– Oregon cornerback Troy Hill pleaded guilty to menacing on Friday morning for his arrest on Dec. 13. Hill was sentenced to 36 months of probation, $200 in fines, 70 hours of community service and must complete a treatment program for anger. The redshirt senior was arraigned —and suspended from the Alamo Bowl— three days after the arrest on charges of menacing, criminal mischief and fourth-degree assault, including strangulation.
– ESPN’s Pac-12 Blog concluded their countdown of the conference’s top 25 players in 2013 on Friday, and Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota topped the list. ESPN’s list included three other Ducks, as well: cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu (No. 14), center Hroniss Grasu (No. 23) and wide receiver Josh Huff (No. 24).
– USA Today released their college baseball coaches’ poll on Wednesday, and Oregon is No. 7 on the list. The Ducks are ranked even higher in Collegiate Baseball’s poll, at No. 6. Oregon is No. 8 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s poll and No. 11 in Baseball America’s. The Oregon baseball season starts on Feb. 14 against Hawaii in Honolulu.
– The Oregon sand volleyball team will begin their inaugural season on Mar. 21 against South Carolina, assistant coach Stacy Metro announced. The Ducks will play 10 matches from March 21 to April 12. The first five contests will take place in Charleston, S.C., and the final two will be in Portland, Ore. The athletic department released a photo gallery of Oregon’s uniforms, which can be seen here.
– Three Oregon softball players —pitcher Cheridan Hawkins, catcher Alexa Peterson and outfielder Janie Takeda— were named to USA Softball’s top 50 watch list. The sophomore Hawkins led the Pac-12 in 2013 with a .128 batting average and was second in the conference in ERA (1.55). The junior Takeda led the Pac-12 in batting average (including postseason) at .442 and Peterson, a senior, won the conference’s regular season batting title, also at .442 (Peterson batted .424 overall). The Oregon softball season begins on Feb. 7 against Cal Poly at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
– The Oregonian welcomed a new Ducks sports reporter earlier this week. Tyson Alger is currently helping Andrew Greif with the Oregon men’s basketball beat and will take over as the main men’s basketball beat writer next season. Alger will also be the lead Oregon baseball beat writer this spring and will help out with football in the fall. Alger interned at the Oregonian in 2010.
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415