When Teresa Baca and her husband Porfiro started coming to the athletic’s department’s surplus sale, things looked a little different. There was no Bellotti Bold, no instantly recognizable “O” and no “national brand.”

Instead, there was a simple table on the north side of Autzen Stadium and just a few die-hards looking for bargains. But as the Ducks started to climb into national prominence, the surplus sale grew. More and more people arrived earlier and earlier. The Bacas drove from Harrisburg and arrived as early as 6 a.m.  just to get in line — but even that wouldn’t have been enough to get into the front of the line this year.

The 2013 edition of the surplus sale saw 2,829 pass through the Moshofsky Center, said Craig Pintens, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Public Relations. That’s about twice as many people as the year before, and they came early too. They’re looking for deals that are almost too good to be true: team issue football helmets for a fraction of the price they go for online, Nikes for $20, even practice and game gear worn by Oregon athletes, not to mention locker-room championship apparel from the Fiesta Bowl.

Pit Crew administrators Andrew Stevens and Kevin Wade were the first to arrive. The pair set up camp around 6 p.m. on Thursday, almost 40 hours before the doors would open. It only took a few hours for a line to start forming behind them. Fans in Eugene recognize the opportunity the surplus sale presents, and take up the opportunity to snatch up athletic department issue gear.

“Personally I’m going for jerseys,” senior Dan Smith said. “I kind of want either Cliff Harris — if they are allowing themselves to sell that — Dion Jordan or Ed Dickson. I need a yellow jersey which I don’t have, and a jersey for my girlfriend as well.”

Others snatch up cleats and basketball shoes either as collectors items or to use on the field. Arnold Bardwell of Elmira left the sale with garbage bags full of size 16 football cleats for his son — they’re not so easy to find elsewhere at such a low price.

That low price comes at a price to some fans though. Some of the fans snatch up as much gear as they can and have it all on eBay before the fans at the back of the line even get to the door. A search for Duck gear on eBay finds a great deal game and practice-worn gear, even things like pom poms and iPad covers, all posted in the time since the sale ended.

“There was a guy last year who bought $10,000 worth of stuff, and was bragging about how he was going to sell it,” Smith said.

It’s not just athletic gear, or even just Oregon gear, that’s for sale. For sale this year was a hot tub — there was no information on whether or not it was the infamous hot tub from the coaches suite at the new football operations building — and a certain VW Bug with a Duck helmet (engine not included). The athletic department also uses the sale to unload office supplies and the free samples it gets throughout the year. Smith says one year he saw a garden gnome version of the Virginia Tech Hokie.

After winning the Pac-12 conference title outright for the first time in school history, the Ducks earned the third-overall seed in the NCAA softball tournament. If Oregon head coach Mike White & Co. can emerge from the Eugene Regional victorious, they will host a Super Regional for the first time ever.

The Ducks host Brigham Young University on Thursday, with North Carolina and Wisconsin also coming to town for the double-elimination tournament.

How good is Oregon pitching?

In the 30 innings the Ducks spent at Bill Davis Stadium this weekend, the Buckeyes managed to plate just one run. On Sunday, it was Jake Reed on the mound turning in seven scoreless innings before handing the ball to Christian Jones for the eighth. Oregon’s Mr. Consistency, Jimmie Sherfy, closed out the game.

He may not have had an RBI, but freshman Mitchell Tolman was right in the thick of things for the Ducks on the offensive side once again. He singled to move Scott Heineman into scoring position when back-to-back wild pitches allowed Heineman to cross the plate.

It’s the second-straight sweep for the Ducks, who have now won 40 games on the season as they make a push for a national seed in the second-straight year. Oregon won 12 of their last 13 games but will face a much stiffer test this weekend with No. 3 Oregon State coming to PK Park. Before that though, they welcome Gonzaga to the friendly confines for a midweek set starting Tuesday.

The Civil War has been a curious series since the reinstatement of Oregon baseball, with the home team winning in sweep fashion each time the two play in conference games — so far, that’s two for the Beavers and one for the Ducks.

The Ducks won the first matchup with the Beavers of the “nonconference” variety in Corvallis on April 9, and the two teams will meet for the same type of game for the fifth time on May 21 in Corvallis after the three conference games in Eugene.

After they were rained out on Friday night, Oregon baseball played a doubleheader against Ohio State on Saturday, winning both games. The Ducks took game one 3-1 in 11 innings and made it two in a row later in the evening, winning 4-0.

The offensive star for the Ducks has continued to be Mitchell Tolman. The freshman had five hits and four RBI on the night, bringing him up to 18 RBI in the Ducks last seven games. Two of his RBI came in the 11th inning of the first game to give the Ducks a two run lead, with one of the nation’s best closers, Jimmie Sherfy, set to pitch the bottom half.

The man they call the Wild Thing wasn’t perfect but slammed the door to pick up his 17th save of the year despite loading the bases.

Oregon didn’t cut things as close in the second game, riding a complete game shutout from Cole Irvin to the four-run win. And once again, it was Tolman who delivered the clutch hit, cashing in Aaron Payne from second base with a first-inning triple. Brett Thomas was also 2-for-3 with a run scored, and J.J. Altobelli added a lead-off triple in the third inning.

Oregon will close out the series Sunday morning before returning home for a midweek set with Gonzaga and an all-important series at PK Park with Oregon State. The three-game Civil War may well determine the Pac-12 regular season champion, and it will have serious postseason ramifications with both the Ducks and Beavers hoping for a national seed.

Oregon baseball is in Columbus this week for a non-conference set with Ohio State. The Ducks’ all-important series with Oregon State is on the schedule for next week. The Ducks’ Friday night tilt has been canceled due to rain, and the teams will play a doubleheader with the Buckeyes tomorrow.

Game one of tomorrow’s doubleheader will start at 12:05.

The Cliff Harris story is an all too familiar one. He was among the most fun-to-watch players in the country, and that talent is now wasted.

If you haven’t been keeping score at home, let’s recap the last two weeks.

The former Duck was cited for smoking marijuana in a parked car in New Jersey last week, arrested for domestic harassment outside a Buffalo Wild Wings on Sunday and pulled over for speeding and passing in a no-passing zone while driving to court on Tuesday. He was also charged with driving without possession of a license, then showed up several hours late to his court date. This is the same man who was pulled over for driving 118 mph on I-5 and told police “We smoked it all” when asked why his car smelled like marijuana.

All that being said, when I remember Cliff Harris, I’ll remember the guy who was here to “lock shit down.” I’ll remember the dude who was the cheese on top of the nachos, and the dude who liked Oregon’s green jerseys because “money be green,” and the guy who even in Chip Kelly’s we-don’t-acknowledge-rivalries locker room atmosphere called that team from Corvallis “Little Brother.” (Freshmen, ask an upperclassman.)

Unfortunately, Harris is making it harder and harder for anybody to think about that.

While I’ll acknowledge there’s some skill in getting arrested three times in nine days — I’m not sure I could replicate that feat if I tried — these arrests shouldn’t prevent Duck fans from remembering how exciting he was to watch on the field. Sports, after all, are just entertainment, and while some athletes are great role models, they’re not all interested in being role models (just ask Charles Barkley). We have a tendency to look at athletes like heroes, and the fact of the matter is they’re just regular people who happen to be really good at sports. There are athletes in the NFL who have been charged with things far worse than Harris.

His downfall is a sad story, but the sad thing is fans seem to care more than he does. I was enough of his fan back in the day to want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but if he cares little enough to not even take his driver’s license to a court date, it’s time to remember the good times and stop caring.

The Champions League Final is among the toughest tickets to get in sports. With Bayern and Borussia Dortmund fans scrambling to get tickets for the May 25 match, some have been jumping at tickets that seemed way too good to be true. When they got them in the mail, the fans learned they’d bought tickets to the Champions League Final for Women, two days earlier in a different London Stadium.

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This Miami fan needs no introduction.

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There was a clearly blown call in the Athletics vs. Rangers game Wednesday, so as predicted, there has been an outcry for the expansion of instant replay in baseball.

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The Ice Hockey World Championships are underway in Finland, where the U.S. — some of them fresh off a World Juniors Championship run — defeated the hosts 4-1.

When you’re a four-sport athlete at the Division I level, people tend to take notice. First it was the AAU, which made Brenner the only collegiate finalist for the prestigious Sullivan Award — the AAU’s equivalent of the Heisman — and now it’s Sports Illustrated, which has nominated Brenner for Female College Athlete of the Year.

The sophomore has made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances with the volleyball team, played with Mike White and the softball team in the Women’s College World Series, spent two seasons on Paul Westhead’s basketball team and even won the javelin competition at the Oregon Twilight. Her main focus in college has been volleyball, though she initially joined the basketball and softball teams when injuries opened up roster slots.

Also nominated is Baylor star Brittney Griner, Taylor Thornton of Northwestern lacrosse, Kimberlyn Duncan of LSU track and North Carolina field hockey player Loren Shealy. Trey Burke and Kahled Holmes are among the nominees for the men’s award.

DuckTerritory recruiting expert Matt Prehm is reporting that UNLV transfer Mike Moser has picked Oregon as the school to continue his college career.

It’s a huge get for Oregon head coach Dana Altman, who has made a living by picking up strong senior transfers. Devoe Joseph, Olu Ashaolu and Arslan Kazemi were all integral parts of his Oregon squads — and Moser could be the best transfer yet.

He will be eligible to play right away; he chose Oregon over Gonzaga and Washington. At UNLV, he averaged a double-double — and was an honorable mention All-American — with 14 points and 10 rebounds per game.

It’s been a rough few weeks for Cliff Harris.

First, the former Oregon cornerback was cut from the Jets and caught smoking marijuana in suburban New Jersey. Then he was arrested over the weekend for domestic harassment outside a Buffalo Wild Wings in Hillsboro, Ore. And today, on his way to a court date for that charge, he was pulled over for speeding and passing in a no-passing zone — all while driving without his license.

According to the Washington County sheriff’s office, he was pulled over at 8:30 a.m. and told the officer he was running late for court; so the deputy called the court to let them know Harris would be 15 minutes late. He then failed to show up until 10:15, prompting the judge to issue a bench warrant, leading to a third arrest in just nine days.

He will spend the night in jail and appear in court tomorrow.