Reno High's Grayson Grinsell on Pac-12 All-Tournament team after leading Oregon to title
Former Reno High star Grayson Grinsell was named to the 11-player Pac-12 All-Tournament team after leading Oregon to the conference tournament championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament last weekend.
Grinsell appeared in two of Oregon's four games as the Ducks went 4-0 in the tournament, beating Arizona, 5-4, in the championship game. A freshman lefty, Grinsell started the team's tournament opener and allowed two runs in three innings before getting a no-decision in a 3-2 win over Cal. Grinsell also logged 3.2 scoreless inning while getting the win in a 12-7 victory over Washington in the semifinals. Overall, he allowed six hits and two walks in 6.2 innings, yielding two runs (2.69 ERA) with eight strikeouts.
Grinsell has appeared in 26 games with one start this season, going 2-1 and pitching to a 3.60 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over 40 innings. He's struck out 54 batters and limited the opposition to a .214 batting average.
Oregon went 37-20 overall and 16-14 in the Pac-12 (sixth place) before winning the conference tournament title as the No. 6 seed with victories over No. 1 seed Stanford, No. 9 Cal, No. 3 Washington and No. 8 Arizona. Grinsell was one of four Oregon players on the All-Tournament team.
Oregon will play in the Nashville Regional along with Vanderbilt, the No. 6 overall seed; Xavier and Eastern Illinois. The Ducks open the tournament against Xavier at 10 a.m. Friday on ESPN+.
The Mountain West's NCAA Regional team is San Jose State, which beat Air Force in the conference tournament title game. The Spartans are the No. 4 seed in the Stanford Regional and face the Cardinal, the No. 8 overall seed, in the first round Friday at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
Among other locals in the tournament are former Nevada players Cam Walty (Arizona), Dario Gomez (Miami) and Landon Wallace (West Virginia), who all transferred this offseason.
Ex-Nevada head coaches Jay Johnson (head coach at LSU) and TJ Bruce (assistant coach at TCU) also are in the field. Johnson's Tigers are the No. 5 overall seed while Bruce's Horned Frogs are coming off a win of the Big 12 Tournament. LSU opens its Regional against Tulane, which is led by ex-Nevada assistant coach Jay Uhlman, whose team won the American Athletic Conference title despite being the seventh seed. Tulane enters the Regional at 19-40, the fewest wins of any team in the 64-school field. On his staff is Justin Bridgman, a former standout at Damonte Ranch High and Nevada.