He’s got some great off-speed pitches, a good fastball and a lot of presence and guts for a freshman. He’s already been thrown into two pressure-packed games and handled both amazingly well.

Jett Hart (What a great first name for a guy who can run) and Caleb Tommasini look like they’ll give the Ducks’ offense a little juice.

I got a chance to look at PK Park a few weeks ago. I liked the setting of Howe Field better because it was in the middle of campus, with the forested hills beyond left and center-field. But man, this new park is truly a gem that will only get better when the second phase is completed, replacing the temporary stands with a permanent structure.

I only wish that Mel Krause, my old coach from 1973-77, had lived long enough to watch the Ducks play this season. He would have loved how hard these Ducks play and respected the job that coach Horton has done.

I was sorry I didn’t get a chance to attend today’s game. If there are any Ducks out there who saw the game, it would be great if you could share your impressions and thoughts.

Go Ducks!