The NCAA Baseball selection show aired on Monday morning, announcing the 64 teams that will compete for glory in the 2025 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

The Ducks earned the No. 12 seed in the tournament after a 41-13 regular season and a 1-1 run in the Big Ten Tournament. Joining Oregon in the Eugene Regional will be the No. 2-seeded Arizona Wildcats (39-18), the No. 3 Cal Poly Mustangs (41-17) and the Utah Valley Wolverines (32-27).

Arizona won the Big 12 Baseball Tournament in Arlington Texas over the weekend. Cal Poly won the Big West Tournament and Utah Valley won the Western Athletic Conference. Oregon will be the only team in its own regional to not have won its respective conference tournament after falling to Nebraska in pool play. 

As the No. 12 seed, Oregon and the Eugene Regional are lined up across the Chapel Hill Regional. The No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels are hosting Holy Cross, Oklahoma and Nebraska. The winner of the Chapel Hill Regional will play the winner of the Eugene Regional in the NCAA Super Regional round. If UNC wins its regional, the winner of the Eugene Regional will head to Chapel Hill. If Oregon wins in Eugene and UNC loses, the winner of the Chapel Hill Regional will come to Eugene for the Super Regional. 

The regional will start on Friday and run through Sunday. The start times are TBD, but Oregon will open against Utah Valley while Cal Poly plays Arizona. The two winners will play on Saturday, along with the two losers. 

The winner of the winner’s game advances to the Regional Championship. The loser of the loser’s game is eliminated while the winner advances to play the loser of the winner’s game. The winner of that game will fill the second spot in the Regional Championship and will have to beat the 2-0 team twice on Sunday. 

PK Park is hosting a regional for the first time since 2021. This upcoming weekend will be the fourth time that Oregon has hosted an NCAA Regional. The last time postseason baseball was played in PK Park was the Super Regionals against Oral Roberts in 2022.

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The Ducks kicked the ball around on Saturday, committing four errors and a series of other blunders as their Big Ten Tournament run came to an end with a 7-3 loss to Nebraska. 

“We didn’t play good defense today,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “That’s always been a staple of our program and we usually rally around our defense to create positive momentum, and we weren’t able to do that.”

No.4-ranked and top-seeded Oregon (42-14) had to overcome No. 8-seeded Nebraska (30-27), a rowdy Huskers’ home crowd and Lady Luck on Saturday, but weren’t able to escape victorious. 

Both teams took down Michigan State in pool play to set up a Pool A championship game. A rainy Friday night in Omaha pushed the contest into Saturday and served both squads an early morning. 

“Obviously, I didn’t do a good enough job getting them reset and ready to go for today,” Wasikowski said. 

Nebraska’s Gabe Swansen wasn’t fazed. He took Grayson Grinsell deep to left field in the top of the first to hand Nebraska an early 2-0 lead. It didn’t get any better in the second. A fielding error from Jacob Walsh — the Ducks’ second in as many innings — led to an RBI double from Hogan Helligso to plate an unearned run and deepen Oregon’s early hole.

The offense recorded its first two hits in the bottom of the second, back-to-back knocks from Anson Aroz and Maddox Molony that put the Ducks on the board. That would be the extent of Oregon’s scoring until the ninth. 

Oregon’s bad luck continued in the third as Walsh grounded into a 1-6-3 double play to eliminate a golden scoring opportunity with runners on the corners and only one out. It felt that very little went Oregon’s way in the loss, it’s first since May 2. 

Another misplayed ball, this one from Drew Smith in right field, gave the Huskers a man in scoring position in the fourth. Riley Silva picked up an RBI with a two-out single as the cards continued to fall Nebraska’s way. Another double-play ball killed Oregon’s rally hopes again in the bottom of the frame.

Back-to-back hits and a throwing error from Aroz set Nebraska up with two in scoring position with nobody out in the fifth, giving way to a two-run inning from the Huskers’ offense that put the Ducks’ Big Ten Tournament hopes on life support. 

The Ducks needed another great outing for Grinsell, who had been a rock for them during conference play, but he only lasted four innings. He allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits while fanning six. He earned just his third loss of the season on Saturday. 

“They did a nice job with two strikes,” Wasikowski said. “I don’t think Grayson did a fantastic job executing some of his pitches with two strikes, but any time you’re asking any pitcher to (get) four (or) five outs in an inning, that’s not success.”

Every tipped ball, interference call, bad read on a ball or funky hop went Nebraska’s way on Saturday morning. It didn’t help that Oregon finished the Big Ten Tournament without a homer, but it felt like it didn’t matter what the Ducks did against Nebraska. Oregon actually outhit the Huskers 12-11, but hit into three double plays to kill any sort of momentum in three different frames. 

The Ducks were able to do very little against Nebraska lefty Jackson Brockett. The Huskers’ ace worked out of jam after jam, limiting the Ducks to a run on six hits across his stellar 6.0 innings of work. 

“He threw the ball over the plate,” Wasikowski said. “We hit some balls on the nose at some people. I thought we gave away some at-bats as well, and so, there’s probably something that he was doing that was adding to that or leading to that. He pitched a heck of a game. He got a standing ovation on the way out. I thought the people in Omaha and the people wearing red today congratulated their player as they should have. He did a nice job.”

Ryan Featherston worked four innings of one-run, three-hit ball in the loss. His outing kept Nebraska’s offense at bay aside from an RBI single from Cayden Brumbaugh, but Oregon’s offense was never able to crawl back into the game. 

“I thought there were some moments that were really good in the game, just like most games, there’s always some positives that you can reflect on,” Wasikowski said. 

The Ducks’ ninth-inning rally came too late. An RBI double from Carter Garate and a sac-fly from Mason Neville brought a pair of runners home, but Walsh lined out to right to end their tournament run. 

The Ducks will have to wait until Monday to learn their NCAA Tournament fate. It’s unlikely that Oregon will be a national seed after going 1-1 in the Big Ten Tournament, but PK Park should still host a Regional for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 

“There’s been enough statements,” Wasikowski said. “I’m not going to go off on a tangent right now. This team is loaded. They’re really good. They got a chance to win a national championship and I think the committee and all the polls and everybody in the game knows that.” 

Oregon’s resume is pretty good with a Big Ten regular season title, sweeps over Oregon State, USC, Washington and Iowa and a 9-1 record in Quad 1 games. We’ll see if that’s good enough for the committee on Monday.

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There’s no such thing as a “meaningless game” for a team that’s trying to maximize its seeding for the NCAA Tournament. Therefore, the 4-2 win Oregon picked up over Michigan State on Thursday was far from meaningless.

The Ducks took down the Spartans despite only plating four runs. They took advantage of a great night on the mound from Ian Umlandt and some timely hitting from Anson Aroz and Drew Smith to open their Big Ten Tournament run with a win. 

“There were several performances when we needed it, but I was just pleased with the fact that we were able to come out on top when maybe we didn’t play our best game,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. 

The Ducks (42-13) entered Thursday’s contest ranked fourth nationally and first in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State (28-27) was the last team to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament and was seeded No. 12 for the last few games of its season. The Spartans’ 2025 campaign came to close in Omaha as they went 0-2 in pool play in the Big Ten Tournament. 

With Friday night’s matchup being the pivotal one for the Ducks’ future in the Big Ten Tournament, Thursday’s contest primarily mattered for Oregon’s national RPI, which entered the tournament 12th in the country. The Ducks needed to avoid a loss to MSU (RPI No. 133) to keep its hosting chances as high as possible. 

“We knew today, really there isn’t a whole lot to gain from it, aside from the fact that a win is another win,” Wasikowski said. “But boy was there a lot on the line with a loss today.” 

It didn’t get off to the best start. A leadoff double from MSU’s Ryan McKay hurt the Ducks as Sam Busch picked up the game’s first RBI with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. 

Oregon countered in the bottom of the frame with a two-out, two-RBI double from Aroz. Mason Neville was thrown out at the plate earlier in the frame on a bunt from Smith, but both Smith and Dominic Hellman came around to score on Aroz’s timely knock as the Ducks took a lead that would last until the seventh inning. 

MSU starter Nolan Higgins only faced the Oregon lineup once before being swapped for George Viebrock III as the Ducks turned their lineup over in the second. Viebrock III became the second of five Spartan pitchers used on Thursday as he got Neville to fly out to end the inning. 

MSU brought a pair of runners to the corners with two outs in the third, but Oregon starter Ian Umlandt made a series of big pitches to fan Busch to end the threat. Umlandt collected five strikeouts across his 6.2-inning outing.

“I take a lot of pride in being able to work deep into games,” Umlandt said. “When my name is called, it’s just ‘how can I extend? How many guys can I get out?’ We’ve got 27 outs, so how close can I get to 27? As a starting pitcher, that’s my job.”

Umlandt had to deal with at least one runner reaching in six of the seven innings he featured in, but he did a nice job limiting the Spartans to two runs (one earned) on four hits across his  89 pitches. 

“When it comes down to it, it’s just making pitches, throwing a lot of strikes and letting guys get themselves out,” Umlandt said. “If I can do that, I feel confident in the defense behind me and I feel confident that I’m going to give us the best chance to win.” 

The Ducks took some time adjusting to the lighting and spaciousness of Charles Schwab Field on Thursday. They were limited to the two runs from Aroz until the seventh inning and only had four hits after five frames. The Ducks struggled with runners on base, finishing 4-11 and stranding 10 potential runs. 

“We obviously had some opening-day jitters as a club,” Wasikowski said. “Hopefully we can get that out of our system. Collectively, I don’t think we played a very good baseball game, probably one of our worst games we’ve played now for some time.”

One game after making a costly error in right to cost his Spartans a win over Nebraska, Parker Picot led the seventh off with a double and took third after Neville misplayed the ball in the outfield. He came in to score as Ryan Cooney committed a throwing error trying to nail him at the plate. The two errors cost the Ducks an unearned run and the lead. 

Hellman reached for the fourth time in the bottom of the seventh, but was pinch-ran for to cap off his 2-2, two-walk night. Oregon entered the bottom of the eighth inning in serious danger of messing up its postseason-hosting goals. 

Smith, however, had other plans. He ripped an RBI single into left to plate Jax Gimenez and put Oregon back ahead. Aroz (3-4, three RBIs) followed it up with his second RBI hit of the contest to bring the lead to two runs with two innings to play. 

“We had some really clutch performances with Ian (Umlandt) and the pitching staff,” Wasikowski said. “Specifically with (Santiago Garcia) and Seth Mattox, and some really clutch performances offensively with Hellman and Aroz and Smith.”

Garcia and Mattox took it from there. Garcia earned the win with 1.1 innings of hitless, scoreless ball and Mattox picked up his eighth save of the season. 

“It’s the same trust it’s been all year,” Umlandt said of the bullpen. “Hand the ball off and you’ve got some of the best bullpen arms in the conference and the country behind you. Santy’s stuff is ridiculous. Seth has proven it in outing after outing now and there’s never a doubt.”

Oregon has now won 11-straight games and 15 of its last 16. The Ducks will look to win Pool A with a win over Nebraska on Friday night at 4:00 p.m. PST. With a win, Oregon will advance to the semifinal round on Saturday to play Penn State. 

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Before Oregon got its sweep of Washington started, the Ducks hosted a naming ceremony at Pat Kilkenny (PK) Park as the field unveiled its new identity.

Moving forward, Oregon baseball will play its home games at Bob Kilkenny Field at PK Park, paying homage to former athletic director Pat Kilkenny’s father. 

Bob was an intricate part of Oregon baseball’s return to the athletic program in 2008 after a 27-year hiatus from Division-1 play. 

“He was our dad, and then he became our really good friend,” Pat said. “How many people actually get to have a parent that’s their friend? And we chose to hang out with him.”

Bob grew up in the farming town of Heppner, Oregon, but attended the University of Oregon in 1948. He was a Duck fan long before his son, Pat, was named the athletic director in 2007. Although Pat only served as the AD for two years, the Oregon baseball program was rejuvenated during his stint, giving PK Park its name. 

Bob also played a key role in the return of baseball, breaking ground for PK Park on his John Deer in 2018. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 86. That day, he was named the “Mayor of PK Park”, and now his legacy will sit on the outfield wall forever.

The Bob Kilkenny Field logo features strands of wheat with five blades, one for each of his children, each of which attended the University of Oregon. It sits on both the left-field wall and behind home plate near the third-base dugout. 

“It was just an extraordinary childhood that we had,” Pat said. “And we didn’t know that we didn’t have anything because we had everything. We had love.”

The Ducks wore stickers on their helmets with the logo during their three-game sweep of Washington. Oregon has the chance to host more games at Bob Kilkenny Field at PK Park if the Ducks are selected to host an NCAA Regional, but either way, they went 28-8 at home during the 2025 regular season.

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The Big Ten Tournament gets started at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska on Tuesday. The No. 4-ranked Oregon Ducks (41-13, 22-8 Big Ten) won the Big Ten regular season title and secured the No. 1 seed in their first Big Ten Tournament after sweeping Iowa on the road. They went into Iowa City knowing they needed to sweep the then-first-place Hawkeyes and get some help from Northwestern to lock up the top seed in the tournament. They did just that, outscoring Iowa 32-10 in a three-game sweep. Northwestern took a game from UCLA to allow the Ducks to claim the top spot. 

Now, they turn their eyes to Omaha.

The format of the Big Ten Tournament is a little funky. The 12 best teams in the conference are divided into four pools of three. The Ducks are in Pool A with No. 8-seeded Nebraska (28-27, 15-15 Big Ten) and the last team to qualify: No. 12 Michigan State (28-25, 13-17 Big Ten).

Pool B consists of No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Michigan and No. 11 Illinois. Pool C is filled with No. 3 Iowa, No. 6 Indiana and No. 10 Rutgers. Pool D rounds out the field with No. 4 USC, No. 5 Washington and No. 9 Penn State.

Each team will play the other two teams in their pool across the four days (Tuesday-Friday) of pool play. Oregon will face No. 12 Michigan State on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. and No. 8 Nebraska the following night at the same time. 

The winner of each pool advances to the semifinal round on Saturday. Should Oregon survive Pool A, the Ducks will play the winner of Pool D on Saturday. 

Oregon took two of three from Michigan State in East Lansing during the first weekend of May. In fact, the last time the Ducks lost a game was to the Spartans on May 2. MSU ace Joseph Dzierwa dominated Oregon on a fateful Friday night as he pitched a complete-game shutout and limited the Ducks to just three hits. 

While Oregon responded to take Saturday’s contest 13-5 and held on for a tense 3-1 win on Sunday, Dzierwa’s performance surely still sticks in the mind of Oregon’s offense. The Ducks got the series win (one of nine they’d capture in Big Ten play) despite not playing their best ball for the majority of the season. Still, anything can happen in any given baseball game and that leaves Oregon vulnerable to another pitching gem from Dzierwa.

While it’s unclear if the Ducks will have to face Dzierwa or not (Michigan State has to play Nebraska first on Tuesday at 4 p.m.), they need to prepare like they are and make some adjustments if they’re going to beat him the second time around. 

Then there’s Nebraska, a team Oregon didn’t play in its 30-game Big Ten schedule. The Cornhuskers will surely have the home-field advantage in Omaha with their campus in Lincoln just 56 miles down the road.

Nebraska was an even 15-15 in conference play this season. The Cornhuskers won series over Rutgers, Northwestern, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan and Purdue, but fell to Washington, UCLA, USC and Iowa. 

Nebraska won six Big Ten series, but only two of those opponents made the Big Ten Tournament field. The four series that the Huskers lost came to the 2-5 seeds in the tournament. Essentially, they beat all the bad teams but fell to the top teams in the conference. 

Looking at that slate, it would be easy to call Nebraska a bottom feeder in the Big Ten, but the Huskers took a three-game series over Oregon State back in March. The Huskers seem like the epitome of a team that a good squad should beat, but could be dangerous if you catch them on a good day. 

Now, here’s where Oregon’s advantage comes in. As previously mentioned, only the winner of each pool will advance to the semifinal round. If a team goes 2-0 in their pool, they’d obviously win the pool, but if every team goes 1-1 in pool play, the top-seeded team in the pool would automatically advance. 

That means the Ducks really only need one win to advance to the semifinals, and they’ll have the knowledge of which game they have to win before it’s played. Nebraska and Michigan State will face off on Tuesday. The loser will not have a path to the semifinal the second, so, Oregon could lose to that team and have it not impact its tournament. 

The Ducks will only have to beat the winner of the Nebraska/Michigan State game to advance, but they have to win that game. Otherwise, that other team would be 2-0 and claim the Pool A spot in the semifinals. 

This gives Oregon a massive pitching advantage. The Ducks will be able to save their ace, Grayson Grinsell, for the game against the winner of the MSU/Nebraska game and treat the other game as a bullpen game. 

In any tournament, the margin of error is pretty low. Oregon’s hopes of advancing to the semifinals will rest solely on one game in Omaha. We’ll know just which game that is after Tuesday’s contest. But, the Ducks are riding a 10-game winning streak and have won 14 of their last 15, so they’re not a team anyone should want to face in Omaha. 

The Pool A winner will play in the first semifinal game at noon on Saturday. The winner of that game will advance to the Big Ten Championship Game on Sunday at noon. 

If everything goes as planned, Oregon could be three wins (four if it wins both pool games) away from another Big Ten accolade. 

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The Ducks needed to sweep Iowa to claim the Big Ten regular season title and they brought the brooms with them to Iowa City. No. 5 Oregon (41-13, 22-8 Big Ten) capped off its tremendous regular season with an 13-4 win to sweep the Hawkeyes (32-20-1, 21-9 Big Ten).

The Ducks will take a 10-game winning streak into postseason play. They’ve won 14 of their last 15 and will be the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, next week.

Oregon sent righty Jason Reitz to the mound while Iowa countered with RHP Reece Beuter. With seeding, RPI and rankings on the mound, both squads needed a good outing from their guy and the Ducks got one from Reitz. 

For the first time all weekend, Iowa struck first. Reitz hit the Hawkeye’ leadoff batter, who stole second and took third on a wild pitch before Caleb Wulf brought him home with an RBI groundout. While Iowa stranded two in the frame, the Hawkeyes still broke through for the game’s first run and made Reitz spend 24 pitches. 

A funky play in left gave Iowa a runner on third with one out in the second, but Reitz was able to strand him, but his pitch count rose to 44 in another long inning. 

Oregon, meanwhile, was held hitless until the top of the third when Carter Garate left the year for the second time in the series. His third blast of the season tied the game. The lefties in Oregon’s lineup provided a lot of loud contact against Beuter in his first time through the lineup, but Garate was the only one to get anything out of it. 

Bueter’s outing ended a few batters later as Iowa turned to its bullpen. He threw 2.2 innings of one-hit, one-run ball on 42 strikeouts. Iowa went to lefty Ben DeTaeye to get Jacob Walsh swinging to end the frame. In all, the Hawkeyes used six pitchers in the loss.    

Oregon took the lead in the fourth with a pair of two-out hits from the bottom of the lineup. Ryan Cooney (2-3, three RBIs) doubled to score Drew Smith and Garate (3-4, five RBIs) beat out a push bunt to score Chase Meggers and open up a 3-1 lead. 

Reitz settled down after his rocky start, retiring seven-straight from the second to the fourth innings. 

Dominic Hellman and Walsh both reached to start the fifth inning and put runners on second and third with nobody out. After an Iowa pitching change, Anson Aroz plated Hellman with an RBI groundout, but Meggers grounded into a double play to end the frame. Despite all the action on the basepaths, the Ducks only captured one run in a long top of the fifth. 

Cooney led the sixth off with a solo shot — his fifth of the season — to the opposite field to put Oregon ahead by four. Later in the frame, a gargantuan blast from Walsh (his 19th) broke the game open. His homer plated three and gave Oregon an 8-1 advantage. The No. 1 seed in Omaha was close enough to smell, but Oregon needed to hold the lead. 

Reitz’s day ended with two on and two out in the sixth. Ryan Featherston recorded the frame’s final out, bringing Reitz’s final line to 5.2 innings, one run, four hits, four strikeouts and two walks on 96 pitches. Reitz has now thrown at least five full innings in his last six outings.

Andy Nelson homered in the bottom of the seventh to get Iowa back on the board after being shut out from the second through sixth innings. Hellman erased it with a solo shot of his own in the top of the eighth, Oregon’s fourth homer of the day and his 12th of the year. The Ducks will finish with a record 107 homers in the 2025 regular season. 

Cole Stokes walked in a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. Santiago Garcia came in as Iowa looked to get back in the contest, but he got Reese Moore to ground out to end the threat and limit the damage to a pair of runs. 

Garate continued his elite weekend in the ninth with a three-run shot to deal the final blow of Oregon’s 13-4 win.

With the win, Oregon secures at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title and the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The Ducks will be placed in Pool A with the No. 8 and No. 12 seeds in the tournament. Oregon will play the No. 12 seed on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. and the No. 8 seed on Friday at 4:00 p.m. If Oregon wins Pool A, the Ducks will advance to the semifinals on Saturday and play at noon.

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The No. 5 Ducks (39-19, 20-8 Big Ten) entered their weekend series against Iowa with everything on the table. Their Big Ten Tournament standing and seeding, national rank and RPI will all be decided after a crucial set against the Hawkeyes (32-18-1, 21-7 Big Ten), who entered the weekend atop the Big Ten standings. 

After their series-opening win, a decisive 10-0 victory, everything Oregon wants to accomplish in Iowa City is well within its reach. Everything went the Ducks’ way in one of their most complete wins of the season. 

The pitching was phenomenal. The Ducks only needed one arm: Grayson Grinsell. He again proved that he’s one of the top pitchers in the Big Ten, throwing a complete-game shutout while only surrendering two hits on 116 pitches. 

He would have been everything the Ducks needed even if they hadn’t erupted for 10 runs to enact the run rule after seven innings. Oregon clobbered four homers (all from the last four guys in its lineup) in the crushing win. 

A trio of singles in the top of the first got the Ducks on the board as Drew Smith picked up an early RBI. He finished 2-3 in the win. Grinsell held down the 1-0 lead until the Ducks’ bats got hot again in the fourth. He fanned eight and only walked one in his ninth win of the season. 

Burke-Lee Mabeus demonstrated his knack for small ball with a sac-bunt in the fourth that brought home Oregon’s second run and doubled its lead. Evidently, the small ball wasn’t necessary as Carter Garate blasted a grand slam out to right field to plate four. Garate now has two homers of the season and, funnily enough, they’ve both been grand slams on the road. 

Garate’s blast sparked the Ducks’ homer parade. Maddox Molony clobbered a pair of homers — his 14th and 15th of the season — in the fifth and seventh innings before Ryan Cooney sent his fourth of the year out to put Oregon ahead by 10 and put the Ducks three outs away from a run-rule win. Grinsell finished the job for his third complete-game effort of the season.

Oregon took the first game of the crucial series in dominant fashion and will go for the series win on Friday. A sweep coupled with any UCLA loss to Northwestern will earn the Ducks the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament next week. With the win, Oregon has already secured a top-three seed in the tournament. Collin Clarke will take the mound on Friday at two as the Ducks go for the series win.

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Washington had a huge opportunity to knot the game in the eighth. One of the Huskies’ few true chances to do anything on the week was denied by a series of elite pitches from Jaxon Jordan. 

He came in with the bases loaded and one out as the Ducks clung to a two-run lead. He got one batter to pop out and fanned another with a devastating sequence of pitching to slam the door. 

That was as close as Washington got to dealing the Ducks any true damage on the weekend as the Ducks earned the three-game sweep with a 5-3 win on Sunday at PK Park.  

No. 5 Oregon (38-13, 19-8 Big Ten) earned a Mother’s Day, Senior Day and Sunday win over Washington (27-25, 15-12 Big Ten) to potentially turn the lights out on any hopes of the Huskies making a postseason appearance.

“Sweeping anybody’s hard to do,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “We were able to pull it off. Very happy with the ballclub.” 

It took the Ducks one pitch to get after Washington starter Justin Tims. Mason Neville took his first offering of the day to right-center for his nation-leading 26th homer of the season. Tims entered the game without a winning start since late March and Neville showed PK Park why as he opened the scoring as early as physically possible.

Oregon’s Jason Reitz wasn’t overly sharp to start his afternoon on the mound, either. He allowed a runner to reach scoring position in each of his first two innings and was already at 40 pitches after two frames, but he made some timely pitches to keep Washington off the board for the entirety of his six-inning outing. 

Anson Aroz led off the bottom of the second in the same way Neville opened the first. His 15th blast of the season made its way into the Oregon training area and doubled the Ducks’ early lead. Two batters later, Chase Meggers also left the yard for his first homer of the year, a two-run shot that plated himself and Maddox Molony. 

“It felt really good,” Meggers said. “I think the biggest thing was my mom’s here and it’s Mother’s Day. I wouldn’t be here without her, so it was special to hit that in front of her.”

Tims’ day ended before he could record an out in the second. He surrendered four runs on five hits in just 20 pitches in his shortest outing since February. Reitz, on the other hand, found his groove. His third, fourth and fifth innings of work (all scoreless) combined for 32 pitches. He found his rhythm, but those long first frames limited his day to six frames on 91 pitches.

“I don’t focus on the pitch count too much,” Reitz said. “Just going out there and throwing strikes, just pounding and attacking for the team and as long as I can do whatever to go deep, that’s what I’m going to do.”

He only allowed three hits (all to shortstop Sam DeCarlo) in his outing and picked up his fourth win of the season.

“I think he was landing his pitches a little bit better as he got going,” Wasikowski said. “Third, fourth, fifth inning, you know. He got his two-seamer working. He was able to elevate his fastball when he needed to and his secondary pitches landed for strikes.”

The Ducks loaded the bases with two outs and a single before an out was recorded in the fifth. Molony sent a sac fly into left to plate a run, but Washington’s Isaac Yeager (five innings, one run, two hits) limited the damage to the lone tally in his remarkable relief outing. 

Ian Umlandt took over the pitching duties for Oregon in the seventh, but only recorded one out before relenting a two-run homer to Cooper Whitton that got the Huskies on the board. Ryan Featherston came in and recorded a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage. 

A single and a pair of Cole Stokes hit-by-pitches loaded the bases for Washington in the eighth. A wild pitch brought a run across before Jordan came in and got two clutch outs for the Ducks, who took a two-run lead into the ninth. 

“I know in the past, people have criticized the bullpen or whatever,” Jordan said. “But we don’t buy into any of that. We know we’re good.”

The offense, meanwhile, completely shut down after the Molony sacrifice fly. The UW bullpen retired the final 12 Oregon hitters, but the lead was enough for the Ducks to earn their second Big Ten sweep of the season. Jordan, Toby Twist and Seth Mattox combined to pitch an ugly, but scoreless, ninth. Meggers capped off the sweep by gunning a man at second on an attempted steal. 

The Ducks are now winners of seven-straight games and 11 of their last 12. They’re playing their best ball down the stretch and look to stay hot against Iowa — the current leader in the Big Ten standings — on the road next weekend.

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In a season that’s been full of incredible games and storylines, Saturday’s 6-4 win over Washington felt almost monotonous, one that may not stick out when reflecting on the Ducks’ 2025 season.

The result, a series win over the rival Huskies, will be what’s remembered, and it couldn’t have come at a much better time. No. 5 Oregon (37-13, 18-8 Big Ten) is playing its best ball and was able to continue its winning streak (which is up to six games) by securing another conference series over Washington (27-24, 15-11 Big Ten).

Series, Ducks.

After getting shut out on Friday, the Huskies wasted little time writing a different script on Saturday. An early error and single put a pair of runners on to set up Colton Bower, who delivered with a two-RBI single. The Huskies’ first runs of the series opened up an early 2-0 hole for Oregon to climb out of. 

The Ducks got one back in the second. Drew Smith opened the frame with a leadoff double and Maddox Molony drove him in with a single into left. The unearned runs from the first would remain the difference in Saturday’s contest until the fourth, when a Huskies’ error cost them their lead. 

 A two-out grounder off the bat of Carter Garate was thrown away by Sam DeCarlo at short, allowing Chase Meggers to score the tying run and bringing Mason Neville to the plate, who doubled down the right-field line to bring in a pair of runs. Oregon took a 4-2 advantage in a three-run fourth. 

Garate’s hit was ruled an infield single with a throwing error, so all three runs were still credited to UW starter Jackson Thomas, but the crooked number Oregon hung in the fourth was incredibly avoidable.

Oregon starter Collin Clarke settled in nicely after the two-run first inning. He retired 10-straight hitters from the second to fifth inning, a string that broke on Cooper Whitton’s second homer of the season in the fifth. 

“I’ve seen pitchers that don’t have a great first inning and then they just bag it and they kind of quit on themselves,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “(Clarke) didn’t do that. He battled.”

Casen Taggart also homered in the frame to knot the contest at four and temporarily swing the momentum away from Oregon, but Jacob Walsh earned the lead right back just three pitches into the following inning. The Ducks’ all-time homer king took the lead right back in the fifth as he sent his 17th homer of the season into the parking lot. 

“The best time to make a run is at the end of the year,” Walsh said. “I think the bats are hot and we’re pitching well and playing good defense.”

Clarke’s day ended shortly after. He threw five innings of four-hit, four-run (two earned) ball. He only threw 70 pitches in his outing, but he turned the game over to Santiago Garcia and the Oregon bullpen with a lead to protect. 

“I was really proud of Collin,” Wasikowski said. “When he didn’t have his best stuff, his competitiveness was there. We wouldn’t have won without him.”

That lead grew as Neville continued his historic season by launching his 25th homer of the year out to left-center field. Neville finished 2-5 with three RBIs in his first game back in center field. His latest blast, which came on a 3-0 count, put Oregon ahead 6-4 in the sixth. 

“I think if you’re on time with the pitcher, it helps a lot”, Neville said. “There’s some days where you see the ball great and there’s some days where you have to battle up there, and that’s just baseball.”

Garcia walked the first batter he faced before retiring seven straight across 2.1 frames while tallying four strikeouts. 

“It felt really good to get out there and just freaking throw, man,” Garcia said. “I’ve been wanting to do that for the past couple weeks and I’m glad (pitching coach Blake Hawksworth) gave me the chance to go out there and do it.”

Cole Stokes took over in the eighth and got two quick outs to hold the lead. Seth Mattox worked a scoreless ninth to seal his fifth save of the season and Oregon’s 37th win of 2025.

The Ducks have now won their last six games and 10 of their last 11. They’re playing their best ball down the final stretch of the regular season and they’ll go for the sweep tomorrow. Jason Reitz will be on the mound for Oregon. First pitch for Senior Day is set for 12:05 p.m.

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Grayson Grinsell dominating on Friday nights is starting to become routine for the No. 5 Ducks. He threw seven shutout innings as No. 5 Oregon (36-13, 18-8 Big Ten) served Washington (27-22, 15-9 Big Ten) a goose (or duck) egg on the scoreboard. 

Oregon was determined to win after a pregame ceremony to officially name the Ducks’ home “Bob Kilkenny Field at PK Park”. With Pat Kilkenny and family in attendance, Oregon didn’t disappoint.

The Ducks got right after Washington starter Max Banks. Mason Neville drew a leadoff walk to tie the Oregon single-season record with his 50th walk of the year. Parker Stinson bunted him to second before Jacob Walsh drove him home with a single into right. 

Walsh came around to score on an RBI single from Anson Aroz as Oregon opened a 2-0 lead just 13 pitches into Banks’ outing. It didn’t get much better for the UW righty in the first as he brought in the Ducks’ third and fourth runs of the frame on his fourth and fifth free passes of the inning. Oregon put up a four-run first inning while only recording a pair of hits as Banks spent 32 of his 103 overall pitches.

“We jumped out there and got on a guy that gave us some opportunities,” Aroz said after his three-hit night. “We want to give Grayson all the run support we can and beat good pitchers because we’re going to run into them down the road.”

The first-run outburst gave Grinsell more than enough cushion to get his outing started in the right way. He only allowed one Husky to reach base during his first time through the Washington lineup. 

He ran into trouble in the fourth as he loaded the bases with a pair of free passes and a Jackson Hotchkiss single, but he got Blake Wilson to chase a high fastball to end the threat on his 56th pitch of the night. Grinsell ended four of his seven innings with a strikeout. 

“He had that one inning where the bases got loaded and he had to make some really good pitches,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “(The Huskies) are a feisty group. Washington played their way into a really good spot in the Big Ten Conference.”

At the halfway point of the contest, Oregon only had three hits, but two of them came with a runner in scoring position. The Ducks’ four-run first frame held as the game’s only tallies until the seventh. 

Banks settled in very nicely after his awful first inning. He didn’t issue another free pass or run across his six-inning outing. Oregon got two of its four hits off of Banks in that fateful first inning, one that ultimately spelled defeat for the Huskies. Banks was served his first loss of conference play.

“He didn’t give up,” Aroz said. “He didn’t have any quit in him today. Tip your cap to that. We like playing against guys that like to compete.”

Grinsell continued his dominant junior season with seven more innings of shutout ball. He held his seventh-straight opponent to under three runs. He didn’t have his best stuff on Friday and got himself into some deep counts, but he still tallied eight strikeouts and earned his eighth win of the season. He brought his season ERA to 2.53 and his ERA in Big Ten play to 1.53.

“Everyone wants to be the Friday guy,” Grinsell said. “Your job as the Friday guy is to set the tone for the rest of the pitching staff and the rest of the weekend. I just try to go out there and give my all on every pitch and that’s what I feel like I’ve been doing.”

He threw a season-high 121 pitches and only allowed five baserunners (three hits). Grinsell could very well add another Big Ten Pitcher of the Week accolade to his impressive 2025 season resume. 

“Grayson wanted to finish the game and we had to pry the ball out of his hand, even after the seventh inning,” Wasikowski said. “We were like, ‘no, you’re done, man. Go sit down and cool down.’ But he pitched very well and he’s a true competitor.”

Gunnar Nichols took over on the mound for the Huskies in the seventh, but he was quickly greeted by Jeffery Heard, who sent his third homer of the season out to right field to add to the lead. 

“It felt really good,” Heard said. “It’s no secret that it’s been a minute since I’ve hit one, so it felt nice for sure.”

That would be the extent of the offensive production for the Ducks, who recorded seven hits and six strikeouts in the win, but it would be more than enough. Cole Stokes pitched the eighth inning for Oregon and picked up a quartet of strikeouts in the frame. Seth Mattox threw a scoreless ninth to seal the Ducks’ 36th win of the season.

Oregon earned its seventh shutout win of the season and first since Mar 29. The Ducks will go for the series win on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. Collin Clarke is expected to start for the Ducks.

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