GAME 1: D1Baseball - Slammin’ Smith Powers Ducks Past No. 7 Gauchos (8 photos, article)
Slammin’ Smith Powers Ducks Past No. 7 Gauchos
AT THE BALLPARK Shotgun Spratling - March 6, 2021SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Tanner Smith looks like a leadoff hitter. The third-year sophomore stands 5-foot-9. He acts like a leadoff hitter. He knows how to work counts. He’s tough to strikeout. He walks nearly as much as he strikes out. He was second on the team with eight sacrifice bunts his freshman year.
But Smith isn’t your typical leadoff hitter. He began the season in the cleanup spot after hitting second in the lineup much of the early parts of his career.
He isn’t afraid to ambush a first-pitch fastball, a lesson UC Santa Barbara starting pitcher Zach Torra learned Friday afternoon. Smith turned on an inside fastball and hammered it down the right field line just inside the foul pole on the first pitch of the game.
That’s another thing about Smith, he brings a thunderstick to the yard. While he may not be the tallest, Smith is stout at 205 pounds. He had 16 extra-base hits his freshman year, including four home runs. Even when he gets deep in the count, he isn’t afraid to power up and take a big hack, if he gets the pitch he’s looking for.
He taught the Gauchos that lesson Friday as well. Smith launched a game-changing grand slam against UCSB’s top reliever Conner Roberts during a six-run seventh inning that helped Oregon upset No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, 7-6, in the series opener at Ceasar Uyesaka Stadium.
Given a 5-1 lead to protect, Roberts was in danger of bringing in a run with his third walk of the inning after already hitting a batter with the bases loaded to score the first run of the frame. He fell behind Smith 3-0 before battling back to a full count. Roberts has a nasty 79-80-mph changeup that dives down in the zone from his three-quarters arm slot. He isn’t afraid to throw it at any point in the count, but Smith was sitting offspeed.
Smith’s general approach at the plate is to be as loose as possible and drive the ball hard the other way to left-center field. However, when he gets the pitch he’s looking for on the inner half, he isn’t afraid to drop the bat head, open the hips and let it fly. He connected with Roberts’ changeup and watched the right fielder race back. As he was arcing to turn around first base, his parabolic shot cleared a small tree beyond the fence. Smith spun toward the first base dugout and let out a primal scream.
He initially missed first base in his exuberance. He tap danced a toe tap while pointing to his teammates as he celebrated. The cool Isla Vista breeze coming off the Pacific Ocean carried him around the bases as he feet barely seemed to touch the ground until he authoritatively stomped on home plate and bellowed ‘Fuck Yeah! Let’s Go!’ to the Ducks he had just driven in and to the flock awaiting to bump chests with him outside the dugout.
“Tanner is a competitive out anywhere you put him in a lineup,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “I just like his makeup. I think he’s a tough little kid that doesn’t like to lose, and he’s got that feistiness in him. Today, he had a good day. It was cool to watch.”
“Tanner is a competitive out anywhere you put him in a lineup,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “I just like his makeup. I think he’s a tough little kid that doesn’t like to lose, and he’s got that feistiness in him. Today, he had a good day. It was cool to watch.”
Like much of the Oregon lineup, Smith had struggled to get going early in the season. The Ducks, who weren’t able to play their opening weekend because of a depletion of the roster due to Covid contact tracing protocols, hit .231 last weekend in a four-game split with Seattle. Wasikowski said the lineup hasn’t been able to get settled in because of their Covid-related personnel issues. He unveiled his fifth different lineup in five games on Friday. Smith remained as the lineup leader in part because of the infectious energy he brings to the team.
“It’s tremendous. That’s what we’re looking for,” Wasikowski said. “We’re looking for guys that expect to win, that have the perseverance that if it’s not going their way for the first 5-6-7 innings, so what? They give you, nine innings. And in each at bat, all you got to do is win one of the pitches to win the at-bat.
“We came into this weekend with that being the focus,” he added. “We didn’t feel like we competed very well last weekend at the plate, and we felt like we gave up outs. We didn’t play a full nine-inning game, so it was very nice to see that after last weekend’s complaints we had as a ballclub that at least on one day that we addressed some of those and we did play a full nine innings, which is nice.”
“It’s tremendous. That’s what we’re looking for,” Wasikowski said. “We’re looking for guys that expect to win, that have the perseverance that if it’s not going their way for the first 5-6-7 innings, so what? They give you, nine innings. And in each at bat, all you got to do is win one of the pitches to win the at-bat.
“We came into this weekend with that being the focus,” he added. “We didn’t feel like we competed very well last weekend at the plate, and we felt like we gave up outs. We didn’t play a full nine-inning game, so it was very nice to see that after last weekend’s complaints we had as a ballclub that at least on one day that we addressed some of those and we did play a full nine innings, which is nice.”
The Breakdown
Game Changer
When Oregon got the first two runners on in the seventh inning, a scout turned to another and said in jest, ‘Now watch, they’re going to bunt them over and play for two [runs] even though they’re trailing 5-1.’
But Smith is proof that these aren’t your older brother’s Ducks any more. They aren’t employing small ball and playing for one run every time they get the leadoff runner on base. Smith added a double in the ninth inning to give him three extra-base hits out of the leadoff spot. He also roped a breaking ball from Torra over the right field wall in his second at-bat. It hooked about 12 feet foul or he could have had the first three-homer performance in Oregon program history.
“Well he’s got that in him and we have that in us as a team this year,” Wasikowski said of Smith’s thumpability. “It’s not really the Ducks’ team that’s gonna lead the country in sacrifice bunting this year. There’s some physicality to us in our lineup, so it doesn’t surprise me when Tanner does that. We probably have five or six guys that can have a day like that, which I think it’s going to be a little bit more of the kind of club we have this year. There’s more ‘big inning’ in this club then just like single-digit kind of things from time to time.”
It’s about approach.
Later in the seventh inning, with two outs, Aaron Zavala wasn’t looking to start a rally. He was looking to be the rally. He blasted a solo home run to right field that proved to be a crucial insurance run. When Smith was first moved to the leadoff spot for part of the shortened 2020 season, he felt he had to change his approach at the plate to fit a batting-order-designated role. The coaches quickly corrected him after seeing him adjust his attack.
“That’s actually something the coaches have really emphasize and done a great job covering with me,” Smith said. ”They’ve taught me that it doesn’t matter where in the lineup I hit, the only thing that is important is to make sure I have the same approach and be the same type of hitter no matter where I am in the lineup.”
It’s about mindset.
Oregon has been known as a pitching and defense program. Of the 19 Oregon players to be selected in the fist 10 rounds of the draft since the university announced it was reinstating the sport in 2007, 15 have been pitchers. Only 18 players have been drafted out of Oregon as position players since baseball was brought back. Eleven of those were the defense-valued positions of shortstop and catcher. The Ducks haven’t been known for producing sluggers and their home stadium, PK Park, has a reputation as a pitchers’ park. Wasikowski wants to change that notion.
“I don’t think that’s fair because real hitters like Ryon Healy that have come through our program and Kyle Garlick that have come through our program. They hit just fine in PK Park. Now, it takes a good hitter to hit in PK Park, but I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t have good hitters here at Oregon.”
It’s about physicality.
But Smith is proof that these aren’t your older brother’s Ducks any more. They aren’t employing small ball and playing for one run every time they get the leadoff runner on base. Smith added a double in the ninth inning to give him three extra-base hits out of the leadoff spot. He also roped a breaking ball from Torra over the right field wall in his second at-bat. It hooked about 12 feet foul or he could have had the first three-homer performance in Oregon program history.
“Well he’s got that in him and we have that in us as a team this year,” Wasikowski said of Smith’s thumpability. “It’s not really the Ducks’ team that’s gonna lead the country in sacrifice bunting this year. There’s some physicality to us in our lineup, so it doesn’t surprise me when Tanner does that. We probably have five or six guys that can have a day like that, which I think it’s going to be a little bit more of the kind of club we have this year. There’s more ‘big inning’ in this club then just like single-digit kind of things from time to time.”
It’s about approach.
Later in the seventh inning, with two outs, Aaron Zavala wasn’t looking to start a rally. He was looking to be the rally. He blasted a solo home run to right field that proved to be a crucial insurance run. When Smith was first moved to the leadoff spot for part of the shortened 2020 season, he felt he had to change his approach at the plate to fit a batting-order-designated role. The coaches quickly corrected him after seeing him adjust his attack.
“That’s actually something the coaches have really emphasize and done a great job covering with me,” Smith said. ”They’ve taught me that it doesn’t matter where in the lineup I hit, the only thing that is important is to make sure I have the same approach and be the same type of hitter no matter where I am in the lineup.”
It’s about mindset.
Oregon has been known as a pitching and defense program. Of the 19 Oregon players to be selected in the fist 10 rounds of the draft since the university announced it was reinstating the sport in 2007, 15 have been pitchers. Only 18 players have been drafted out of Oregon as position players since baseball was brought back. Eleven of those were the defense-valued positions of shortstop and catcher. The Ducks haven’t been known for producing sluggers and their home stadium, PK Park, has a reputation as a pitchers’ park. Wasikowski wants to change that notion.
“I don’t think that’s fair because real hitters like Ryon Healy that have come through our program and Kyle Garlick that have come through our program. They hit just fine in PK Park. Now, it takes a good hitter to hit in PK Park, but I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t have good hitters here at Oregon.”
It’s about physicality.
Look up and down the roster at the position players and you see more size and weight. Look at the bodies walking to the plate and you see more strength. There are currently 12 position players on the roster that are at least 199 pounds. There were seven ust two years ago in George Horton’s final season as head coach. There were also five position players that were listed at 182 pounds or lighter. (There were eight that light the year prior.)
Wasikowski and recruiting coordinator Jack Marder prioritized physical athletes in their recruiting efforts. The 11 first- and second-year freshman position players on the roster average 6’1.8” and 197 pounds.
“We went after guys that are more physical. We went after guys that are extremely athletic and have size. Even a football kid like Robby Ashford [6’3”, 225] from Alabama, we recruited him hard to have him come our way. You know, Bryce Boettcher [6’2”, 193] is a young very talented athletic kid that had plenty options of where he could have gone to school and then obviously, kids like Anthony Hall [6’2”, 200], Jack Scanlon [6’4”, 199], there’s some good size kids on this roster.”
“You know, if you can score with one swing, let’s do that instead of taking three swings basically. So we tried to build our roster a little bit more around that than getting three hits or two hits and a bunt to score guy.”
Star Spotlight
Brock Mortensen drove in four of UC Santa Barbara’s six runs with a two-run single in the first inning, an RBI single in the third and a solo home run to tighten the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. But the Gauchos took a 5-1 lead into the seventh inning because Zach Torra was back on his game. UC Santa Barbara’s fourth-year junior lefthander struggled in his first two starts this season, allowing six runs over 7.2 innings. The 12 hits Torra gave up in the first two starts were more than he allowed in four starts last season when he went 3-0, 0.36 and struck out 39 over 25.1 innings.
The positive is Torra was good,” Gauchos head coach Andrew Checketts said. “If we lost 7-6 and he got beat up again, that would have been a real negative. I thought he threw the ball well. All the offspeed pitches were good, so I was pleased with that.”
Torra was locked in Friday after making some tweaks to his mechanics to make sure his arm slot remained over the top rather than sliding down the clock face. During the offseason, he had made some glove-side adjustments that had created a lower release point and finish, according to Checketts. The slightly lower slot was making it harder for Torra to get behind the baseball, which allows him to produce the backspin that creates ‘rise’ on his fastball.
“A few of the hard-hit balls and homers that he’d given up earlier [this season] were decent executed pitches that we felt like last year would have got popped up or swing and missed at,” Checketts said. “I thought he had a good week of work. He made that adjustment during the week, made his breaking ball have a little bit more depth to it too and his fastball rise a little bit more.”
After Smith’s opening pitch ambush, Torra only gave up two hits (one on a weak infield chopper that wasn’t played well by the infielder) the rest of his 5.1 innings. Torra’s fastball played harder than the 89-91 mph velocity he maintained and he did a really nice job of mixing his pair of breaking balls, throwing both for strikes and using both against lefties and righties.
Top Performances
Oregon:
Tanner Smith: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBIAaron Zavala: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI
UC Santa Barbara:
Brock Mortensen: 3-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBI
Zach Torra: 5.1 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 8 K
Cole Cummings: 3-for-5, R, RBI
Gianni Bloom: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI
Bottom Line
Oregon
– ”Have we learned how to win yet and all that?” Wasikowski said. “No, as a program we haven’t learned how to win and get into postseason play and do all those kind of things, but in terms of the pieces, there’s a lot of power arms on our pitching staff. Some depth pitching-wise that’s that’s pretty exciting. There’s physicality in our lineup. There’s options off the bench.“They can do a lot of things. We need to put it together and it’s going to be the challenge for the coaching staff. We need to do a good job of developing this group because there’s ability here. “
UC Santa Barbara
– “We played seven pretty good innings. If it was a high school game, results probably would have been a little bit better,” Checketts said with a wry chuckle. “We got the ball to our best reliever with a four-run lead. You usually take that. Didn’t work out. We lost the strike zone and committed an error. Lost our concentration for an inning and the Ducks did a good job of hitting it over the fence.”
