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COLLEGE BASEBALL Ducks had to wait out announcement Oregon's coaches, players watched NCAA tourney show separately Comment By Steve Mims Eugene Register-Guard MailTribune.com By Steve Mims Eugene Register-Guard Posted May. 26, 2015 at 7:13 PM By Steve Mims Eugene Register-Guard Posted May. 26, 2015 at 7:13 PM » Social News EUGENE — When Oregon is a lock to be in an NCAA regional, the Ducks hold a public watch party at a local restaurant. On Monday morning, it was a private viewing with the coaches in George Horton’s office and the players in the clubhouse. “I didn’t have the courage I guess to be watching with them,” head coach Horton said. After falling to 28-22 earlier this month and well off the tournament bubble, the Ducks won nine of their last 10 games to get back into contention for the postseason, a run that concluded with back-to-back extra-inning wins over Pac-12 Conference champion UCLA. Yet on Sunday night, one prominent college baseball website still had Oregon as the last team out of the 64-team field. “We were definitely anxious, it was hard to sleep last night because you never know,” junior first baseman Scott Heineman said. “That made us a little nervous, but we were confident. We felt like we put ourselves in a good position.” Just nine minutes into the hour-long television broadcast to unveil the bracket, the 37-23 Ducks popped on the screen as a No. 3 seed in the Springfield (Mo.) Regional. “It was like we had just won against UCLA in walk-off fashion, we just went nuts, everyone hugging each other,” Oregon pitcher Cole Irvin said. “It was a great feeling, just fun. Not knowing if we would get in or not was difficult because you are fighting for your life for the past five or six weeks and we did our part. That the committee felt we deserved a regional bid was nice.” Oregon was the second-to-last team to earn an at-large bid from the committee headed by Central Michigan athletic director Dave Heeke, a former Oregon senior associate athletic director. UCLA is the No. 1 overall seed even after Oregon beat the Bruins with walk-off singles in the 11th inning on Saturday and Sunday. “There is not much doubt in my mind that if we had not won Sunday, we weren’t in,” Horton said. The Ducks are in a regional for the fourth year in a row and the for fifth time in seven seasons since reinstating the program in 2009. “We’re obviously excited,” third baseman Mitchell Tolman said. “I felt like we’ve worked pretty hard the last month or so. We didn’t play to the best of our ability early in the year, but we put ourselves in the best position we could to play further into June.” Oregon will open the tournament at 11 a.m. Friday against second-seeded Iowa. Missouri State, the host and No. 8 overall seed in the tournament, will play fourth-seeded Canisius in the second game. Iowa (39-16) is making its first postseason appearance since 1990 after finishing second in the Big 10 at 19-5. The Hawkeyes were on track to host a regional until losing four of their final six. Iowa is hitting .273 as a team, led by Tyler Peyton at .352. Eric Toole and Jake Mangler are batting .309 and .303, respectively. All three starting pitchers have an ERA under 3.20 led by Calvin Mathews at 5-3 with a 2.67 ERA. Missouri State (45-10) won the Missouri Valley Conference at 18-3 and Canisius (34-28) won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament to secure an automatic berth in the field. “To be honest with you, I don’t know much about any of the other teams at this point,” Horton said. “Other than all 64 teams at this point are worthy and we are happy to be included.” Especially considering how close the Ducks were to ending their season early. By Steve Mims Eugene Register-Guard MailTribune.com By Steve Mims Eugene Register-Guard Posted May. 26, 2015 at 7:13 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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