​Unlike last season, I was able to wait for the college baseball season to conclude before running the numbers on the Ducks’ performance. Today I’ll be looking at the bats, while next week I will cover pitching. Having an extra season of data added to my numbers is exciting (for me anyway…) but the biggest change is that the Ducks have played Big Ten competition throughout the regular season for two years in a row. This gives a good baseline comparison between Coach Waz’ last two squads.A brief review of the batting stats I decided to use for this summary is in order.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAVG – Batting average is the number of base hits (regardless of how many bases the batter took) divided by the number of at bats.HR/AB – Home Runs per At Bat is right as it says “on the tin,” the total number of home runs a player hit divided by their number of at bats.OBP – On Base Percentage adds the number of times a batter got on base (including walks and being hit by a pitch) and divides by the number of at bats.SLG – Slugging average is computed as the total number of bases a batter attains off of their hits (so singles count 1, doubles, 2, etc.) divided by the number of at bats.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOPS – OPS is the sum of OBP and slugging average, and intended to measure a combination of a batter’s efficiency and power.I compiled numbers for all CWS teams post-COVID (2021 and beyond), then censored any batter with fewer than 120 plate appearances so as to only include contributors who might feature in post season play. Below is the central tendency and spread for a “typical” CWS caliber batting line up.StatAVGHR/ABOBPSLGOPSMedian0.3000.0450.4080.5090.912Std Dev0.0180.0130.0200.0490.063So how have the Ducks compared since they have been in the Big Ten?SeasonAVGHR/ABOBPSLGOPS20250.3070.0710.4230.5791.00220260.2890.0520.3940.5100.905Even without reference to the CWS center and spread, it doesn’t take an expert to know that the 2026 team having lower numbers in every metric I included is not good news. In 2025, the Ducks were at or above the CWS median in each category against a weak Big Ten schedule, but still couldn’t muster a playoff run. In 2026 they fell by at least a full standard deviation in every metric, but were able to at least make a super regional. More consistency during regionals can only take this team so far on offense.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOff season developments have unfortunately not been especially encouraging regarding the batting line up. Major offensive contributors Naulivou Lauaki Jr. and Angel Laya have entered the transfer portal. Incoming are INF Carter Johnstone (who struggled in one season at Vanderbilt but was a productive batter at Cal State Fullerton before that) and INF Jake Evans from Cal-State Long Beach. Details on Johnstone’s struggles in Nashville are beyond the scope of this article, but perhaps a change of scenery and Big Ten pitc