When Oregon (26-11, 13-7 Big Ten) starter Collin Clarke left the game, it was knotted in a 3-3 tie. Once he turned it over to the bullpen, the game went from a tight contest between two ranked teams to a 14-4, run-rule, blowout win for No. 10 UCLA. 

“Yeah, it wasn’t good.” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “We don’t have a AAA team to be able to call guys up, so we gotta get them better. We gotta utilize the bullpen pieces better to where we don’t have that result.”

A chance to take a series from a top-10 team became a bad loss in the blink of an eye as things unraveled for the No. 16 Ducks in the late innings. Oregon’s bullpen was responsible for 11 runs (eight earned) as the Bruins (29-9, 13-10 Big Ten)

evened the series.
The wind blowing out to center pregame was a sign of things to come. Both starting pitchers surrendered homers to the first hitters they faced. Both offenses were on the board within the first 10 pitches they saw.  

UCLA led just seven pitches into the game. Dean West led the contest off with his fourth homer of the season, a rocket that snuck over the right-center wall and Drew Smith’s leaping attempt.

It took Mason Neville only six pitches to tie it back up. The Ducks’ leadoff man sent a blast of his own out to open the bottom of the first. Neville’s 18th bomb of the season hit off the roof of the PDA in right and tied the Oregon single-season home run record.

A few hitters later, Smith drew a two-out walk, took second on a wild pitch and scored on an Anson Aroz RBI single as the Ducks took a lead of their own in an entertaining first frame. The first inning alone featured as many runs as Oregon’s entire 2-1 win on Friday.

Both starters — UCLA’s Michael Barnett and Oregon’s Collin Clarke — settled in nicely. Clarke retired the next seven batters he faced while Barnett kept Oregon from scoring again until the fifth.

Unfortunately for Clarke, he surrendered the lead in the fourth. After allowing back-to-back singles and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases with nobody out, Jarrod Hocking picked up the game-tying RBI on a fielder’s choice grounder. A wild pitch brought Roman Martin home later in the frame to put UCLA back in front. 

Just like they did in the first, the Ducks responded with a homer. Jacob Walsh blasted his 10th of the season on a line to right field. He turned and shouted into his dugout on his way to first and knotted the contest at three. The inning chased Barnett, who went 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on five hits while walking three and fanning two.

In all, it was a solid outing from Clarke. He limited the No. 10-ranked squad in the country to three runs on four hits across his five innings of work. He fanned three, but also hit three batters during his 78-pitch start. 

“He was okay,” Wasikowski said. “I mean, he kept us in the game. It was a heck of a baseball game until we got into the later three innings of the game.”

Freshman Will Sanford took over for the sixth. He’d only been used as a starter in 2025, but made his first appearance out of the bullpen on Saturday. It wasn’t a good one. 

He relented a leadoff double and then threw a bunt attempt into right field to allow an unearned run to cross and UCLA to regain the lead. A double-play ball ended the frame and limited the damage to one, but the Bruins were back in front. 

UCLA added to the lead in the seventh when Roch Cholowsky, the Bruins’ shortstop, blasted a solo homer off the scoreboard in left field off Oregon reliever Santiago Garcia. A few hitters later, Hocking blasted a three-run shot of his own out to left-center and UCLA blew the game open. Santiago was tagged for four runs on two homers in just 0.2 innings. 

“He’s got a great arm,” Wasikowski said of Garcia. “He’s going through a little bit of a funk with his pitching, clearly. A couple of our bullpen pieces have been clearly inconsistent for us and it’s not like you’ve got a bunch of other guys that you can just roll out there.”

Every Oregon arm that threw on Saturday surrendered at least one run save for Sam Boyle.

Trailing by two after the fans stretched at PK Park, the Ducks needed another response but none would come. Walsh homered again in the bottom of the seventh, but his solo shot did little to carve into the Bruins’ lead. 

Oregon pitchers struggled with command in the loss, especially out of the bullpen. The Ducks’ staff hit seven batters, constantly setting UCLA up with prime scoring opportunities, which a top-10 team is going to capitalize on more times than not. 

Kellan Knox loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with two hit batsmen and a single before being pulled for Cole Stokes. Cholowsky added to the Bruins’ lead with a two-RBI double before coming around to score in a disastrous six-run eighth inning that featured three different Oregon arms. 

In the blink of an eye, it became a run-rule loss for the Ducks. If Oregon was going to lose, it needed to be close. Now, the Ducks have to find a way to shake off an embarrassing loss and be ready to go in the rubber match on Sunday. 

The series will be decided on Easter Sunday. Jason Reitz gets the ball for Oregon. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m.

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Grayson Grinsell went the distance. 

A bullpen arm the last time Oregon pulled off a win over a top-10 opponent in the regular season had the outing of his lifetime as the No. 16 Ducks topped the No. 10 UCLA Bruins 2-1. 

With Grinsell’s complete-game effort, the Ducks have now used a grand total of two pitchers over their last two games. Ian Umlandt pitched a seven-inning win against Georgetown on Monday and Grinsell shut down No. 10 UCLA on Friday. 

Oh, and Dominic Hellman drove in both of the Ducks’ (26-10, 13-6 Big Ten) runs in the series-opening win. There was no shortage of headlines on Friday as the Bruins (28-9, 12-4 Big Ten) fell to Grinsell. 

“You’re only as good as your starting pitcher… that’s a cliche,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “Grayson was really good today.”

Former Pac-12 teams have dominated the Big Ten in their inaugural season, and that pattern has carried over to the diamond. Entering the weekend, UCLA sat atop the Big Ten standings at 12-3 in conference play while Oregon entered third with a 12-6 Big Ten record. It was common knowledge that the weekend series would be a pivotal one for both squads’ RPI rankings and Big Ten Tournament seeding. 

“It was a fun, competitive Friday night game,” Hellman said. “We all know that in the world of college baseball, Friday night’s going to be the toughest matchup in the whole series, so it was nice to just have the boys come together.”

The ball was flying off the bats pregame and the wind was blowing out at PK Park so, naturally, a pitcher’s duel broke out. 

The Ducks sent their ace to the bump to try and get the crucial series off to the right start. Grinsell retired the first six batters he faced and only relented one hit during his first time through the Bruins’ lineup. 

UCLA’s Wylan Moss toed the rubber in the series opener with his 2.43 ERA. He allowed the first Oregon batter to reach in each of the first four innings, but worked a lot of weak contact from Duck hitters to keep them off the scoreboard until the third. 

Hellman got the scoring going by plating Ryan Cooney on an RBI single, who led off the bottom of the third with a single and stole second to put himself in a scoring position. 

Aside from Hellman’s single, Oregon had trouble capitalizing against Moss. Despite having their leadoff man reach in four-straight innings to start the game, the Ducks were just 1-11 (.091) with runners on base during Moss’ outing. 

“He throws his changeup well,” Wasikowski said of Moss. “He had heavy sink on his changeup and it was a really effective pitch that we weren’t able to lay off of and he got some really critical double-play balls. We needed to try to work a little bit more into deeper counts and we tried to mix that in. It might’ve helped us a little bit in terms of pitch count, but the kid’s really good.” 

Grinsell, meanwhile, didn’t have to deal with nearly as much traffic on the bases. Through his first six innings, the Bruins only had the third-inning hit and walk to their name on 70 pitches from Grinsell, who was incredibly efficient in his sixth win of the season.

Moss went five innings and allowed just the one run before getting relieved for Chris Grothues to start the bottom of the sixth inning. UCLA’s lefty surrendered a towering homer to Hellman — his 10th of the season — on just the second pitch he threw as Oregon doubled its lead. 

“It was a barrel, but I was out in front,” Hellman said after his laser blast. 

Meanwhile, Oregon’s lefty retired a string of 10-straight hitters spanning from the third inning into the seventh that was finally broken up as Roch Cholowsky led the frame off with a solo homer to left to immediately erase the Hellman homer. 

The Bruins almost got another homer in the frame — one that would have tied the game — but Drew Smith made a leaping catch to bring a ball back over the wall in right and keep Oregon ahead as the adequate crowd stretched at PK Park. 

“As a pitcher, when you think you gave up a home run it’s not a great feeling,” Grinsell said. “But when your outfielder brings it back, you’ve gotta give props to him. He made one heck of a play.”

Grinsell retired the final seven batters he faced to end the game. He got Cholowsky to ground out to short to end the contest and cap off his career outing. He fanned seven and issued just two hits in a walk across his career-high nine innings and 105 pitches (71 strikes). 

“It means everything,” Grinsell said. “As a starting pitcher, you want to go out there and throw all nine [innings], so you get out there and that’s what you try to do every time and today was my lucky day.”

With the win, Oregon picked up its first regular-season victory over a top-10-ranked opponent since April 15, 2023, when the Ducks topped No. 7 Stanford in an 8-1 win. Grinsell was a freshman at the time, an arm used sporadically out of the bullpen in a season where he tallied 48.1 innings of work. 

“Obviously, [Jace] Stoffal and [Logan] Mercado going back-to-back complete games in that series was fun to watch,” Grinsell said of a 2023 series win over No. 7 Stanford. “It’s always fun playing against top-10 ranked teams. We’re right there with them. We can compete with anyone in the country.”

Grinsell became the first Oregon pitcher to throw nine full innings since Kevin Seitter did it on June 2, 2024, in a 3-0 win over UC Santa Barbara in the Santa Barbara Regional of the NCAA Tournament. 

Collin Clarke takes the mound for the Ducks on Saturday as they go for the series win, but Grinsell says there’s not too much pressure on the righty. 

“I know Clarke’s going to go out there and shove,” Grinsell said. 

First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. at PK Park.

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Despite the ups and downs that Oregon baseball has faced so far this season, one man has remained a positive constant atop the Ducks’ lineup: their leadoff man and center fielder, Mason Neville. 

The junior is having an incredible 2025 campaign having already collected 31 RBIs and 15 homers as of April 10. He leads the team in homers and is tied for first in the 17-team Big Ten conference. 

The Ducks have a balance of speed, power and swagger leading them off every game. Through his first 30 games, 24 of his 37 hits have gone for extra bases. That’s an absurd statistic from any hitter, but especially one hitting out of a slot typically reserved for contact hitters. 

“I like to set the tone for the rest of the lineup,” Neville said after a win on March 4. “A lot of times, some other guys are on base so I have an opportunity to drive in runs for the team.”

Neville’s valiant efforts earned him a spot on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list. The Golden Spikes Award is college baseball’s most prestigious award and is given to the best player in each season. Think of it as the Heisman of the diamond. 

Neville is just the sixth Duck to ever be named to the midseason watch list and the first since 2021. 

“Well, he’s been really good and I think that’s why he’s on the Golden Spikes watch list right now,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. 

Neville broke onto the Oregon baseball scene last season after transferring from the University of Arkansas after his freshman year. Neville only started 36 games in 2024 and tallied 149 at-bats, but he still recorded 40 hits — 24 of them going for extra bases for a .268 average.

Incredibly, he’s improved. One area of Neville’s game that plagued him last season was strikeouts — Neville fanned 60 times in 36 starts while only walking 25 times.

Seeing more pitches from his solidified spot at the top of the lineup has allowed Neville to dial in his pitch selection. As of April 10, he’s already drawn more walks (30) than he did in all of last season and has only fanned 30 times — nearly half of his 2025 total in just six fewer games. 

“Just wherever the pitch takes me,” Neville said of his approach after a win on Feb 15. “Just staying through the big part of the yard and looking for a ball up is typically the approach.”

During the Ducks’ series win over Michigan, Neville was 5-10 (.500) with three homers and five RBIs. He also walked six times and came around to score eight runs in the weekend series. He’s been the epitome of a five-tool player and a staple of consistency in 2025. 

Oregon designated hitter Dominic Hellman — who’s having a breakout season of his own — also praises Neville. The two have played together since high school, prompting Hellman to say that he’s always known that Neville’s ability and skill is there. 

Now, it seems the entire college baseball world is getting put on blast, too.

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One day removed from a series win over the Maryland Terrapins, Oregon baseball took the field against Georgetown in a Monday morning matchup. The No. 15 Ducks (25-10, 12-6 Big Ten) needed a great game against the lowly Hoyas (12-24), and they got as good of an outing as they could have hoped for. For the second time in 2025, the Ducks clobbered two grand slams in a single game to highlight their offensive explosion. Defensively, Ian Umlandt kept the Hoyas’ bats quiet in his seven-inning, complete-game effort. 

Oregon earned another run-rule victory to cap off a 3-1 roadtrip. 

Mason Neville led the contest off with a double, but was stranded in a scoreless first inning. He would be Oregon’s only runner to reach second base until the fourth inning, when the Ducks broke the scoreless tie.

The Ducks’ typical midweek man, Umlandt, got the nod in Virginia on Monday. He kept the Hoyas completely at bay through his first three scoreless innings.

Oregon freshman catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus put the Ducks on the board in the fourth with an RBI double to left-center field. Maddox Molony got thrown out at the plate, but Jacob Walsh scored to give Umlandt a lead to protect. 

That advantage rapidly expanded as Mason Neville launched a grand slam out to right field. His 17th homer of the season put the Ducks way out front and highlighted a six-run fourth frame. 

Neville’s grand slam spoiled Johan Franco’s start. Georgetown’s starter ended up going just 3.2 innings and allowing four runs on only two hits. He walked five hitters in the loss and his ERA jumped to 7.83. He was removed a couple batters before Neville’s homer, but having loaded the bases with Mabeus’s double and a pair of walks, he was responsible for a number of Oregon runs. 

Hoyas first baseman Owen Carapellotti got Georgetown on the board and broke up Umlandt’s shutout with a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth, but that would be the extent of the Hoyas’ offensive performance in the loss. 

Umlandt was incredible. He needed 97 pitches to work seven complete innings and allowed just the lone run on four hits. He fanned six and walked two to bring his season ERA to 1.51. After a couple shortened outings in his last few times out, Umlandt was everything the Ducks needed and then some in Virginia. 

Mabeus was all over the bases on Monday. He walked thrice and had his RBI double in his big day. Neville also had a big day at the dish going 2-3 with four RBIs. 

Georgetown pitchers loaded the bases with Ducks in the top of the seventh to set up. Carter Garate cashed them in with his first homer of the season and Oregon’s second grand slam of the day. The Ducks plated five in another monster frame to put the game out of reach. 

With a run-rule win in grasping distance, Umlandt worked yet another scoreless frame in the seventh. How complete-game effort sealed a statement win for the Ducks over a severely outmatched opponent. 

Oregon will head back home for a huge weekend series against the UCLA Bruins. The Bruins and Ducks are first and third respectively in the Big Ten standings and a series win would do numbers for both programs. First pitch on Friday is set for 5:05 p.m.

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What at times looked like it could be a disastrous weekend for No. 15 Oregon baseball ended up resulting in a series win over the Maryland Terrapins. The Ducks were in danger of losing the first game and suffered a humiliating run-rule loss in Sunday’s first contest, but responded in a big way Sunday afternoon to salvage the series win. 

After Friday’s contest was postponed to Sunday due to rain in Maryland, the Ducks won Saturday’s game 5-4, lost Sunday’s first match 12-2, but responded with a 13-3 win in the afternoon. Series, Ducks. 

No. 15 Oregon (24-10, 12-6 Big Ten) had a good series at home last weekend against Michigan to get its series on track, but looked to keep the momentum going on the road against the lowly Terrapins (16-21, 4-11 Big Ten). The Ducks have struggled against the lower teams in the Big Ten, having already lost a road series to the last-place Buckeyes, and they almost let Maryland get the best of them this weekend. Instead, a comeback victory sparked by an unlikely hero on Friday and a dominant pitching performance on Sunday will keep the Ducks toward the top of the conference standings. 

Drew Smith made his first start since late February and made a crucial impact in his return to the lineup. He singled home the tying run in the top of the ninth inning, stole third and eventually scored on a Ryan Cooney sacrifice fly to become the game-winning run. Smith also homered in the fourth to put Oregon ahead for the time being, but three solo shots from Maryland in three-straight innings put the Terrapins ahead in the eighth to prompt Smith’s heroics in the ninth. 

The Ducks took a crucial series-opening win from the jaws of defeat. A couple of runs could’ve been the difference between a series win and a disastrous weekend that would’ve severely dampened Oregon’s hopes of hosting an NCAA Regional at the end of the season. 

The Ducks had a game to forget in the first contest of Sunday’s doubleheader. Six Oregon pitchers combined for 10 walks, 11 hits and 12 earned runs allowed while the offense stranded 10 runners and recorded only five hits. Oregon hit .143 with runners on base and .125 with men in scoring position. 

Maryland took advantage of Oregon’s poor pitching to snatch just its fourth conference win of 2025. Suddenly, the Ducks needed to find a way to shake off their first run-rule loss of the season and play again just an hour later. 

Fortunately for Oregon, the Ducks responded with a resounding 13-3 victory in the series finally. They found a way to win a game by three runs despite leaving 15 runners on base. 

Maryland got the scoring started and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Ducks were able to not only tie the contest, but take a 3-2 advantage on just one hit through three innings. Terrapin pitchers issued 12 free passes in the third game of the weekend. A huge five-run fifth inning featured homers from both Mason Neville and Jacob Walsh put Oregon ahead for good. 

A huge part of the series-clinching win was Jason Reitz’s performance. Making his second start of conference play and his first start in a series finale, Reitz toed the rubber with his Ducks in need of a solid outing. He gave them a great one. 

He allowed only two earned runs (three overall) on five hits across his career-high seven innings of work. He only walked one while collecting a career-high 11 strikeouts. He made a huge statement about his worth in Oregon’s starting rotation and it’ll be interesting to see how Wasikowski aligns his lineup next week. 

Oregon now sits 6-4 on the road this season. The Ducks will face Georgetown on Monday for one game before returning home to face UCLA next weekend in what will be a crucial Big Ten series for both squads.

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Michigan had seven two-out RBIs and took advantage of a dozen Oregon-issued free passes to hit its way to a 12-11 win. The Ducks scored each of the game’s last four runs, but the late-inning heroics fell just short as Michigan avoided the brooms. 

No. 15 Oregon baseball (22-9, 10-5 Big Ten) took the series over Michigan (17-14, 8-7 Big Ten), but dropped Sunday’s contest as its pitching wasn’t up to par. 

“We didn’t pitch it worth a darn,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. 

Michigan’s first two runners of the game reached on a hit and a walk, but Will Sanford worked a 23-pitch scoreless frame that featured a pair of strikeouts. 

Oregon, meanwhile, took only one hitter to get on the board. Mason Neville cranked his 14th homer of the season out to right-center field to put Oregon ahead just six pitches into the bottom of the first. 

A Colby Turner RBI triple in the top of the third knotted the game up after Sanford struck a batter in the helmet with a curveball to put a man on base. A batter later, Cole Caruso singled him home to give the Wolverines their first lead of the afternoon.

Fortunately for Oregon, Anson Aroz ended the inning by robbing Jeter Ybarra of a homer with one of the greatest plays PK Park has ever seen. He climbed the fence on a dead sprint, reached over the wall and brought back what would’ve been a two-run blast. 

“He does that every day in practice, too. I mean, it’s crazy how good the kid is,” Wasikowski said. “He’s remarkable, and he’s an even better kid.”

Oregon looked to get right back to work offensively after Aroz’s heroics, but the Ducks squandered a bases-loaded, nobody-out opportunity with a popout, a strikeout and a groundout. A run did cross on a wild pitch to tie the game, but it was by no doing of the Oregon offense and two runners were left stranded. 

Sanford’s struggles continued in the fourth. After hitting the leadoff man, he gave up another RBI triple, this time to Matt Spear, who came in to score on a Brayden Jefferis infield single as Michigan retook the lead. Sanford didn’t work a single clean frame in his four-inning outing. 

He finished with five strikeouts and a walk while allowing four runs on six hits in 73 pitches. Ian Umlandt took over in the fifth, but quickly relented a two-run Ybarra homer as the Wolverines extended their lead to 6-2. 

Michigan starter Kurt Barr kept Oregon somewhat in check for his first four innings. After the Ducks won back-to-back games on a run rule to open the series, Barr limited them to just two runs on four hits through four frames. His six-strikeout effort had the Ducks on their heels until the fifth inning. 

Things looked good for Michigan as it took a four-run lead into the fifth. Little did the Wolverines know, disaster was awaiting them in the bottom of the inning. 

A Jacob Walsh bomb brought the Ducks back within two runs in the bottom of the fifth. His eighth homer of the season hit the back of the roof in right field and severely dampened Barr’s outing. When the next two Oregon hitters reached, Barr was yanked and the Wolverines’ lead was in jeopardy once again.

Will Rogers relieved Barr, but Maddox Molony knotted the game with a two-RBI bloop single into left. A double steal brought Molony home and capped off a five-run fifth as Oregon took a 7-6 lead. 

Unfortunately for the Ducks, they immediately gave their hard-fought lead away. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases for Michigan in the sixth and Turner brought everyone in with a grand slam. Turner was 2-5 with five RBIS as the Wolverines avoided the brooms. 

Not one Oregon pitcher recorded a clean inning of work on Sunday. The Ducks’ staff combined to allow 24 runners during Michigan’s busy afternoon on the bases. 

Oregon loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but left three men aboard as the Ducks failed to cash in. Oregon stranded 11 runners in the loss. 

Wasikowski said that he felt there were many opportunities that got away from his team offensively, noting that moments like that were key to the Ducks’ successes in the first two games of the series. 

Wasikowski was ejected in the bottom of the seventh inning after arguing a controversial call on a pop fly in foul territory. 

“The umpires ruled that Garate somehow interfered with the play and called him out,” Wasikowski said. “I obviously didn’t agree.”

Cole Stokes loaded the bases with free passes in the eighth before being pulled after just 11 pitches (one strike). Michigan added another tally in the eighth to effectively put the game out of reach. 

A three-run jack from Drew Smith in the eighth brought the Ducks back within two and Neville’s second of the day made it a one-run game in the ninth, but the hole was too deep for Oregon to climb out of and the rally fell just short. 

“They’re happy that they won a series,” Wasikowski said of his team. “When you win a series, it’s good. The objective was to win today for a sweep and I think they feel like they left a lot on the table today.”

Oregon takes to the road after the series win over the Wolverines. The Ducks will open up a three-game series with Maryland on Friday at 3:00 p.m.

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Jacob Walsh became Oregon’s all-time career RBI record holder on a beautiful day at PK Park as the No. 15 Ducks (22-8, 10-4 Big Ten) took the series from Michigan (16-14, 7-7 Big Ten). 

Michigan’s pitching woes and inability to throw strikes cost the Wolverines dearly as Oregon clinched the series win in Saturday’s 13-3 victory. 

The Wolverines threw 184 pitches on Saturday, but only 97 of them (52.71%) for strikes. They walked a whopping 13 batters in their second brutal loss in as many days. 

Series, Ducks.

Both starting pitchers in Saturday’s contest were tall, lengthy flamethrowers. Both Michigan’s Dylan Vigue and Oregon’s Jason Reitz were consistently touching 95 mph on their fastballs. 

Both squads had a pair of men reach safely in the first, but only one was able to cash them in for runs. Just like they did in Friday’s 15-2 win, the Ducks got the scoring started. Anson Aroz roped a two-RBI ground-rule double with two outs in the bottom of the first to give Reitz a slight cushion.

Just like Grayson Grinsell did the night before, Reitz did a great job utilizing his defense on Saturday. He was able to get Wolverine batsmen to ground into 6-4-3 double plays in both the first and second innings. 

Cole Caruso (3-4, two RBI) got to him in the fourth. He floated a pitch out to right-center and it drifted over the wall to plate two and tie the contest. Although the game was knotted after four innings, Michigan led the Ducks 4-2.

Vigue walked the first two hitters he faced in the fourth, priming Oregon for a scoring opportunity. Unfortunately for the Ducks, it was their turn to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. 

Reitz’s day ended after issuing a pair of two-out walks in the fifth. He issued four free passes and four hits, but also fanned four batters. Ryan Featherston took over on the mound, but relented an RBI single to Brayden Jefferis to add another earned run to Reitz’s day and give Michigan its first lead of the series. 

Chase Meggers again knotted the contest at three with an RBI groundout after Vigue loaded the bases with free passes. Maddox Molony dealt some additional damage later in the frame with a two-out, two-RBI knock as Oregon retook the lead in the fifth. Wolverine pitchers issued six free passes in the disastrous frame as the Ducks scored four on only one hit. 

Vigue allowed six earned runs across 4.2 innings while allowing only two hits. He alone issued eight of Michigan’s 14 free passes (seven walks, one HBP) as he earned Saturday’s loss in his 98-pitch outing. 

After Retiz exited, Oregon used just about every arm it could out of its bullpen. Five different Ducks pitched in the win with three of them throwing fewer than 10 pitches. 

Walsh became Oregon’s all-time career RBI leader in the sixth inning with a two-run tater to blow the game open for the Ducks, who at the time still had fewer hits than Michigan. 

The Wolverines also comically emptied their bullpen. They used six pitchers, walked 13 hitters and had four guys throw fewer than 20 pitches. The two squads did just about everything they could to slow the pace of play down, but the Ducks still escaped with a three-hour, 18-minute win. 

Walsh added to his big day with a two-RBI single in the seventh. He finished 2-3 with four RBIs and two walks as the Ducks clinched their fourth Big Ten series win of the season. 

Fittingly, the game ended on a walk-off wild pitch. Michigan’s pitching was absolutely abysmal on Saturday. Cooney scampered home to mercifully end the beatdown. Oregon goes for the sweep at 12:05 p.m. on Sunday. 

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The Ducks needed an outing like the one they got on Friday. They needed contagious hitting from start to finish and they got it. They needed to get back on track and they did.

“We’re a gritty ball club,” Oregon designated hitter Dominic Hellman said after his two-hit, five-RBI night. 

No. 15 Oregon (21-8, 9-4 Big Ten) exploded for five runs in the third and six in the fifth in its 15-2 win over Michigan (16-13, 7-6 Big Ten).

The Big Ten run rule (10-run lead after seven innings) mercifully ended Friday’s smackdown early, but Oregon still got its statement win. 

Five different Ducks recorded homers while Grayson Grinsell had one of the best outings of his season as Oregon got its weekend off to an ideal start. 

“The kids played really well,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “They were on the ball. They were on time. They played really well.”

Both starting arms got off to impressive starts. They each relented a first-inning hit, but neither allowed the runner to advance any further and threw 1-2-3 second frames. 

Grinsell was especially impressive in the early goings of Friday’s contest. Despite allowing back-to-back hits in both third and fourth innings, he was able to get some timely groundouts and fly balls to strand runner after runner. The Wolverines left five men on base through the first four frames and seven overall in the loss. 

“Grayson’s been a rock for us,” Wasikowski said. 

The Oregon bats, however, got to Michigan starter David Lally Jr. in the third. Ryan Cooney (2-3, two RBI) led the frame off with his second homer of the season to spark a five-run, four-hit inning that featured a Hellman sacrifice fly and a Jacob Walsh (1-2, three walks) RBI double before Anson Aroz’s (2-4) 10th blast of the season found the parking lot.  

An inning later, Parker Stinson (1-3) got a hold of one for his first homer as a Duck. The homer parade made it five-straight games with multiple homers for the Ducks. A few pitches later, Mason Neville (3-5, three RBI) bounced his team-leading 13th bomb of the season off the right-field foul pole to blow the game open, 8-0. 

That would end Lally Jr.’s day. He relented eight runs on eight hits across four innings of work as his ERA jumped up to 5.13. He earned his third loss of the season.

Michigan’s nine-hole hitter got the Wolverines on the board in the fifth. Greg Pace Jr. took advantage of PK Park’s dimensions for his second homer of the season. The solo shot broke up Grinsell’s shutout and he walked the next two batters to give the maize and blue a prime opportunity to claw back into the game. Luke Voit (2-3) singled a man home, but Grinsell got another timely grounder to end the threat and minimize the damage. 

“Everyone’s making great plays around the field,” Grinsell said of his team’s defense. “It just eases your mind on the mound. It doesn’t matter if they hit it, it’s going to be an out. That’s a big thing as a pitcher.”

Both Carter Garate (1-1, two walks, four runs) and Cooney made stellar plays in the infield while Neville ran down several well-struck balls in center. Baseball is a team game and the Ducks demonstrated that to the fullest extent on Friday. 

A pair of infield singles and a fielding error loaded the bases for the Ducks in the bottom half of the fifth to set up Hellman for his third grand slam of the season. The Wolverines also walked a pair of runs home in the frame as Oregon set itself up in a prime spot for a run-rule victory. 

Grinsell earned Friday’s win with his six innings of seven-hit, two-run ball. He collected five strikeouts across his 95 total pitches (61 strikes) and really did a great job minimizing and trusting the guys behind him. 

“I tried to stay on each pitch,” Grinsell said. “I tried not to get ahead of myself…and trusted the guys behind me.”

Wasikowski said he had his team “right” on Friday. His squad will look to keep the same mojo going as it goes for the series win on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. Collin Clarke is expected to start for the Ducks.

The post No. 15 Oregon baseball thumps Michigan in 15-2 run-rule win appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Free passes can absolutely kill a team. 

The Ducks demonstrated that on Wednesday night up in Portland. Two different innings saw Portland runs cross the plate without requiring a hit from the Pilots’ bats. Oregon’s pitching staff struggled with command in key situations, leading to the Ducks’ third-straight loss. 

“It’s not because of a lack of effort,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “It’s a lack of execution and we lost the ballgame because of it.”

The Ducks’ recent concerning slide continued with a 7-6 loss to Portland on Wednesday night. 

After a disastrous Saturday led to a series loss to the last-place Buckeyes, Oregon (20-8) fell to third in the Big Ten standings at 8-4. The Ducks also fell from No. 10 to No. 15 in the national rankings and needed a big week to bounce back and retake control of their season. They needed it to start in Portland in a midweek meet with the 12-17 Pilots. 

Jacob Walsh got his Ducks off to a good start. He turned on an offspeed pitch in the bottom of the first to send a towering homer out to right field. He plated two and gave Oregon an early lead to protect with his sixth blast of the season. 

Oregon’s typical midweek starter, Ian Umlandt, got the nod for the Wednesday battle and toed the rubber for his third start of the season. A Mason Neville fielding error in center led to Umlandt surrendering an unearned run in the first, but Oregon still led after the eventful first frame. 

His second frame saw four different Pilots reach safely, but Umlandt worked a long scoreless frame to keep Oregon ahead. It was detrimental to his pitch count, however, and his day ended after 53 pitches and two frames.

Umlandt’s brother, Nolan, emerged from the Pilots’ dugout to make his second start of 2025, but he too had a shortened outing. He wasn’t tagged for anything other than Walsh’s bomb, but he finished with just two innings of two-run, two-hit ball while fanning three and walking one. Nolan Umlandt only faced eight hitters as his ERA moved from 7.79 to 7.91. 

Kellan Knox took over for Ian Umlandt for the third inning, but relented a game-tying homer to Trey Swygart on the first pitch of his outing. Swygart finished 3-5 with two RBIs in the win. 

Logan Anderson relieved Nolan Umlandt and fanned each of the first five batters he faced. Oregon didn’t have a runner reach a scoring position until the fifth inning. 

The strikeout bug plagued the Ducks on Wednesday. Through the first five innings, Pilots’ pitchers collected 11 strikeouts. By the time the game ended, the tally sat at 16. Each Oregon starter fanned at least once in the loss.

“They mixed their pitches really well with really good stuff,” Wasikowski said of Portland’s pitching. “They threw a lot of strikes.”

Oregon was gifted a pair of unearned runs in the fifth. A routine grounder to first with two outs caused Doyle Kane to slip and toss his throw to first well over the pitcher’s head. Two runners (who both reached on walks) came around to score as home was left unattended. Oregon led 4-2 at the halfway point, but three of the game’s first six runs were unearned. 

Oregon’s Julian Hernandez got roughed up a bit in the bottom of the fifth. He hit a batter and allowed a pair of singles to load the bases. A wild pitch brought a man home and he hit another batter to reload the bases. His poor outing ended after just 0.2 innings and 33 pitches. 

Jaxon Jordan took over, but walked the first man he faced on four pitches to tie the game. One pitch later, a wild pitch gave the Pilots their first lead of the night. Jordan didn’t record a single out as a disastrous fifth inning (four free passes issued) swung all the momentum Portland’s way. The Ducks allowed five walks and hit five batters on Wednesday. 

“A lot of different things happen in a baseball game,” Wasikowski said. “Baseball’s unpredictable.”

The back-and-forth affair continued in the sixth as Anson Aroz retook the lead with a two-run homer, his ninth of the season. Four of Oregon’s six total runs came via the longball on Wednesday. 

Oregon’s Santiago Garcia seemed to have settled things down as he retired five straight before Portland’s Zach Toglia sent a towering game-tying homer out to left in the bottom of the seventh. 

Toglia’s blast kept the contest knotted into the bottom of the ninth. Cole Stokes retired the first two hitters of the frame before hitting two batters and walking another to load the bases with free passes. His third hit-by-pitch of the inning brought in the game-winning run and sunk the Ducks in Portland. 

“We made mistakes at the end to lose the ballgame,” Wasikowski said. 

Oregon now leads the all-time series with the Pilots 109-42. The loss moves the Ducks to 30-13 in Portland in their history. 

The Pilots will come to Eugene for another midweek game on April 22 to round out the season series. Oregon returns to PK Park this weekend for a huge series against Michigan, which currently sits fourth in the Big Ten Standings. First pitch on Friday is set for 5:05 p.m.

The post Portland burns No. 15 Oregon in 7-6 walk-off thriller appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Do you love laser tag? Sure, who doesn’t?

Well, you may just have a chance to be a Division I athlete after all. The University of Oregon is adding collegiate laser tag to its athletic department in winter of 2025, a press release from April 1 says. 

As the generation that grew up playing and loving laser tag continues to go through colleges across the country, a push for laser tag to become a collegiate sport has reached a successful conclusion.

Oregon is set to join the “Coastal Conference,” which will be one of two major laser tag conferences this coming winter. The bizarre conference alignment has grouped all teams on any coast (yes, East or West) into one conference with all other schools in the other. 

The Coastal Conference will consist of eight universities: Oregon, Clemson University, UCLA, Florida State University, Seattle University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Hawaii and Louisiana State University. 

The “Landlocked Conference” also boasts eight elite universities: Colorado University; Kansas State University; University of Toledo; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Middle Tennessee State University; University of Arkansas; South Dakota State University and University of Iowa. 

The season, classified as a winter sport, will take place across the span of four months — November through February. Each team will compete in 12 matches in their season. While Oregon’s schedule is yet to be finalized, the Ducks will compete against each team in the Coastal Conference as well as five from the Landlocked Conference. 

Each match will consist of a best-of-nine format with each game lasting 10 minutes. Home teams are expected to have a considerable advantage over their opponents as they’ll know the layout of their arena in advance of each competition. 

The University of Oregon is expected to break ground on a new arena later this month. It’s expected that one of the turf fields outside of Hayward Field will be renovated to create a state-of-the-art laser tag arena. The arena will hold up to 2,000 fans, and students will be able to purchase tickets through their GoDucks app. 

The team will consist of 20 members: 10 males and 10 females as to not offset Title IX. Each member of the team is expected to play in every contest as substituting at least three players will be mandatory between each round of match play. 

So, grab your blaster and be ready for tryouts, which are expected to be held in Lawrence Hall in early May. 

This is, of course, an April Fool’s Day article. Laser tag, unfortunately, isn’t a Division I sport…yet. However, if you’d like to read more about actual teams that the University of Oregon boasts, we recommend checking out the sports section of the Daily Emerald. 

Disclaimer: All quotes and facts in this article are completely satirical and fake, in light of April Fools Day.

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