There are 1,687 miles between Eugene and Omaha, Nebraska.
It says so right there on the post inside the first-base gates of PK Park. An arrow pointing east, like a declaration of intent for a baseball program that has waited so long to get back there.
And while there are also markers indicating the distances to Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and the Field of Dreams, it is that distance to the longtime home of the College World Series that suddenly looms so large.
Because on Saturday, Omaha felt closer than ever.
So close that the Oregon Ducks could taste the steaks.
Two outs. That’s it.
One pitch, even, if that pitch would have invited a ground ball.
An inch if a well-struck line drive had sliced to the left.
Instead, much to the dismay of the Ducks and 4,476 fans on hand Saturday, this scintillating super regional isn’t over. Not yet.
Twenty-four hours after the Ducks won with a ninth-inning walk-off on Friday, Oral Roberts returned the favor. It was a liner down the left field line by Justin Quinn with the bases loaded that sent the Golden Eagles into delirium on the infield grass.
Game 3 is on Sunday. Omaha awaits the winner.
When the Ducks retreated to their locker room after the 8-7 loss, left fielder Tanner Smith said, one of the coaches asked players to imagine being told at the start of the season that they would have the chance to play in a winner-take-all game with a trip to Omaha on the line.
Would they take it?
“I think that hit the team square in the eyes,” Smith said.
Make no mistake: Oregon blew it.
They had a red carpet rolled out straight to the College World Series for the first time in 69 years and they tripped stepping out of the limo.
Betting against the Ducks after their meltdown on Saturday? I wouldn’t.
“These guys are as tough of a group as I’ve ever seen,” coach Mark Wasikowski said.
This is the team that entered the Pac-12 tournament as the No. 6 seed and swept the field. That traveled to Nashville and took down the No. 3 team in the country.
The Ducks have been masters of the postseason, and they were again on Saturday until they let Oral Roberts chip away at their lead.
“Honestly, I think it’s just going to make tomorrow more exciting,” Smith said. “The feeling of getting it done and dogpiling tomorrow is going to be even better than tonight would have been.”
But this is also an Oregon team with a severely depleted pitching staff. A team that has had the ultimate goal ripped away from it in the cruelest fashion.
They needed to close the deal on Saturday. Oh, how well the Ducks now know that Oral Roberts will make you pay if you don’t slam the door shut.
This may well go down as a program-defining missed opportunity.
The Ducks can still make it to Omaha for the first time since 1954, a gap that spans entire lifetimes and has even seen the Ducks program die out and be born anew. It’s not over. It’s just that it felt certain on Saturday.
When the Ducks tied the game in the fourth inning thanks to a blast to center field by Sabin Ceballos. When they scored two runs on a fly ball to the warning track by designated hitter Drew Smith that was caught by center fielder Jonah Cox, but popped loose when Cox’s arm hit the outfield wall.
When Ceballos took a walk in the top of the ninth inning and turned around to motion for the crowd to get louder as he trotted briefly backwards to first base.
There was an air of inevitability to the proceedings.
And then the air was knocked out of them.
It has felt over the last two weeks that the Ducks were a team kissed by magic, if you believe in that sort of thing.
And that’s the beauty of sports. When things happen a certain way, it is impossible not to. But now the question becomes whether the Ducks are a tested group capable of rebounding or if they are a charmed squad whose pixie dust has finally worn off.
If Oregon needs inspiration that it can come back from such an emotional letdown, it needed to look no further than the celebration taking place on the infield Saturday night.
After Sunday, somebody will be making that 1,687-mile trek from Eugene to Omaha.
If it isn’t the Ducks, that distance is going to feel greater than ever.
— Bill Oram reported from Eugene.
boram@oregonian.com | Twitter: @billoram
