Ryon Healy launched a pair of two-run homers as the Ducks found their offensive stroke en-route to a 6-3 win to clinch the series against Stanford.

Healy’s first home run came in the first inning and the Ducks never looked back against the No. 21 Cardinal with freshman Cole Irvin turning in a solid outing on the mound to pick up his eight victory of the year. Stanford’s Dean McArdle took the loss after he was chased from the mound in the third inning, continuing an unfortunate theme of short outings for the senior.

The Ducks led by as many as five runs after plating three in the fourth inning — one on a wild pitch and two more off Healy’s bat — but Stanford answered right back scoring two of their own in the fifth. The Cardinal threatened again in the sixth getting a man as far as third base but Drew Jackson grounded out to end the danger.

Both teams recorded double-digit hit totals, more than some teams rack up in an entire series in a park as pitcher-friendly as PK Park, but the warmer weather helped the ball travel a little. The normally sound Ducks defense did leave a little to be desired as both Brett Thomas and Connor Hofmann misplayed balls in the outfield, and bobbles in the infield costs the Ducks chances at double plays. A third charged error in the seventh allowed the Cardinal to pull within 6-4.

Despite giving up 10 hits, Irvin looked quite good, not wasting much energy in getting through the Stanford lineup and using just four pitches in one inning. The freshman finished with a final line of 7.0 IP 10h 4r 2er 2bb 1k on just 82 pitches before George Horton handed the ball to Jimmie Sherfy for the two-inning save. Sherfy made quick work of the eighth inning then made similarly quick work of the ninth to shut the door.

With Marcus Mariota playing limited action and De’Anthony Thomas out of action, the spring game offered a chance for backups to take center stage. Jake Rodrigues and Jeff Lockie alternated leading drives down the field and after each stalled on their first few drives, both eventually found their grooves.

Lockie matched Mariota’s 13 completions in the first half, averaging ten yards per completion, none prettier than his 49 yard bomb to Bralon Addison. Addison caught the ball in single coverage at the 15, made one move and walked into the endzone for the longest play of the day.

Marshall looked very strong on the ground, racking up a game-high 60 rushing yards on just six carriers. The presumed backup to Thomas had a long of 26 yards and ran north-south on every carry.

While the final score didn’t look good for the defense, the green squad had some notable performances, too. Christian French was all over the place, recording five tackles and a sack in the first quarter alone, but with the first team offense largely facing the second team defense, the white team racked up 52 points in the first half capped off by a 48 yard field goal — yes, a field goal — by Alejandro Maldonado.

Among those finding the endzone was walk-on Jordan Thompson who had five carries for 36 yards and a score in the first half. Former Marist High product Jeff Bedbury had a touchdown catch, though he was so wide-open on the play that it looked like a blown assignment for the defense. Lane Rosebury added a touchdown as well late in the third quarter.

Even the special teams unit got everybody involved. Maldonado handled kickoffs and the first few PATs, but then Eric Solis and Hayden Crook took over extra point duties, with Solis going 3-3 and Crook going 2-3. Dylan Ausherman made his Duck debut punting and was nothing if not consistent, averaging 41.2 yards a kick, though none of his punts pinned the white team inside the 20.

The Ducks opened up their marquee series with Stanford with a 2-1 walk-off win Friday night courtesy a bases loaded single from Aaron Payne.

“With two strikes I was just trying to put it in play hard,” Payne said before he took a celebratory shaving cream pie to the face. Payne acknowledged the Friday night win vs a high-profile opponent was a momentum builder for the Ducks, but it’s far from a completed job with two games left in the series.

Mark Appel was as good as advertised on the hill for Stanford, tossing an 8.1 inning complete game loss and striking out nine Ducks in the process, but the super-prospect got little help from his offense despite nine hits and even less help from the Cardinal defense, which committed three errors on the night including one to lead off the ninth.

“The errors probably had more to do with us winning than the hits,” George Horton said.

For his part, Tommy Thorpe was strong on the mound despite giving up nine hits through just 6.2, but he was able to tightrope out of danger almost every time thanks to a strong curveball that led to three of his seven strikeouts.

The Cardinal did lead, briefly, in the third inning on an RBI double from Danny Diekroeger, but Tommy Thorpe limited the damage and Oregon got the run back in the very next inning, this time on an RBI single from Ryon Healy.

“I thought that was critical,” Horton said, “just to break through off Appel.”

The Ducks got a strong outing from their bullpen without even having to call upon their best arm, with Darrell Hunter and Garrett Cleavinger keeping Stanford out of the hit column for the final 2.1 innings. Hunter had a particularly clutch outing, entering the game to face the heart of Stanford’s order in the seventh inning, but he quickly got Brian Ragira out to end the frame.

“Even in this park you’re walking on eggshells a little bit,” Horton said, “with their big, strong guys that can roll it a little bit. I thought Darrel was key, that’s kind of out of his role a little bit and he came in and certainly did his job.”

The Ducks will go for the series win tomorrow with freshman Cole Irvin on the hill for the Ducks. He’ll face Dean McArdale in a 2:00 start.

Wearing regular uniforms for the spring game would just be so un-Ducklike, wouldn’t it?

Nike has outfitted the Ducks “green” and “white” squads with special uniforms once again dedicated to the U.S. Armed Forces. Both jerseys say “support our troops” on the back and include a new helmet design. A full photo gallery is available through Nike’s website.

According to a report from Sports Illustrated, Oregon met with the NCAA Committee on Infractions last Friday to discuss the “major violations” the school and the NCAA agreed upon regarding Oregon’s recruiting practices under Chip Kelly. The Ducks reportedly spent $35,000 on recruiting services, though former head coach Chip Kelly maintained at the hearings that the Ducks used these services “the same way other schools do.”

While the Ducks haven’t faced the dreaded “lack of institutional control” charge, they could be considered repeat violators after the Ducks’ last major violations in 2004. The NCAA is expected to make a decision in the next 60-90 days, meaning that any potential postseason bans could go into effect as early as next season.

The first ever dual meet between track and field powers Oregon and Arkansas lived up to expectations as the No. 2 Razorbacks trailed most of the afternoon but made a late charge, clinching the victory in the 4×400 meter relay, the final event of the meet.

The Ducks led for the first 16 events, but with just the triple jump and 4×400 relay remaining, the Razorbacks could reach the 82 points needed to win the dual by sweeping the triple jump, an event they were expected to do well in. The Razorbacks took the top two spots, but Oregon’s Tyler Pinkney jumped into third place in the triple jump, setting up a winner-take-all final event.

Arkansas would win in 3:07.14, but it came down to the final 100 meters as the Ducks’ Mike Berry was neck-and-neck with Akheem Gauntlett as the two rounded the Bowerman Curve for the last time. Moments earlier, Berry had won the 400 meters in the seventh fastest time by a collegian this year, clocking a 45.92, but his legs failed him as Gauntlett pulled ahead for the win.

Berry wasn’t the only Duck to turn in a time among the nation’s best. Elijah Greer left everybody else in his dust, winning the 800 meters in 1:46.20, faster than anybody else in the nation has run this year. Not to be outdone, Mac Fleet set a personal best in the 1500, finishing in 3:40.21, also the fastest time in the nation this year.

“I didn’t really have too much of a race plan,” Fleet said. “I don’t think the race plan was to take it from 450 (meters) out, that’s for sure.”

Oregon turned in quality marks in the field event as well, with Sam Crouser in particular having a productive day, picking up two event wins. Crouser opened his day by winning the discus competition on the final throw of the event, recording a personal best throw of 174-2, then took first in the javelin with a monster throw of 240-7.

Despite the loss, the dual offered Oregon a chance to go stride-for-stride with the second-ranked team in the nation. With the NCAA championships headed to Hayward Field in June, it won’t be the last time the Ducks run against the Razorbacks, either.

“I feel like the team can bounce back from this loss and put up a great showing at the NCAA championship,” he said. “It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to come through at the end, but we kept it close through the final meters. I know we certainly showed that Oregon is a contender.”

After a full morning session of high school events, Oregon returned to the Hayward Field track for a dual meet with Arkansas. The Ducks held a 17-1 lead after the two events held yesterday, but Arkansas got the first set of first place points on day two with a victory in the shot put.

Arkansas won the first track event of the day with a 39.79 time in the 4×100 meter relay with De’Anthony Thomas a late scratch for Oregon. The Razorbacks also took first and third place points in the long jump as Trevor Ferguson’s lifetime best was only good enough for second.

Mac Fleet ran the fastest 1500m by a collegian this year, finishing in 3:40.21. Oregon’s Patrick Todd set the pace through the first 1000 or so meters before dropping out allowing Fleet to coast to the win. Oregon then added back-to-back wins in the 110m hurdles and the 400 meters and picked up more first place points in the javelin with Sam Crouser’s sixth round throw giving him the win.

Thomas was again a late scratch in the 100 meters, but Oregon still took first place points with Arthur Delaney turning in a blistering 10.59. Elijah Greer ran the fastest 800 meters nearly a second faster than any collegian had previously done so this year, turning in a 1:46.20. With a Razorback sweep in the high jump, Arkansas was able to cut into the Duck lead slightly with Oregon winning 57-47 after 12 events with 82 points needed to win.

The Razorbacks should make up much of that lead with the triple jump and the javelin, potentially setting up 4×400 relay for the dual meet win. A 1-3 finish for the visitors in the 400 meter relays chipped into Oregon’s lead even more cutting it to 60-53.

As expected the team race tightened as field events continued, even with the Ducks picking up a 1-2 finish in the javelin. Arkansas cut the lead to four at 72-68 with a 1-2 finish of their own in the 3000m steeplechase won by Arkansas in the third fastest collegiate time of the year.

Arkansas won the final event by a .25 seconds pushing them over the 82 points needed for the meet victory. The Razorbacks took the lead at about the 800 meter mark and held off a late charge from Mike Berry to take home the win.

Sophomore Jillian Weir set another personal best in the hammer throw, but it wasn’t enough to beat out Caresssa Sims for the win. Sims bettered Weir’s PR of 58.30 meters by less than one meter. Sims threw 58.80 on her first attempt, ultimately good enough to take home the event win.

Jared Schuurmans also took home a win on the strength of his first round throw in the men’s discus competition. Schuurmans opened his day with a toss of 58.65 meters, better than 40 feet farther than the rest of the competition would manage all day. Lane CC sophomore William Kunkle was second, just three inches ahead of Southern Oregon’s Danny Parks who rounded out the top three.

Alyssa Monteverde easily outran the rest of the field in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. Monteverde improved her lifetime best by half a second—an eternity in the world of sprinting—and clocked the second best time in UO history finishing in 13.41. Monteverde ran so fast she outperformed her own expectations.

“My goal this year,” Monteverde said, “was to PR by a little bit and try and get up there and make it to Pac-12s. Surprised is a good word to use, but I’ve been training really hard this year so it’s not that surprising.”

The only real drama was waiting to find out if her PR was wind-legal or if, like the 13.76 she ran in Texas, it was wind-aided.

“That’s always the worry…I saw the time and I was like ‘either way that’s a huge PR. I was hoping it was wind legal.”

Monteverde is training for the multi-events and also competed today in the high jump and the 400 meters where she finished 4th in 1:03.49.

He wasn’t listed on the heat sheets initially, but two time Olympian Andrew Wheating was added to the field for the 800 meters late. Wheating ran in the second section, along with Hank Morrison and Trent Warren.

Wheating won his heat easily in 1:49.24 after spending the first lap in the middle of the pack and slowly making his move on the second lap pulling into first and not looking back as he rounded the Bowerman Curve. It wasn’t the fastest time in the world—it was actually slightly slow by Wheating’s standards—but he was glad to take a win early in the season.

Multi-sport athlete Liz Brenner finished second in the javelin, behind Ducks commit Haley Crouser, but Brenner still PRed.

“I think I felt more rested this week,” Brenner said, “because I didn’t get back  (from Florida) until Wednesday, so my body was more rested.”

Brenner had been out of town for the presentation of the Sullivan Award, the top honor given to an amateur athlete by the AAU. Brenner was a finalist for the award.

Jordan Hasay won the 5,000 meters for Oregon, edging out Oregon Track Club’s Bridget Franek by less than a tenth of a second. Hasay took the lead with seven laps to go and didn’t give it up, though she had to hold of Franek over the last 100 meters as the pair crossed the finish line almost in tandem with Hasay finishing in 16:01.54.