Trailing 2-0 with one out in the top of the eighth, Oregon baseball looked dead in the water.

While Conor Harber and Cooper Stiles held the Oregon State offense at bay, the Ducks’ offense was stagnating at a time where the Ducks needed it most. This was Oregon’s do-or-die moment; if the Ducks win their final four games against No. 20 Oregon State and No. 3 UCLA, they’ll make it to the NCAA Tournament, but late into Tuesday’s contest, Oregon seemed to lack any sense of urgency.

Then leadoff hitter Jakob Goldfarb reached on an error from the Beaver shortstop Caleb Hamilton to catalyze the top of the lineup. Austin Grebeck flew out to left field for the second out, but Mitchell Tolman delivered a two-out RBI double to right center off of Beaver reliever Luke Heimlich to get the Ducks on the scoreboard.

Phil Craig-St. Louis converted Tolman’s double with a two-out RBI single of his own to tie the ballgame.

The two teams dueled into the eleventh inning when Scott Heineman led the inning off with a double, moved to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a pinch hit game-winning sacrifice fly by Kyle Kasser to take a 3-2 lead the Ducks would not surrender.

Oregon (35-22) started the first leg of its crucible with a massive victory in Corvallis, as the win was not just an RPI booster, but also gave the Ducks their first season series win over the Beavers (36-15-1) since the 2012-13 season.

As the Ducks’ winning streak extends to eight games, pitching was again at the forefront of Oregon’s success. Harber’s first start since late April was a promising sight as the junior allowed just one run over four innings. Stiles pitched 2.2 innings, allowing just one run on two hits before the Ducks tied the game up to send it to extra innings.

Oregon’s dominant back-end relievers were flawless yet again. Stephen Nogosek held the Beavers scoreless in his 2.1 inning outing before Garrett Cleavinger (4-2) finished things off in the tenth and eleventh innings to pick up the win.

Oregon State starter Sam Tweedt was carving through Oregon’s lineup in the early going. Tweedt pitched 6.0 shutout innings with just three hits and one walk allowed. Luke Heimlich gave up the two unearned runs in the eighth, then Mitch Hickey (4-1) dropped the decision in the eleventh.

The Ducks will look to continue their winning ways against UCLA on Friday, but beating the Bruins’ ace pitcher James Kaprielian won’t be easy as he is coming off of a nine inning no-hit performance last weekend.

First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at PK Park and will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

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– Oregon track and field swept the Pac-12 Championships in Los Angeles, with the men beating USC easily 152-121 and the women edging the Trojans in the final event to win the meet 185-182. With multi-event star Jenna Prandini held out of the competition because of an illness, Jasmine Todd stepped up to score 35 team points in five events.

– Oregon softball continued its dominance in the NCAA Regional round, sweeping North Dakota State and BYU this weekend at Howe Field to advance to the Super Regional.

– Oregon baseball pushed its winning streak to six games with a weekend sweep of Utah in Salt Lake City. The Ducks used comeback wins to edge the Utes in rainy affairs on Friday and Saturday, then put a complete game together to end the weekend.

– The men’s golf team sunk 17 birdies over the final nine holes at the Noblesville Regional to advance to the NCAA Championship.

– Oregon basketball landed another transfer: forward Chris Boucher, the NJCAA national player of the year.

– Former Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas scored seven touchdowns for the Portland Thunder against the L.A. Kiss Saturday,

– Former Oregon defensive back Isaac Dixon is facing a fourth-degree assault charge after being involved in a physical altercation with his girlfriend at an apartment at the Chase Village complex.

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Oregon baseball’s postseason chances are slim, but the Ducks kept themselves on the right side of the margin Sunday with a 5-1 victory over Utah in Salt Lake City, pushing their winning streak to six straight games.

Josh Graham (4-1) turned in another quality weekend start, while Mitchell Tolman etched his name atop another Oregon leaderboard with his 44th career double.

The Ducks got on the board right away against Utah’s starter Jayson Rose (3-5). Jakob Goldfarb started the game with a triple to right center field, then Austin Grebeck converted a sacrifice fly to give the Ducks the opening tally.

Graham cut through the first turn of Utah’s lineup untouched before allowing back-to-back hits in the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1, but the junior starter settled back into a groove. Graham posted scoreless frames in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to finish the day with 7.0 innings pitched, 5 hits and one run allowed.

Oregon tacked on insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Mark Karaviotis scored Matt Eureste on a RBI single to left, then Tolman picked up Grebeck with an RBI double to right center, making Tolman Oregon’s all-time leader in career doubles with 44.

In the eighth, the Ducks manufactured another run as Tolman hit a one-out single, stole second – his 10th of the season– advanced to third on a fly-out, then scored on a wild pitch to push Oregon’s lead out to 4-1.

Goldfarb doubled Karaviotis home in the ninth to give Oregon its final 5-1 advantage.

Stephen Nogosek pitched a clean eighth and handed the game to Garrett Cleavinger in the ninth, who finished things out with a 1-2-3 inning.

The Ducks’ winning streak now stands at six consecutive games.

Oregon’s postseason hopes rest squarely on this final week as the Ducks will face two top-50 RPI teams.

They’ll face No. 35 Oregon State in Corvallis on Tuesday, then take on No. 3 UCLA at P.K. Park to close out the season. If Oregon emerges with a 3-1 record, or better, it will have a good argument for earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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Oregon baseball worked its way out of multiple jams and made the most of its opportunities as the Ducks completed a two-game midweek sweep of Gonzaga Wednesday night at PK Park with a 2-1 win over the Bulldogs.

“We found a way to win,” head coach George Horton said.

The Zags were able to load the bases three times against Oregon’s starter Jacob Corn (3-0), but the freshman left-hander tightroped his way out of danger in nearly every frame, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks in 4.1 innings pitched.

“Throw strikes and let my defense work,” Corn said, referencing his plan to dodge the Gonzaga offense. “They worked.”

Oregon (31-22) turned three clean double-plays and stranded six Gonzaga (23-26) baserunners in the process.

“We’re a pitching and defense team,” Horton said. “When that went sideways, I think there was a little panic. Our hitters tried too hard and got off their plan, so it’s nice to see that come back.”

Gonzaga’s starter Calvin LeBrun settled into an early groove and pitched 5.2 shutout innings before Oregon’s designated hitter Phil Craig-St. Louis grooved a 2-out 2 RBI double down the right field line to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead.

Conor Harber (4-2), who was removed from Oregon’s rotation after failing to produce in his stint as Oregon’s Saturday starter, replaced Corn and pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win.

“We need him in the stretch drive if we’re going to get the opportunity to play beyond our 60 games,” Horton said. “It frustrates you whenever any of your players underachieve or hit a slump, but … hopefully that will be the start of some bigger and better things for him.”

Stephen Nogosek recorded up the last out in the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth inning before turning the game over to Garrett Cleavinger in the ninth, who picked up the save (8).

Craig-St. Louis finished with a 2-3 night with 2 RBI and a walk.

Oregon will head to rainy Salt Lake City for a weekend series with Utah as the Ducks try to make up for lost ground in Pac-12 play and pick up a postseason bid.

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Oregon baseball bounced back from a one run performance Saturday night to put up seven runs against Washington State on Sunday. Oregon won the rubber match of the series, 7-2.

The Ducks (29-22, 11-13) were led by Mitchell Tolman’s 3-5, 3 RBI performance. Tolman moved past Ryon Healy on the day to become Oregon’s all-time RBI leader with 120.

Oregon coach George Horton gave Josh Graham the start after the converted catcher gave up seven runs on 10 hits in 3.2 innings against Oregon State last Tuesday. Graham (3-1) rebounded to pick up the win a five inning scoreless outing against the Cougars as the Sunday starter.

Oregon hit three consecutive first-inning doubles as Austin Grebeck, Tolman and Phil Craig-St. Louis powered Oregon into a 2-0 lead. The middle of the lineup loaded the bases in the fourth inning on two walks and a hit-by-pitch, then Tim Susnara scored Craig-St. Louis on a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 3-0.

Tolman struck again in the seventh with a two-RBI double, then Susnara and Daniel Patzlaff tacked on runs in the eighth to bury the Cougars 7-0.

Washington State scored a run in the eighth and ninth innings against Trent Paddon before Garrett Cleavinger made his 100th career appearance to pick up the final out of the game.

The Ducks have now won three consecutive weekend series against Pac-12 foes, and will look to continue their winning ways against Taylor Jones and Gonzaga in a Tuesday-Wednesday series at P.K. Park.

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Oregon got enough out of its starting pitcher David Peterson, but couldn’t mount enough offense against the Washington State Cougars in a 3-1 loss Saturday night in Pullman, Washington.

Peterson (4-6) lasted 7.1 innings, allowing just three runs – two earned – on six hits, two walks and nine strikeouts, while the Duck offense scattered seven hits against Washington State’s Joe Pistorese (7-4).

The Ducks (28-22, 10-13) struck first in the sixth inning when Mitchell Tolman singled home Jakob Goldfarb, giving Oregon a 1-0 lead.

Washington State responded in the bottom half with a pair of RBI singles to take a 2-1 advantage.

Oregon ended up chasing Pistorese in the eighth inning after Mark Karaviotis led off the inning with a first pitch single, but the Ducks couldn’t mount any offense against Cougar relievers Sam Triece and Matt Bower.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Cougars got a single off Peterson before Oregon’s Cooper Stiles relieved Peterson with one out in the inning. Stiles watched the first batter he face reach on a Tolman fielding error. Stiles hit the next batter he saw to load the bases, then lost a wild pitch to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead.

Washington State’s closer Ian Hamliton picked up the save.

Oregon will throw either Conor Harber or Josh Graham, who gave up seven runs on 10 hits in 3.2 innings against Oregon State on Tuesday, in the rubber match Sunday afternoon.

First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.

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Pac-12 North: 

Oregon State University

The Mike Riley era is over in Corvallis, Oregon and the Gary Andersen era begins. The former Wisconsin head coach will have his hands full coping with the depleted OSU roster. The Beavers have to replace Sean Mannion, the Pac-12’s all-time leader in career passing yards, while the defense is replacing nine starters from the year before in its switch from the 4-3 defense to the 3-4 front.

University of Cal, Berkeley

Junior quarterback Jared Goff will be entering his third season in Tony Franklin’s offense and looks to be ready to emerge as the Pac-12’s premier passer in 2015. The Golden Bears have plenty of talent on offense with Bryce Treggs and Daniel Lasco manning the skill positions, but their secondary is, at best, a work in progress.

Stanford University

Fifth year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan is back for his final season and ready to make another run at the Pac-12 title with a reloaded roster around him. Christian McCaffrey and Barry Sanders give the Cardinal plenty of depth in the backfield, while Austin Hooper appears to be the next great Stanford tight end. Stanford’s defense has to replace plenty of big names again, but linebackers Blake Martinez and Kevin Anderson are ready to reload the stout Cardinal front.

University of Washington

With quarterback Cyler Miles taking an indefinite leave of absence, Huskies head coach Chris Petersen found himself conducting another quarterback battle this spring. Junior Jeff Lindquist is the leading candidate, but freshman Jake Browning and K.J. Carta-Samuels are vying for playing time as well.

Washington State University

Replacing gunslinger Connor Halliday will not be easy, but redshirt sophomore Luke Falk made a strong case toward being the starting quarterback next fall. With veteran wide receiver Dom Williams headlining head coach Mike Leach’s air-raid offense, the Cougs will be able to pass the ball just fine, but a suspect defense might hold Washington State back this season.

Pac-12 South:

University of Arizona

For the first time in Rich Rodriguez’s tenure at Arizona, the Wildcats will return their starting quarterback from the previous year, redshirt sophomore Anu Solomon. Also returning are running back Nick Wilson and star linebacker Scooby Wright III. If the Wildcats can survive early tests against UCLA at home and Stanford on the road, look for them to be a dark horse in the playoff discussion.

Arizona State University 

With eight starters returning on offense and nine on defense, the Sun Devils are ready to reload and make another run at the Pac-12 South title. Quarterback Mike Bercovici has plenty of experience and plenty of weapons to use on offense. The best being running back D.J. Foster, who was All-Conference in 2014.

University of Colorado

Head coach Mike MacIntyre is starting to build a respectable team in Boulder, Colorado, but isn’t quite ready to make noise in the Pac-12 South. Quarterback Sefo Liufau returns, as does his favorite target Nelson Spruce, but first year defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt will have his hands full improving the Pac-12’s second worst scoring defense in 2014.

University of Utah

The Utes have a ton of returning talent, but face a brutal schedule next fall. Utah hosts Jim Harbaugh and the University of Michigan Wolverines week one, then play Oregon, USC, Washington and Arizona on the road in Pac-12 play. Senior Travis Wilson returns at quarterback and is joined by All-Pac-12 running back Devontae Booker in the backfield. Utah will have to replace Nate Orchard’s production on the defensive line, but have plenty of experience on all levels.

UCLA

The Bruins signed one of the nation’s best recruiting classes and will use the nation’s top ranked quarterback recruit Josh Rosen as soon as possible. The true freshman took the reins of UCLA’s quarterback battle this spring and will be surrounded by the most experienced Bruin offense in almost a decade. Running back Paul Perkins and wide receiver Jordan Payton lead the way on offense, while dual-threat linebacker/running back Myles Jack, nose guard Kenny Clark and defensive end Eddie Vanderdoes make up a vicious Bruin front.

USC

The hype is back at USC as Steve Sarkisian and the Trojans are now free of their scholarship restrictions and are loaded with five-star talent. Senior quarterback Cody Kessler and sophomore wide receiver JuJu Smith headline the skill positions on offense, and they’ll have four returning offensive linemen protecting them, including All-Pac-12 center Max Tuerk. On defense, defensive backs Su’a Cravens and Adoree’ Jackson will be terrorizing wide receivers all season long.

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J.B. Bryant picked up an elusive walk-off walk in Oregon’s rubber match with Washington Sunday at PK Park to win 3-2.

After dueling with the Huskies for 10 and one-half innings, the Ducks (25-19, 7-11) loaded the bases in the bottom of the 11th and worked a walk to win the game.

Both teams scored a run in the third inning. Washington manufactured a run set up by a Joey Morgan double, while Mark Karaviotis’ one-out triple set up Jakob Goldfarb’s RBI single.

Washington loaded the bases in the sixth inning on two walks and a hit batter, then pushed a run across to take a 2-1 lead.

Oregon got the equalizer one inning later. Mitchell Tolman hit a one-out double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a Phil Craig-St. Louis RBI groundout.

The Ducks took advantage of three walks and a hit batter to win the game in the 11th.

Converted catcher Josh Graham made his first career start and did not disappoint. The Junior allowed just one run on three hits in five innings, but finished with a no decision.

Kohl Hostert was responsible for the earned run in the sixth inning, but Trent Paddon, Steven Nogosek and Garret Cleavinger each pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

Cleavinger (3-1) picked up the win, and struck out the side in both innings.

Oregon will stay at home this week for a three game series against Stanford next weekend.

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Oregon baseball made the most of its opportunities and deprived Washington of its chances in a 4-3 victory at PK Park Saturday night.

The Ducks scored four runs on five hits, while the Huskies left 12 runners on base in a game full of pivotal moments.

The first big play came in the top of the first inning, as Jakob Goldfarb robbed a three run home run to end the first frame.

“For me, that’s probably the play of the game,” interim head coach Mark Wasikowski said. Head coach Horton was suspended for two games by the university after arguing with an umpire during Sunday’s contest against USC. “It happened early and it happened so long ago that we all might have forgotten about it, but that was an awesome catch and that was clearly the difference in the game.”

Oregon’s starting pitcher Conor Harber got through the first inning unscathed, but struggled with command early in his outing for the third week in a row.

Harber walked four batters and allowed two earned runs on three hits in just 2.1 innings pitched. With this outing included, Harber has allowed 10 earned runs and has pitched just 5.1 innings in his last three starts.

“Believe me, he’s trying,” Wasikowski said. “He’s doing everything he can, and maybe that’s the problem. He’s trying so dang hard that it makes it a lot harder.”

Yet again, Oregon was forced to call on a long reliever to bail it out of trouble.

This week, Cooper Stiles (2-1) rose to the occasion. Stiles relieved Harber in the top of the third inning and pitched four scoreless innings.

“He just did what he does,” Wasikowski said. “He sinks the ball, it’s not overpowering velocity, but he pounded the strike zone, he got a lot of ground ball outs, he frustrated them.”

As Stiles settled into a groove, Oregon’s offense did its job against Washington’s starter Tyler Davis (5-5) in the fourth inning.

Mitchell Tolman worked a 1-out walk to lead off the inning, giving the middle of the Oregon lineup a chance to hit with a runner on base. Phil Craig-St. Louis delivered right away with an RBI triple after Washington’s right fielder whiffed on a diving attempt to tie the game at 2-2.

The Huskies worked around the newly reinstated Scott Heineman to put him aboard on a four pitch walk, then Cuddy cracked a 2 RBI double to left-center to give Oregon a 4-2 lead.

Both pitchers settled into the grooves over the middle innings, as Davis ended up racking a career high 14 strikeouts, but Washington’s offense couldn’t get anything going against Stiles and Stephen Nogosek, who relieved Stiles in the sixth and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.

Garrett Cleavinger came in with 2 outs in the top of the eighth for a four-out save and got out of the eighth unharmed, but allowed a solo home run to Branden Berry (7) to start the ninth inning before shutting the door to pick up the save (6).

Oregon’s win will force another critical rubber match with the Ducks’ Pacific Northwest rivals on Sunday.

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1. No. 3 UCLA (28-8, 14-4)

The Bruins have kept it rolling with back-to-back series wins against their in-state rivals USC and California. UCLA still leads the Pac-12 in team ERA (2.18) and strikeouts (333).

2. No. 5 Arizona State (25-11, 13-5)

Arizona State made the jump over USC after winning their series against Utah and Arizona. The Sun Devils continue to impress on offense with the No. 2 team batting average in the conference (.300), but have seen their opposing batting average dip to No. 8 in the conference at .258.

3. No. 10 USC (29-10, 10-5)

USC struggled to generate enough offense to top UCLA, but scored 35 runs in three games against Oregon last weekend to retain their spot amongst the conference’s elite teams. Like their ranking, the Trojans are No. 3 in the Pac-12 in team batting average (.299) and team ERA (3.00).

4. California (23-13, 10-8)

Despite losing two of three against both UCLA and Stanford, Cal has maintained a solid 2.93 team ERA and still leads the conference in home runs with 34. With a pair of big series against Arizona and Arizona State coming up, the Golden Bears still have a lot of room to improve their conference rank before the end of the season.

5. Arizona (24-13, 9-9)

The conference’s top offense hit a brick wall in Corvallis last weekend as the Wildcats could only muster four runs in three games against the Beavers. Despite maintaining its .313 team batting average, Arizona has now dropped seven of its last nine games and has slipped out of each of the top 25 polls.

6. Oregon State (25-12, 8-7)

While the Beavers’ .416 slugging percentage hasn’t translated to runs, Oregon State is still one of the most formidable teams in the conference with capable hitters and pitchers. The Beavers host USC this weekend with a chance to leapfrog Arizona in the conference rankings.

7. Washington (21-16, 7-11)

The Huskies have regressed over the past few weeks and lost two-of-three against Washington State and Arizona State in back-to-back weekends. Washington is right in the middle of the conference with a .263 team batting average and 3.07 team ERA.

8. Oregon (23-18, 5-10)

The Ducks looked like they turned a corner in their series win over Oregon State, but fell back on old habits in a messy series with USC. The Ducks’ offense is third-to-last in the conference with a .253 batting average, while their pitching staff has watched their ERA balloon to 3.87 after giving up a plethora of runs to USC last weekend.

9. Washington State (21-18, 5-10)

10. Utah (13-22, 5-10)

11. Stanford (16-21, 4-11)

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