Oregon baseball slips in national rankings ahead of USC series

The Oregon Ducks lost their second weekend series of the season, but it came on the road against No. 1 UCLA, which was undefeated in conference play entering the series. Oregon put an end to that streak, winning on Saturday, but couldn't pull off the series victory after blowing a lead on Sunday.

A 1-2 week on the diamond led the Ducks to drop in the national rankings. In the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, Oregon slipped one spot to No. 15. A losing week can sometimes send a team's confidence into a downward spiral, but the Ducks felt energized by the hard-fought series in Los Angeles. They jumped eight spots to No. 19 in the RPI rankings, placing them firmly on the bubble to host a regional in the NCAA Tournament.

Elsewhere in the poll, the Bruins maintained the top spot, sporting the country's best record. Oregon State moved up one spot to No. 7, and USC jumped the Ducks by moving up three spots to No. 13. The Trojans will come to Eugene for the final series of the regular season, and both USC and Oregon will be competing to lock up a regional hosting bid.

In D1Baseball's poll, which is commonly used by teams as the official rankings, the Ducks felt a harsher judgment, slipping three spots to No. 16. The Trojans, who swept Nevada over the weekend, are just one spot behind the Ducks at No. 17.

USC is No. 8 in the RPI rankings. If the Ducks can take care of business on their home field, they will have tremendous odds to host a regional in Eugene for the second year in a row.

Oregon sits with a 36-14 record this season and 18-9 in Big Ten play. The Ducks are third in the Big Ten standings, trailing UCLA and Nebraska. The Ducks own the tiebreaker over the Cornhuskers after winning a series against them earlier this season, so the Ducks could wind up as the conference runner-ups by the end of the week.