After Wednesday’s practice, Oregon head football coach Mark Helfrich discussed the team’s expectations and the team getting bigger and more physical on the lines.

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On Tuesday evening, Montana State filled its head coaching vacancy with Oregon men’s basketball assistant coach Brian Fish. Fish just finished his fourth season with the Ducks, the same number of seasons guard Johnathan Loyd played for the team. Loyd was the first recruit to commit to Oregon with head coach Dana Altman and Fish at the helm.

Loyd spoke with the Emerald Wednesday afternoon about Fish’s impact on his career and his favorite memories of the 48-year-old coach.

What was your reaction when you first heard Fish was heading to Montana State?

“First, I was just like, ‘Dang.’ It was kind of a ‘dang’ situation, like, ‘Oh dang, that’s for real?’ Then I’m like, ‘OK, good luck.’”

Have you talked to him since he got hired?

“No, I haven’t. When you told me, that was when I found out. Then I was texting Ben Carter and he told me and I was like, ‘Dang, I didn’t even know. I just found out like last night.’ That’s all I really heard about it.”

How much did Fish affect your decision to come to Oregon in 2010?

“He was kind of the main reason, in part, because when I started talking to him we had a good relationship. He was real cool. So, he was one of the reasons I came to Oregon, really.”

What specifically did you like about Fish when you were being recruited?

“Just like how he was a people person. I didn’t really know much about Oregon and he just made it really comfortable for me and I enjoyed talking to him. That’s really what drew me in.”

What’s a moment with him from your career at Oregon that you remember well?

“The one that sticks out to me the most was when I was a freshman. I was struggling a little bit, and he talked to me. He was like, ‘We brought you here for a reason, your activity level. Let’s go. This is what you always wanted. Now it’s time for you to step up to the plate. Work on your game and show us what you can do.’ I kind of carried that with me all through my four years.”

Was Fish the only one talking to you like that during that time?

“He was really the first one because he saw (my struggles) first. He was the first one to let me know, ‘It’s time to step up to the plate.’ Kind of tough love, which is what I needed at the time.”

How would you describe his relationship with Altman, who he’s coach with for 14 years?

“They seemed like they were really, really close. They’ve been with each other for a long time and they really get along. I’m sure coach (Altman) is wishing him the best of luck. I’m sure there are no hard feelings between them. They had a great relationship.”

Did you ever see a memorable interaction between those two?

“They’ve got stories for days and Fish is the one guy who can really get coach laughing, to be honest.”

What’s one of those stories?

“The one I remember, I think it was my freshman or sophomore year and we’d just gotten to Matt Knight (Arena). I remember one time Coach Altman called Coach Fish Jared from Subway. That had everybody dying. That was like the first joke I’d ever heard coach tell. … Usually when (Altman) talks, it’s about basketball. He’ll tell a couple little jokes here and there but that was the first time I’d ever heard him get on somebody like that. I was just done.”

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Oregon men’s basketball assistant coach Brian Fish will become Montana State’s head coach, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.

Oregon assistant Brian Fish will be the head coach at Montana State, sources told ESPN. News conference set for Wednesday.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 1, 2014

Fish, 48, will replace Brad Huse, who got fired after eight seasons with Montana State. The Bobcats went 14-17 this past season.

Fish just finished his fourth season as a Ducks assistant under head coach Dana Altman. Fish served 10 years before Oregon under Altman, as well. He was a graduate assistant at his alma mater Marshall for one season (1989-90) with Altman . He then served two stints at Creighton under Altman. The first run spanned from 1994-96. The second, from 2004-10.

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Washington State hired Ernie Kent to be the new men’s basketball coach on Monday. Kent, a former Oregon player and coach, will replace Ken Bone, who was fired on March 18.

“Somebody like Ernie that would have a passion for Washington State like he did for the University of Oregon would be someone I’d be interested in,” said Washington State athletic director Bill Moos, who was Oregon’s athletic director when Kent was hired as the Ducks’ head coach in 1997.

Kent played for Oregon from 1973-1977 and coached there until 2010. He led the Ducks to five NCAA tournament appearances, including two Elite Eights (2003 and 2007). Oregon’s current head coach Dana Altman replaced Kent, who was fired after back-to-back seasons with a 24-39 combined record.

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Jessica Sorenson stood on home plate during an overcast day PK Park, blindfolded. Her boyfriend, Oregon baseball reliever Darrell Hunter, stood by the pitcher’s mound in front of all of his teammates. After her sister removed the blindfold, Sorenson saw the group of baseball players and the video board, which had a message: “Jessica Sorenson, will you marry me?”

Sorenson and Hunter met in front of home plate, where Hunter got down on one knee and proposed. Sorenson said yes, and the two embraced as Hunter’s teammates showered the couple with applause, whistling and a collective “Woo!”

“Darrell started walking towards me, and I just broke down,” Sorenson said.

Hunter isn’t even the only Oregon pitcher that got engaged at PK Park this season. Sophomore Porter Clayton proposed to his now fiancé Erica Shenton on March 12 (exactly two months after Hunter popped the question). Hunter is getting married in about a week, while Clayton’s wedding won’t happen until this summer. Both pitchers face several challenges as they prepare for their weddings, but in some ways their engagements couldn’t have come at a better time.

Clayton popped the question to Shenton, a basketball player for Western Wyoming Community College, when she visited Eugene for her spring break in March. On March 12, Clayton asked Shenton to go to dinner with him at Oregon Electric Station. She agreed, but before they left Clayton told her to bring her baseball mitt.

After dinner and dessert at Sweet Life, the two were driving back to Clayton’s apartment when they saw a fully lit PK Park. Clayton asked Shenton if she wanted to play catch with him on the field. She was tentative but agreed.

Shenton was on the pitcher’s mound, mimicking Clayton’s throwing mechanics as the two wrapped up. She threw the ball to Clayton, who tucked it in his pocket and pulled out another baseball. He tossed it to Shenton, who noticed a hole in the middle of it. Inside the ball sat a ring.

“If you’ve ever seen the inside of a baseball, it’s like it was meant to be a ring box,” Shenton said.

Clayton’s proposal shocked Shenton, but she said yes.

“I didn’t want anything big and flashy,” Clayton said, “just something to surprise her.”

Clayton’s roommate, Oregon outfielder Steven Packard, and pitching coach Dean Stiles helped set that moment up, but Clayton’s proposal wasn’t nearly on the scale of Hunter’s. Clayton also said his situation isn’t nearly as difficult as Hunter’s because he’s not getting married during the season. The Ducks play Portland on April 9 mere hours before Hunter’s wedding (his reception is on April 10).

“Luckily they don’t have lights,” Hunter said of Portland’s ballpark. “So, if it goes into extra innings, it can’t go too long.”

Hunter said wedding preparation on top of baseball and grad school can wear on him, but his mother, Velinda, and Sorenson have taken charge of the planning.

Clayton said it’s relieving to know he’s engaged and will get married this summer, and Stiles belives Hunter will feel similarly after the reception.

“It might make him more grounded,” Stiles said. “He’ll get into routines and it’ll just be easier on him once it happens.”

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After dropping its first two games against Stanford (10-11, 3-3 Pac-12) on Friday, the Oregon baseball team destroyed the Cardinal 9-2 on Sunday in Stanford, Calif., to avoid a sweep. One huge inning from the Ducks offense was the difference in the game.

Oregon opened the scoring in the first inning. An Aaron Payne walk and an Austin Grebeck sacrifice bunt set up a one-out, runner on second base situation for Tyler Baumgartner. The senior right fielder delivered a single to center field to score Payne, putting the Ducks up 1-0.

The second inning didn’t start as promising, but the Ducks still managed to blow the game wide open.

After A.J. Balta grounded out to shortstop, the next three batters — J.B. Bryant, Shaun Chase and Mark Karaviotis — each hit singles to load the bases. Stanford replaced starting pitcher Chris Viall with Logan James after Karaviotis’ bunt single, but James couldn’t limit the threat. The first batter James faced was Payne, who got hit by a pitch for 12th time this season. That gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

James’ woes continued against the next batter, Grebeck. James threw a wild pitch, allowing Chase to score and give the Ducks a three-run lead.

Baumgartner came up next and delivered for the second straight inning, hitting a single to right field to score Payne and Karaviotis. Baumgartner finished the game 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

Mitchell Tolman hit a single the next at-bat to score Grebeck from third and give the Ducks a 6-0 lead. Tolman was James’ last batter. The left-handed reliever didn’t record an out.

Marcus Brakeman came in for James but the carnage continued. Kyle Garlick hit a double to left center field and to score Baumgartner. Balta came up for the second time in the inning and grounded out for the second time, but in this instance, he got an RBI because Tolman scored from third. Bryant flew out to end the inning, in which the Ducks scored seven runs to take an 8-0 lead.

Stanford got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Austin Slater hit a home run to left off Oregon’s Jeff Gold. Gold earned his seventh win in as many starts, and while the eight runs of support certainly helped him get the victory, he also pitched well. He went 6.1 innings, giving up seven hits, one walk and two runs while striking out two.

The Cardinal produced their second run in the seventh inning. Wayne Taylor doubled to lead off the inning and Dominic Jose singled him home two batters later. Porter Clayton came in for Gold after Jose’s hit and pitched the rest of the game. Clayton didn’t surrender a run or a hit while striking out one and walking two.

Chase topped off the rout with a solo home run in the top of the eighth.

The Ducks now head to Spokane, Wash., to take on Gonzaga for a two-game series. The first game is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m.

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The No. 27 Oregon men’s tennis team (14-3, 1-2 Pac-12) nearly took the doubles point against fifth-ranked UCLA (15-2, 3-1 Pac-12), but the Ducks failed to win a match in their 4-0 loss Saturday afternoon at the UO Student Tennis Center.

“It was a much closer match than I think the score indicated,” Oregon freshman Jayson Amos said.

Oregon came in with a significantly better doubles record than UCLA at 40-15 (UCLA was 39-40). Joey Swaysland and Daan Maasland had a 10-1 doubles record together entering Saturday, and they faced UCLA’s Clay Thompson and Joseph Di Giulio in the No. 2 doubles match. Oregon’s duo never trailed in the match and held at least a two-game lead from the seventh set on. They beat Thompson and Di Giulio 8-5 to give Oregon the early edge.

Oregon’s No. 3 team of Amos and Daniel Sardu faced Mackenzie McDonald and Gage Brymer. Amos and Sardu trailed 6-4 at one point but won consecutive sets to even things up. However, McDonald and Brymer pulled away to win the final two sets and keep UCLA alive for the doubles point.

The No. 1 match was the tightest of all. After taking a 2-0 lead, Robin Cambier and Kevin Farin dropped the next three sets to Marcos Giron and Karue Sell. After that, the two teams traded sets and the match became tied at seven. That set up a tiebreaker set, which the Bruins handled 7-2.

The victory netted UCLA the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead in the team competition.

“I don’t know if they (Farin and Cambier) felt the moment or what not, but we just backed off a little bit,” Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said. “We made a couple mistakes, gave them a couple of free points and that was the difference.”

In the No. 1 singles match, Farin faced Thompson, the top-ranked player in the country. Farin battled in both sets, especially the first, where he garnered a 4-4 tie. However, Thompson closed out the set by taking the final two games (UCLA won the first set in all six singles matches).

Farin played back-and-forth with Thompson in the second set, as well, but Thompson and his devastating serve were too much for the Oregon sophomore. Thompson took the second and final set 6-4 to give UCLA a 2-0 lead.

“Kevin, being a first-year player, has already proven he can play with anyone,” Schyllander said. Farin lost to the nation’s No. 12-ranked player 6-4, 6-4 on Friday, as well.

Sardu played similarly tight in his first set versus No. 73 Brymer in the No. 4 singles match but also lost 6-4. The next set wasn’t close as Brymer took every game to put the Bruins within one point of a team victory.

On the other end of the court, Maasland and N0. 33 McDonald were nearing the end of a tight second set. After losing the first set 6-1, Maasland needed one more game to take the second. However, his 5-4 lead turned into a 7-5 loss, giving UCLA the victory.

Schyllander and UCLA head coach Billy Martin agreed before the match to not finish any remaining matches after the victory was clinched, to the chagrin of several players.

No. 103 Cambier lost his first set to Giron — ranked No. 6 in the nation — 6-3 in the No. 2 singles but was on the brink of winning his second with a 5-2 lead. Cambier, who beat the nation’s No. 3 player a day earlier, slammed his bag with his racket after Maasland’s loss.

“Very unfortunate for Robin that he didn’t get a chance to finish that,” Schyllander said. “I’m not saying he would’ve won but at least he would’ve had the chance.”

Swaysland lost his first set to No. 83 Sell 6-4 in the No. 5 match and was trailing 4-2 when the match was called.

Amos played the best first set for Oregon, holding a 6-5 lead in his No. 6 match versus Di Giulio, who Amos has played since eight-and-under tournaments. But Amos lost the next set and the tiebreaker and trailed 2-1 in his second set.

“Not finishing matches feels worse than losing, to be honest, not having that closure,” Amos said. “I was confident I was going to come back and win that match.”

The Ducks don’t play again until this coming Friday. They’ll be home again, playing No. 51 Utah at 1:30 p.m. The Utes have beaten the Ducks the last three times they’ve met.

“They definitely have our attention,” Schyllander said. “There’s a reason they’ve beaten us three times in a row. We better be ready.”

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On a team level, Oregon men’s tennis’ Robin Cambier was playing just to prevent a 7-0 sweep against the nation’s top-ranked team, USC (19-2), Friday afternoon at the UO Student Tennis Center. But on an individual level, he was looking to win the biggest match of his college career against the nation’s third-ranked player, Ray Sarmiento.

“I respect him a lot,” Cambier said. “He’s been top 10 in the country for almost his four years (at USC).”

With a 5-4 lead in the third set and a 40-15 game lead, Cambier returned a Sarmiento serve. The two returned each other’s shots until Sarmiento hit his second return long, sealing the victory for Cambier. The Oregon senior screamed and pumped his fist as he went to shake Sarmiento’s hand. Cambier won the won the No. 2 singles match 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Cambier has faced Sarmiento one other time in his college career, and he got demolished.

“I played him two years ago and I got one game,” Cambier said. He lost 6-0, 6-1 to Sarmiento on March 31, 2012.

“The best I’d ever beaten was maybe top 50 or 70, but I’ve never beaten a top-three guy. I mean, that’s unreal.”

While the Ducks (14-2) failed to win any other singles or doubles matches, head coach Nils Schyllander was proud of his team’s effort and happy for Cambier.

“Especially him being a senior, that’s pretty awesome to beat the number three player in the country,” Schyllander said. “Must be great coaching (laughs).”

The match began with doubles, and USC, who has won four of the last five NCAA tournaments, showed why it’s the nation’s top-ranked team.

USC’s No. 1 team of Sarmiento and Yannick Hanfmann is ranked No. 5 in the nation and they handled Oregon’s duo of Cambier and Kevin Farin 8-3. Cambier and Farin trailed 3-0 early and they closest the match would come after that was 3-1.

The No. 3 battle between Oregon’s Jayson Amos and Daniel Sardu and USC’s Max de Vroome and Eric Johnson was a little closer than the No. 1 match, but USC won 8-5. That gave USC the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead in the overall match.

The No. 2 doubles match between Oregon’s Joey Swaysland and Daan Maasland and Nick Crystal and Roberto Quiroz went unfinished as a result of USC’s win in the No. 3 match. Crystal and Quiroz led 7-4 when de Vroome and Johnson won their match.

The first singles match to end was the No. 4 matchup between Sardu and de Vroome. USC’s 6-foot-5 sophomore had little trouble dispatching Sardu, trailing for just one game in their two sets. de Vroome won 6-2, 6-4.

Johnson had a similarly easy time beating Swaysland. Johnson cruised to a straight-set victory 6-4, 6-3. That put USC one win away from winning the overall match.

The No. 1 match was much more hotly contested, but USC again prevailed in straight sets, clinching the team victory. Hannick, the nation’s No. 12-ranked player, beat Farin 6-4 in both sets to come away with the decisive win.

“Kevin played great today,” Schyllander  said. “I think he had 10 or 11 break points, and (Hannick) came up with some great serves.”

Amos had the best first set of any Duck, beating Michael Grant 6-2 in the No. 6 matchup. But Grant turned it on after that, winning 12 of the next 15 games to take the match and put the Trojans up 5-0 (Grant won the final two sets 6-2, 6-1).

Cambier’s win kept the Ducks from getting swept, and Maasland played well against Quiroz. But Maasland lost in straight sets, 5-7, 5-7, to end the day.

“We fought very hard against one of the top teams in the country,” Schyllander said. “We made it really interesting. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with the W.”

The Ducks don’t get much of a break on Saturday, as they face No. 5 UCLA at the Student Tennis Center at 11:30 a.m. Farin will again be in the No. 1 spot and will face the No. 1 player in the nation, Clay Thompson. But Schyllander thinks that match is winnable, especially after watching Cambier deafeat Sarmiento.

“Sarmiento is better than Clay Thompson,” Schyllander said as he exited the tennis center.

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After playing five tournaments all over the country and five games in Utah, the No. 2-ranked Oregon softball team (27-4, 3-0 Pac-12) finally gets to play a series at Howe Field.

“We’ve certainly put some frequent flier miles on the card,” Oregon head coach Mike White told reporters Thursday morning. “We’re looking forward to seeing what we can do against that next level of competition.”

Oregon’s first home series comes against some of the best competition in the nation in No. 5 Washington (21-7, 2-3) starting this Friday at 3 p.m. Besides No. 4 Florida (ranked No. 1 when Oregon lost to the Gators on Feb. 28), Oregon hasn’t faced a team ranked higher than the Huskies all season.

While the Ducks have one of the nation’s best pitchers in Cheridan Hawkins (0.99 earned-run averaged, 171 strikeouts and 36 walks in 112.2 innings), Washington’s Bryana Walker isn’t far behind. Walker has a 1.11 ERA, 102 strikeouts and 29 walks in 88.2 innings.

The Huskies also have Kaitlin Inglesby, a do-everything player who’s posted a 1.73 ERA, 55 strikeouts and 30 walks in 73.0 innings. Inglesby also owns a slash line of .303/.443/.487 in 76 at-bats.

“They’re probably one of the deepest pitching staffs in the country right now,” White said. “Inglesby’s a lot of speed and Walker’s a lot of movement, so it’s going to be a good challenge for us.”

The Huskies have a fearsome lineup that’s posted a slash line of .336/.428/.492 this season. Only one player (Courtney Gano) with 40 or more at-bats has a batting average under .300. It’s hard to say who the best Washington hitter is, but Kylee Lahnhers (.386/.469/.807), Ali Aguilar (.405/.468/.607) and Victoria Hayward (.424/.520/.506) all have a case.

“We’ve talked a lot about not playing the logo, just playing our game,” Hawkins said. “That’s what I’m going to try to incorporate this weekend.”

Oregon’s lineup has been even better this season, posting an overall line of .343/.424/.535. The Ducks were especially good in their five games last weekend, led by catcher Alexa Peterson. Peterson went 8-for-11 (.727) with two home runs and 16 RBIs.

“A lot of it had to with the fact that we had finished our finals that week,” said Peterson, who mentioned neuroanatomy as one of her classes last term. “That was nice to have that weight off my chest. I was able to focus solely on softball and just have fun out there.”

While the Ducks have a three-game record advantage over Washington, the Huskies could certainly argue their schedule’s been tougher. Washington just came off a three-game series against top-ranked UCLA and lost twice. The Huskies also lost close non-conference games to No. 23 Northwestern and No. 19 Nebraska while beating No. 6 Michigan 7-1.

The Ducks will certainly have their hands full this weekend, but they sound ready for the challenge. Playing at home for the first time this season won’t hurt their chances to take the series.

“It’s really nice to be on your home turf playing one of the top teams in the Pac-12,” Hawkins said.

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The No. 27 Oregon men’s tennis team (14-1) extended its winning streak to 11 matches after soundly defeating Hawaii (3-9) 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon at the UO’s Student Tennis Center. The victory was Nils Schyllander’s 100th in his eight-year career as the Oregon men’s head coach.

“It tells me that we’ve brought in really good athletes into the program,” Schyllander said after the match. “Hopefully there are many more (wins) to come.”

Schyllander began his UO coaching career as an assistant on the women’s team in 2000. He became the women’s head coach in 2004, leading the Ducks to records of 17-9, 17-8 and 14-9. In 2007, Schyllander became the men’s head coach, putting together a 100-80 record. He joins Buzz Summers as one of two Oregon men’s tennis coaches to reach 100 or more career victories. Scyllander has a long way to go, though, in order to catch Summers, who complied 374 wins from 1968-94.

“To get 100 wins is quite remarkable, especially in college tennis,” Oregon’s Joey Swaysland said.

Wednesday began with three doubles matches. The Oregon duo of Robin Cambier and Kevin Farin (team-best 17-2 record) were locked in a 7-7 battle with Hawaii’s Nils Schumann and David Schuster, but the two No. 1 teams didn’t play a set after that because Oregon has already won the other two matches.

Oregon’s No. 3 team of Jayson Amos and Daniel Sardu crushed Hawaii’s Chas Okamoto and Chris Meyer 8-2. The No. 3 match was a little closer, but Oregon’s Daan Maasland and Swaysland prevailed over Jonathan Brooklyn and Carter Lam 8-5. Because teams only need to win two out of three doubles matches, the No. 1 match went unfinished.

The Ducks, especially Amos and Sardu, continued to play well in singles.

Amos squared off with Pavel Liska in the No. 6 match and dominated, winning 6-1, 6-2. Amos has won 11 straight straight singles matches, putting him four behind Cambier’s record winning streak. He improved to 18-3 in singles this season.

Sardu cruised past Danilo Casanova in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 4 match. Sardu is 13-4 in singles this season.

Maasland wasn’t far behind his two teammates, winning the No. 3 match in straight sets over Okamoto 6-3, 6-4 to improve his season singles record to 11-1. Maasland’s win was the fourth point for Oregon, clinching the victory for the Ducks and the milestone for Schyllander.

Swaysland struggled to open his No. 5 match against Schuster, dropping the first three games, but he came roaring back and took the first set 7-6. He cruised in the second set 6-3 to take the match.

“It was important to not look at the scoreboard and just focus on each point at a time,” Swaysland said about the early deficit.

The No. 1 and No. 2 matches didn’t affect the team results but they still provided plenty of drama.

Farin faced Schumann in the No. 2 match and handily won 6-3. The second set was much tighter, and this time, Schumann prevailed 7-5. Instead of playing a third set, the two played a super tiebreaker (first to win 10 games wins the set). Like the previous set, this one needed an extra game to decide the winner. Farin beat Schumann 11-9 to take the set and the match, giving Oregon a 6-0 record with one singles match to be decided.

“He fought, and to me that’s the greatest talent you can have,” Schyllander said regarding Farin.

The first two sets in the No. 1 match between Cambier and Brooklyn played were extremely close, with Cambier winning the first one 7-5 and Brooklyn winning the second 7-6. In fact, Brooklyn needed a set tiebreaker to win his seventh game. After that, the two No. 1′s played a super tiebreaker but this one wasn’t as close as Farin’s and Schumann’s. Brooklyn won the tiebreaker 10-4 and took the match, giving Hawaii it’s only point.

“Once our energy got right, we started running away with it,” Schyllander said. “Hawaii was fighting pretty hard but I think we showed our depth today.”

Oregon now heads into Pac-12 play and it will get tested right off the bat. On Friday at 1:30 p.m., the Ducks host top-ranked USC. On Saturday, the Ducks will face No. 5 UCLA at 11:30 a.m.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Schyllander said.

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