Only two weeks separate Oregon baseball from the Big Ten Tournament and the beginning of postseason play.
In the last nine games, the Ducks are 8-1, with the lone loss coming against Michigan State and potential conference pitcher of the year Joseph Dzierwa. Oregon took four straight games from top-10 ranked Oregon State, two of three from Michigan State, and now two straight against St. Mary’s in a midweek matchup. The success has boosted Oregon’s RPI into the top 25, landing at 23 after last night’s victory and moving it from 51 before the Oregon State series.
The success is a clear barometer for Oregon’s RPI moving up, but on Wednesday night, there was a flaw in the system that never came to be. Had Oregon lost the non-conference matchup to St. Mary’s—RPI at 117—the Ducks would have seen theirs plummet, potentially taking them out of regional hosting opportunities because of the lone loss.
In similar circumstances, college baseball teams have been known to cancel midweek series against non-Power Four schools. For some teams, even a win reflects poorly on their RPI.
Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski clarified that his team would continue to play games regardless of how it could affect their RPI.
“Tonight was a great opportunity for guys to get a chance to play. We got a chance to play in two really good baseball games. We got some guys in — we got a lot of experience out of those two games,” Wasikowski said. “And if we’re canceling games because of some magical RPI formula that is so messed up it’s not even funny, we’re taking opportunities away from student-athletes that they deserve. That’s why they came to the University of Oregon. To play baseball. So, to take the opportunity to play baseball away from them for anything other than weather-related or some sort of act of God or any of those clauses that are in those contracts, I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s repulsive, and, for me, the student-athletes suffer when that happens.”
While Wasikowski stressed the importance of playing midweek games for the players and coaching staff, he also clarified that RPI—a statistical system used to rank teams based on their wins and losses and the strength of their schedule—has significant flaws when determining rankings heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Currently, the Ducks are the second-highest-ranked Big Ten team in terms of RPI, but 13 of the 22 teams ahead of them mostly come from the SEC or ACC.
“Well, the system’s broken,” Wasikowski said. “So, I’m not going to complain about the system being broken and start canceling games. I mean, if the geniuses can’t figure out that the system’s broken, the RPI is screwed up, and you shouldn’t be canceling games… I don’t fault the coaches. I fault the fact that the system isn’t right. And until they get their arms around it and have the courage to make some changes to that, no, we’re not gonna cancel games. We’re gonna play the games that are on our schedule.”
Oregon welcomes Washington to town for a three-game series, the final homestand of the year, starting Friday, May 9th at 6:05 PM PT.
