The 64-team field has been set for the 2013 NCAA Division-I Baseball Championship and for the second year in a row, the Ducks will be one of the Regional hosts.

Oregon head coach George Horton’s team went 45-14 this season, and their impressive performance garnered them the nod from the NCAA selection committee as one of 16 host locations. Each Regional location consists of four teams competing in double-elimination-style play for the chance to advance onto the Super Regional.

Oregon enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed in their section and begins postseason play against South Dakota State, the No. 4 seed, on Friday at 6 p.m at PK Park. Rice and San Francisco are the two and three seeds of the section, respectively.

The Ducks are not the only Pac-12 school to be named as a host location. For the second year in a row, UCLA is also Regional host as well as Oregon State, which begins its Regional play against the University of Texas-San Antonio.

After winning the first two games of their series with the Utah Utes, the No. 8-ranked Oregon baseball team lost the finale of the set on Sunday 10-3. With the loss, Oregon finished the season with an overall record of 45-14 and 22-8 in conference play.

Taking the loss for Oregon was Jake Reed who gave up 10 hits and five runs in his five innings of work. The defensive squad behind Reed was a little different than usual as George Horton decided to rest regular starters Ryon Healy, Brett Thomas and Scott Heineman.

Continuing their weekend trend of getting on the scoreboard early, the Ducks jumped on Utah in the top of the first when J.J. Altobelli scored from third after a fielding error by the Utes. However, the lead would be short-lived, and Utah tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Horton’s squad bounced back in the top of the fifth and was able to to regain the lead after a Mitchell Tolman sacrifice fly and a Tyler Baumgartner RBI single gave them a 3-1 advantage.

Turning point. However, the Utes had four runners score in the bottom of the fifth which gave them a 5-3 lead headed into the latter stages of the ballgame.

They weren’t done yet, and tacked on one more run in the sixth, three in the seventh and one more in the eight to give them a 10-3 lead.

On the horizon. The NCAA brackets are released tomorrow, and the Ducks will then know when and where they will begin postseason play.

At the conclusion of the weekend, 29 Ducks in total qualified for the NCAA championships in Eugene next week, including all four relays that Oregon competed in at the qualifier in Austin, Texas.

The men’s 4×100 relay, which includes a trio of football players, were among the qualifiers for the NCAA championships. While Dior Mathis, Arthur Delaney, B.J. Kelley and De’Anthony Thomas finished fourth in their heat, they were able to advance to the NCAA’s based on time; they ran the sixth fastest time in school history.

The women’s 4×100 relay also qualified to run next week in Eugene after they finished second, relying heavily on strong performances by Laura Roesler and Francis Okodogbe.

The success continued throughout the weekend for Oregon as the men’s 4×400 relay also qualified for the NCAA Championships after running a season best 3:04.16. The Ducks were not only successful running in the short distance events, their success continued on to the distance events as well.

Jordan Hasay turned in a very impressive performance during her 5,000 meter qualifier and additionally Anne Kesselring and Becca Friday both advanced back to Eugene based on their times from the women’s 1500. Three Ducks also advanced on the men’s side from the 1500 including Mac Fleet and Chad Noelle.

Liz Brenner also made her presence known in Austin as she threw a PR in the javelin event with a distance of 160-10/49.03m on her third attempt which helped her finish seventh overall in the event.

The NCAA Championships begin on June 5 at Hayward Field in Eugene.

The No. 8 ranked Ducks followed up their Friday evening victory against the Utah Utes with another 6-2 win Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City. Cole Irvin earned the win for the Ducks, pitching eight complete innings of two run baseball. The win served as Irvin’s 11^th of the campaign, which tied him with Alex Keudell for most in a single season in program history.

As was the case on Friday, the Ducks breached the score sheet against the Utah starting pitcher in the early innings of the affair. In the top of the third, J.J. Altobelli knocked in Shaun Chase for the first run of the ball game, and then later scored himself on a single from Aaron Payne.

Oregon was able to tack on a third run in the frame after Payne was able to steal home on a designed double steal with Scott Heineman.

The three runs were more than Irvin needed, but the Ducks did not stop there.

Turning point. George Horton’s squad was able to put two more runs up on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth on an RBI single from Steven Packard that scored both Payne and Nick Catalano.

Leading 5-0 in the sixth inning, the Ducks added their final run of the afternoon on a triple from Tyler Baumgartner that scored Altobelli from first. The Utes tacked on two runs in the final innings, but it was too little too late, and the Ducks won the second game of the series 6-2.

On the horizon. Oregon will go for the sweep over the Utes on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.; the game is not televised.

The No. 11 ranked Oregon baseball team started their season ending series against Utah with a 6-2 victory, relying heavily on seven innings of hitless baseball from Tommy Thorpe.

The Ducks were the first to make their way onto the scoreboard in the top of the second inning. Scott Heineman hit a looping base hit to right field, and then proceeded to steal second base.

With Heineman at second, Ryan Hambright bunted him over to third, then catcher Josh Graham sacrifice bunted him in from there to give Oregon a 1-0 lead.

The Ducks were not quite done and were able to add another run in the top of the third. Tyler Baumgartner led off the frame with double over the right fielders head and advanced to third on a single from Aaron Payne.

From there, Ryon Healy fielder’s choice grounder to second knocked Baumgartner in.

Oregon struck again in the fourth inning when J.J. Altobelli scored on a single from Ryon Healy to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead.

While the Ducks didn’t breach the score sheet in the fifth, the sixth inning proved to be a big one for them. Connor Hofmann led off the inning with a ground rule double and advanced to third on a bunt from Altobelli. Baumgartner then proceeded to knock him in with a single to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead.

Turning point. Oregon was not done yet though, and before the inning was over they found themselves with a 6-0 lead and had successfully knocked Utah starting pitcher Mitch Watrous from the game.

Still holding firm to a 6-0 lead, the Ducks brought in Darrell Hunter to start the eighth in relief of Thorpe who left the game after pitching seven shutout innings.

Hunter allowed two Utes to score in the eighth and Garrett Cleavinger pitched a scoreless ninth to give the Ducks a 6-2 victory.

On the horizon. Oregon plays the second game of their series against Utah Saturday at 3 p.m.

Whether you love it or can’t stand it, one thing is certain about the BCS system in college football; it was never boring. The upcoming 2013 season will be the last in the BCS era as college football will shift to a playoff format in 2014.

While this change in format has been widely accepted and met with anticipation by a majority of college football, now is a good time to look back at how the BCS has impacted the Pac-12.

ESPN.com’s Ted Miller takes a look at the highs and lows for the conference as a result of the BCS.

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It appears as though former Oregon wide receiver Will Murphy’s football career is not quite over yet. Murphy, who arrived as a walk on for the Ducks in 2008 earned his degree from the University in winter and was prepared to put his playing days behind him.

However, he earned a three-day tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles and former head coach Chip Kelly and later received a phone call from Kelly saying he made the initial 90 man roster.

Jesse Sowa of the Albany Democrat-Herald takes a closer look at Murphy’s journey through football here.

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Colin Kaepernick will be without one of his favorite targets for the upcoming season. 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh confirmed on Wednesday that wide receiver Michael Crabtree tore his achilles tendon and had surgery to repair it on Tuesday.

Kaepernick and Crabtree developed some impressive on field chemistry, especially during the playoffs and big things were expected from the former Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The 49ers made it to the Super Bowl last season and many anticipated them making a return this upcoming season.

Ducks baseball team has aspirations to play in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Coming within a game of the tournament last season, Oregon head coach George Horton and his squad entered 2013 with a College World Series berth as one of their main objectives.

Earlier in the season, the Ducks looked poised to achieve this goal, playing excellent fundamental baseball and relying heavily on their exceptional pitching. However, the team has entered a period of struggle, and it is coming at a very inopportune time.

The Emerald’s own Aubrey Wieber explains why here.

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Major League Soccer is once again expanding, and this time with the help of an unlikely partner: the New York Yankees. In partnership with Manchester City Football Club, the Yankees will co-own the league’s 20th team that will be called New York City Football Club.

The team is scheduled to begin play in MLS in 2015.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott is the highest-paid commissioner in all of college athletics. Making just over $3 million last year, the conference has seen a jump in its overall revenue since he took control.

ESPN.com’s Ted Miller elaborates on the reasons for Scott’s salary here.

It looks as though the Holiday Bowl is in for a bit of a shakeup starting in 2014. According to sources, the Big Ten Conference is close to finalizing a deal with this bowl that would end the bowl’s previous relationship with the Big 12.

The supposed deal would last six years and would allow the bowl to pick second in the Pac-12, after the playoff teams have been chosen and match them up against the third-chosen team from the Big Ten.

The Ducks’ last appearance in the Holiday Bowl was in 2008 when they defeated Oklahoma State, 42-31.

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Rutgers University announced Wednesday they have named Julie Hermann as their new athletic director. She previously served as senior associate athletic director at Louisville prior to her her job in New Jersey.

Her hiring officially signifies the end of the Tim Pernetti era at the university; he had left the school in the wake of men’s basketball coach Mike Rice’s firing.

She is expected to be officially introduced on Wednesday afternoon.

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Without a single dollar worth of endorsement deals, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is once again the highest paid athlete in the United States, according to Sports Illustrated.

The prime time boxer who is known as much for his smack talk as his skills in the ring is projected to make approximately $90 million in 2013.

LeBron James came in at No. 2, making $56,545,000; and Drew Brees is at No. 3, earning $47.8 million.

Oregon baseball (40-11, Pac-12 19-5) begins a midweek, two-game series with West Coast Conference leader Gonzaga (32-6-1, WCC 18-6) Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at PK Park. The Ducks enter the series ranked 10th nationally by Baseball America and 6th by both Collegiate Baseball and the USA Today Coaches Poll. The second game of the series will begin Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

Following the series with the Bulldogs, the Ducks will play host to the Beavers (41-8, 20-4) in a Civil War matchup over the weekend in a first-and-second-place Pac-12 battle, wrapping up regular season play at home.

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Oregon running back De’Anthony Thomas is atop NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr.’s draft board. The ESPN analyst has him ranked number one in the running back position, finding his speed and playmaking ability to be highly attractive to NFL scouts.

Of course, Kiper’s board is subject to change over the course of the 2013-14 season.

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The Ducks’ men and women’s track and field teams have both jumped to number three rankings in the nation after their performances at the Pac-12 Championships.

The women jumped four spots, while the men moved up from four to three, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Following the tragic death of Oregon tennis player Alex Rovello, the School of Journalism and Communication in conjunction with the Oregon athletic department, is providing transportation to his memorial service in Portland on Saturday.

Rovello, a 21-year-old journalism major, died on Saturday as a result of a cliff diving accident in Tamolitch Falls.

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One unit of the Oregon football team that has been slightly overlooked during spring camp is the special teams unit. Duck fans know the importance of having an effective kicker on the squad and a reliable special teams.

The Register-Guard’s Rob Moseley provides a spring practice review for the special teams unit and a projected depth chart headed into fall camp.

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In what might be the surprise of the NBA conference semifinals thus far, the Memphis Grizzlies now hold a 3-1 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Grizzlies defeated Oklahoma City 103-97 in overtime on Monday night paced by 23 points and 11 boards from Marc Gasol.

Memphis can wrap up the series on Wednesday evening in Oklahoma City. Game five tips off at 8:30 p.m.