Before Tuesday afternoon’s Oregon men’s basketball practice, redshirt junior guard Joseph Young chatted with The Emerald, mainly about the previous week. He discussed the crazy end of regulation in Friday’s game against UCLA and his failed free throw attempt. Young also talked about Mike Moser and the forward’s award-winning performance last week.

What went through your mind the moment UCLA’s David Wear made his buzzer-beating three to send Friday’s game into overtime?

“I knew I made the free throw to go up by three, so I knew we were good in that situation. What came to mind, I said, ‘We’d never lost in overtime this year.’ I’m like, we play better in overtime, and we’re in overtime, so we just have to forget about it and play.”

Was there any panic or shock when Wear’s shot went in?

“I was shocked for like two seconds, and then I noticed it was a tie ballgame and we have to overcome that play and move on to the next play.”

Moser said you were trying to miss the second free throw that put you up three. Is that true?

“Yeah, we tried to miss it but just being a 90-something-percent free throw shooter, it’s kind of hard. I tried to put a little arch on it, but it didn’t work out. But coach taught me how to shoot it, so I know how to miss it.”

What is the strategy to purposely miss a free throw?

“You can just look on the right side of the rim, or the left side, and just shoot the ball at angle to where it is so it will just bounce off. I tried to shoot it off the back iron and make it hit so it would go up high, but it didn’t work out.”

Did your dad (who makes Young shoot 100 practice free throws for every one he misses in a game) make you shoot 100 free throws for making one this time?

“(Young said no). I missed a free throw earlier — a one-and-one — so I had to shoot 150 free throws last night.”

Have you seen any differences in Moser during his recent stretch of good play?

“More aggressive. Back to what he was earlier this year, but he’s more aggressive on the rebounding. I’ve seen him getting greedy on the rebounding. I went in there to get one rebound and he was there, so I had one rebound in the game. I was like, ‘Well, Mike took all the rebounds.’ So, he’s been more aggressive, stepping into his shot, knocking the shots down and making the right plays.”

Moser is the first Duck this year to win Pac-12 player of the week. Do you hope to be the second Duck when this week is over?

“If we get the ball games and we win, it’s possible. But the main focus is just to get the win. Congrats to Mike for getting the award. I’m a big award guy but if I don’t get the award, I won’t put my head down. There’s still a lot more to work for.”

Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415

Before Monday’s practice, Oregon head men’s basketball coach Dana Altman talked to reporters about Tuesday’s opponent, Arizona State. Specifically, 7-foot-2 center Jordan Bachynski. Altman also discussed the wild finish to Friday’s 87-83 win over UCLA and Oregon’s performance in close games this season.

Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415

The upcoming Oregon/Seattle two-game baseball series will be played as a doubleheader on Tuesday due to a Wednesday weather forecast that calls for a 100 percent chance of rain, the Oregon athletic department announced this afternoon.

The series was originally scheduled to be played on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Wednesday at 1 p.m. at PK Park, but now two games will be played on Tuesday starting at 3 p.m. The second game will start 30 minutes after the first concludes.

Oregon was swept by Cal State Fullerton in a three-game series over the weekend. The final two games both had rain delays for about 20 minutes each. This upcoming weekend, the Ducks are scheduled take on Ohio State in a three-game series.

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– The Oregon baseball team just got swept by Cal State Fullerton at home, and it dropped five spots in Monday’s Baseball America top 25 rankings to No. 14. The Ducks (8-3) also fell five spots to No. 12 in Perfect Game’s rankings. Fullerton (7-3), meanwhile, moved up one spot to No. 4 in Baseball America’s rankings, swapping places with Oregon State (9-3), the top-ranked team in the Pac-12 according to both web sites. The Titans remained at No. 3 in Perfect Game’s rankings. UCLA (7-4) is the only other Pac-12 team in either top 25. (UPDATE: Oregon fell two spots to No. 9 in the Monday’s USA Today Coaches’ Poll).

– The Register-Guard’s Austin Meek profiled baseball freshman Matt Krook, who has gotten off to a good start as one of Oregon’s best starting pitchers this season. Krook was drafted by the Miami Marlins with the 35th overall pick in last June’s MLB draft and was set to go pro until Miami lowered its offer to him. “Once they (the Marlins) made it about (money), it was great,” Krook’s father, Chris, said. “We were off to Eugene.”

– CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm unveiled his latest NCAA tournament projections over the weekend, and he has the Oregon men’s basketball team (20-8, 8-8 Pac-12) as a 10-seed playing VCU in the first round. The Ducks are one of seven Pac-12 teams Palm expects to make the tournament. That would be an all-time high number of Pac-12 teams to earn bids to the NCAA tournament.

– The Oregon women’s basketball team (15-14, 6-12 Pac-12) finished the regular season with a 90-78 win over Arizona on Sunday, and the seniors were the key reasons why. Guard Ariel Thomas played especially well, scoring 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Her eighth point of the game was her 1,000th of her career, making her the 26th player in Oregon history to reach that mark.

– Going into Sunday, the Oregon men’s tennis team had never beaten a top-15 team. That changed when the Ducks defeated No. 15 Boise State 5-2. This historic win came a day after the Ducks (11-1) beat Washington for the first time in 10 years.

– On Sunday night, Cleveland Indians reliever John Axford predicted 18 Academy Awards on Twitter before the show began. All 18 predictions came true. Axford nearly nailed his predictions the year before, too, hitting on 14 of 15 Oscar categories.

Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415

Every Sunday, The Emerald sports staff will collect their favorite quotes from the previous seven days. Athletes, coaches, media or anybody with a quote pertaining to Oregon sports can be included. Below are The Emerald’s favorites from the week of Feb. 24-March 2.

Baseball

“We’re the 2014 Ducks. We’re going to be able to hit this year. PK Park better watch out for us.”

– Oregon catcher Shaun Chase said after Tuesday’s 8-2 win over Portland.

“I guess the danger in the quick hook on (Jordan) is the next guy that gets the ball is like, ‘Oh man, I better go out and be perfect.’ I hope they don’t fall into that trap. But it’s more of a case of the excellent guys that we have than a case of Jordan not doing well at all.”

– Oregon head coach George Horton on selecting Porter Clayton as Sunday’s starter versus Cal State Fullerton, thus removing Spencer Jordan from the rotation.

“We noticed some different personality with the guys. We didn’t take a good infield … There was some doubt and that’s disappointing to me. As much as we talk about we play the game, we don’t play our opponent. In this case some kids played the opponent.”

– Horton after Oregon’s 9-2 loss to Cal State Fullerton on Friday.

“Catching him is an adventure. He’s so filthy – it’s really incredible. I’ve never caught a guy like Matt Krook before.”

– Oregon catcher Jack Kruger on receiving pitches from fellow freshman and starting pitcher Matt Krook.

Football

“It was on so many networks, I couldn’t even tell who … I was getting a lot of texts from parents. It was on The View, Whoopi Goldberg was talking about, Outside the Lines, it was kind of just everywhere. My uncle does management — he manages recording artists and stuff — and he was in Africa on a tour. He said he woke up and it was in USA Today. And he was all the way in Africa, so it was kind of just out there. I couldn’t really tell who was covering it. It was just ridiculous.”

– Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown, reflecting on the media reaction to his actions from a controversial snowball fight in December.

Men’s basketball

“He’s a big factor in starting the game. He plays defense with intensity and helps out with the boards to start the game. Just being another played from Houston, I’ve been talking to him and telling him to keep his head up. That’s what good players do, keep their head up. People make mistakes. Keeping the intensity on the bench and keeping us in the game. That’s what good players do.”

– Junior guard Joseph Young on his teammate Daymean Dotson, who was benched for last Sunday’s game versus Washington State for his false identification citation.

Women’s basketball

“He likes to go fast. So to have him call me fast is a really good thing.”

– Oregon guard Drea Toler on her head coach, Paul Westhead.

“I don’t think I have ever been more happy for my team. I think there are a lot of teams out there that don’t want to play us.”

– Westhead after Oregon’s 98-90 win over Arizona State on Friday.

“It means the world. Especially because in my four years of being here, I’m pretty sure we haven’t won on senior night. It definitely was a good feeling. I tried not to cry. I tried to stay in the moment and probably will be teary-eyed later on today.”

– Senior Ariel Thomas on her final regular season game of her Oregon career, Sunday’s 90-78 win over Arizona.

Other

“It goes back to Jason Waterman, who coached here in the late ’90s, early 2000s when he would give out bullets for really big hits. He was a bit of a redneck, but the boys always loved the tradition.”

– Assistant club men’s rugby coach Cal Taylor on his team’s postgame tradition to hand out bullets to players for strong performances.

“If it isn’t a national union covering all student athletes, how do you get a contract where the terms are the same?”

– Mark Phelps, a senior instructor at the Lundquist College of Business with a background in sports law, on the possibility of a union in college athletics forming.

Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415

Several Ducks thought it was gone. With two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the ninth inning, Oregon’s A.J. Balta blasted a Koby Gauna pitch towards the right field fence. But Cal State Fullerton’s Clay Williamson tracked it down mere feet in front of the wall, preserving the 3-2 Titans victory at PK Park. The win clinches the series victory for the Fullerton baseball team, which beat the Ducks 9-2 on Friday night.

“When it left his (Balta’s) bat, because he has that kind of power, I thought we had a chance,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “But unfortunately, we didn’t get it done.”

A home run at the end would’ve diverged from the overall theme of the game, in which pitching, small ball and weather were most prominent (the heavy Eugene air, however, likely caused Balta’s blast to stay in the park, multiple Ducks said after the game). The Ducks clawed back and had chances to even the series, but the Titans executed just a bit more.

Fullerton opened up the scoring in the second inning with two outs (two-out scoring would be a theme of the game). With catcher Jared Deacon on first, freshman Matt Krook walked the next two batters to set up leadoff hitter Austin Diemer. Diemer delivered, hitting a single up the middle to score Deacon and second baseman Taylor Bryant.

The Ducks would get on the board an inning later. Center fielder Connor Hofmann (1-for-2) hit a one-out single and moved over to second on a Kevin Minjares groundout to shortstop. In a familiar scenario, the leadoff hitter came up with two outs and got a big hit. Second baseman Aaron Payne (1-for-4) hit an 0-1 pitch past the diving first baseman J.D Davis into right field, scoring Hofmann.

The Ducks took the field to warm up for the fourth inning at 3:00 p.m., but headed back to the dugout just minutes later. A downpour hit PK Park, delaying the game for 23 minutes. Krook, who struggled with his location and pitch count in the first three innings, came out after the delay and dominated the next three. He retired nine batters in a row, striking out seven of them. In his six innings of work, Krook gave up three hits, two walks, two earned runs and struck out 8 on 111 pitches.

“After the rain delay,” Krook said, “for whatever reason, I felt really good coming back out.”

In between Krook’s dominant final three frames was a perfectly executed trick play in the bottom of the fourth.

Kyle Garlick (1-for-4) hit a one-out single and moved over to third base on a two-out single by the catcher Jack Kruger (1-for-3) , who put good aluminum on the ball all day. Then, before Fullerton’s Justin Garza began his delivery, Kruger took off towards second. He looked to be caught in a rundown after Garza stepped off and threw to shortstop, but as Kruger ran back to first, Garlick took off towards home and beat shortstop Keegan Dale’s throw to tie the game at 2.

“Our pitchers are taught to check the runner at third, and in this case, it didn’t happen,” Kruger said. “Kyle made a great read at third base.”

Garlick, who cut open his knee on the slide into home, said he’s worked on this play several times in practice, on both defense and offense.

“As soon as he turned his back, I’m running,” Garlick said. “He gave me a courtesy look — it wasn’t the greatest — and he just turned his back and I went.”

The game would stay tied until the top of the ninth, when Matt Chapman came home on a sacrifice fly from Greg Velazquez. Chapman and Davis led off the inning with singles (Chapman got to third on Davis’ single) off of Trent Paddon.

Tyler Baumgarnter (2-for-4) led off the ninth with a single and moved to second a pitch later on a Mitchell Tolman bunt, but neither Garlick (groundout to third) nor Balta could drive him in, although Balta (0-for-4) came incredibly close.

As the Titans congregated towards the mound to celebrate their victory, Balta squatted over second base with his head aimed towards the ground, like he’d just gotten the wind knocked out him.

“He put a good swing on it,” Krook said. “I wish would’ve gone a little farther.”

Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415

The Emerald sat down with Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown this morning and discussed last December’s snowball fight incident, after which Brown was suspended for the Alamo Bowl due to his involvement.

Brown talked about his actions on Dec. 6, the criticism he received, the extensive media attention surrounding the incident and his suspension.

When the snowball fight was happening, did it feel out of control to you?

“It was just a big learning experience, the whole thing. There were over 500 kids there. So, some people looking at it say it was out of control but it really wasn’t out of control. Just having a good time with the students and connecting with them, but it was a learning experience. I think everybody learned from it and put it in the past. It was what it was.”

Coming from Ohio, were you surprised that everyone was making a big deal out of the incident?

“There are snowball fights in Ohio because there’s a lot more snow, so we were used to the snow and being able to drive in it. It wasn’t shocking to where the whole city kind of shut down. Eugene doesn’t own snow plows and it was just a total mess out here.”

Do you think the rarity of snow in Eugene was a big reason people acted the way they did that day?

“That’s part of it. Everybody just wanted to be out sledding — you see people skiing, people getting dragged in the streets by sleds. It was just a fun time for the students. Some people (here) had never even seen snow before.”

How much do you regret throwing the snow on the retired professor?

“I do regret it, but like I said, we all live and learn. It was a mistake. I’m not the only one who made a mistake, but I learned from it. That’s the big thing for me: making sure I just learn from my mistakes and move on.”

Do you think the outrage about yours and other people’s actions that day was blown out of proportion?

“Not really, because I understand now that we (athletes) have a telescope on us more than regular students. With Oregon being a national brand, when stuff like that happens it does get publicity. I mean, stuff does get blown out of proportion but that’s what we signed up for.”

What did it feel like getting criticized on social media after the incident?

“I actually don’t have social media now, so I really don’t pay attention to it, honestly.”

Did you get rid of your social media accounts because of the incident?

“No, I was just spending too much time on it, honestly (laughs). I was on Twitter too much and it’s kind of pointless now. Just too much for me.”

Did you tune that criticism out? It has to be at least a little hard, right?

“It’s not really criticism to me because most of the accounts are, like, makeup accounts. Like Joe Blow from Montana or somewhere, the middle of nowhere. You don’t know who it is, so it’s not like you’ve got credible people. It’s mostly accounts that don’t have profile pictures, so I really don’t pay attention to stuff like that.”

What was one of the worst things you heard or read from that situation?

“There were a lot of racial comments and stuff like that.”

Did that bother you?

“No.”

How did you find out about your Alamo Bowl suspension?

“I actually had a meeting with coach (Mark) Helfrich. He told me about it and that we were going to go from there, and that’s what it resulted in was a one-game suspension.”

How tough was it not to play in that game?

“It was tough not playing , but still being able to be there and cheer my teammates on and watch them get a victory… It’s always tough being a competitor to just sit there in one of the biggest games — a bowl game that’s always been one of the big games of the season, and have to just sit there and watch. But I’m still glad and blessed to be able to make it down there and cheer them on.”

What were your feelings towards the Emerald’s handling of that situation?

“That’s your job. We all have jobs, and your job is to get the story, negative or positive. With the world we live in today, the negative story is going to get the most publicity than the positive story any day. That’s just the world we live in.”

Was the Emerald’s coverage fair?

“It was on so many networks, I couldn’t even tell who… I was getting a lot of texts from parents. It was on The View, Whoopi Goldberg was talking about, Outside the Lines, it was kind of just everywhere. My uncle does management — he manages recording artists and stuff — and he was in Africa on a tour. He said he woke up and it was in USA Today. And he was all the way in Africa, so it was kind of just out there. I couldn’t really tell who was covering it. It was just ridiculous.”

Was there another moment like that where you realized how big that situation was getting?

“When TMZ called me asking about it, I was like, ‘Woah, if TMZ is calling me asking about the snowball fight, then this is really going viral.’ Being able to witness how social media (reacted) is a learning experience. You really think, ‘Man, I really have to walk a straight line,’ because eyes are always on you and stuff can get all around the world and it was a matter of, what, three days, four days that it was just everywhere? But like I said, it was a learning experience.”

Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415

Every week during men’s basketball season, our sports staff will discuss different topics surrounding an upcoming game(s). Today, sports reporters Hayden Kim, Madison Guernsey and Ryan Kostecka discuss tomorrow’s road matchup between Oregon and UCLA, Saturday’s game at USC and the Ducks’ ongoing march towards an NCAA tournament bid.

1) Who or what has been the biggest key to Oregon’s three-game winning streak?

Kim — Defense and Mike Moser have been the biggest reasons for Oregon’s three-game winning streak. In addition to the Ducks allowing just 69 points per game to their opponents in the past three games, Moser has also averaged 18.7 points. These two have been key, in combination with playing at home.

Guernsey — A player that has stood out is Mike Moser. Over the course of the season the team has gone as he’s gone, and after a stretch in which both were struggling, Moser is the hottest player on a Ducks team with renewed confidence. He’s led the scoring attack in each of the last two games and is surely motivated to keep it going against UCLA (Moser struggled and didn’t score in Oregon’s first matchup with his former school). Another reason for Oregon’s recent success is a high field goal percentage. The Ducks have out-shot opponents in each of their last three wins, shooting 52.9 percent overall from the field. This team isn’t built to play lock-down defense or outrebound many teams, so a good shooting percentage is key, especially from deep.

Kostecka — My answer was going to be Damyean Dotson but since he didn’t play against WSU, that doesn’t work. I’m going to go with a team aspect and that’s composure. Against Oregon State and Washington, the Ducks showed great composure to stay within themselves, not try to do too much and finish out close games with good free throw shooting and stellar defense. Likewise, against WSU, Oregon had an awful first half but came out strong in the second half and ran away with the victory. Showing composure throughout all three games led to wins and it’s what was missing throughout the first half of Pac-12 play.

2) UCLA and Arizona are the two top teams in the Pac-12 and Oregon plays them both in the next couple of weeks. If the Ducks beat them both, will they cement an NCAA tournament bid?

Kim — Absolutely. Both Arizona (No. 2) and UCLA (No. 14) are high on the most recent RPI rankings and it would only help Oregon’s cause in receiving an NCAA tournament bid. The only real flack against the Ducks this season has been their lack of marquee conference wins and these two wins would only solidify their weakness. This would also be in addition to 20 total wins, which is usually enough for a bubble team (with marquee wins) to sneak into the NCAA tournament.

Guernsey — No. Wins over UCLA and Arizona will be huge, for sure. But two marquee wins coupled with losses against a 10-17 USC team and fellow bubble team Arizona State would effectively cancel out the wins and put Oregon in a tough position heading into the Pac-12 tournament. If the Ducks can win three of four, with the one loss being to Arizona, and win a couple games in Las Vegas, that should be enough to get them into the field of 68.

Kostecka — Cement? No. The Ducks will have to beat both USC and ASU (another likely tournament team) in order to cement a spot among the top 68. Wins over just UCLA and Arizona will look bad and the Ducks will need other bubble teams to falter AND have a good showing in the Pac-12 tournament. Wins against all four teams with UCLA’s coming on the road and on national television will give Oregon a bid.

3) What’s the most important matchup for Oregon against USC?

Kim — Byron Wesley will be the most important matchup for Oregon in round two with USC. Last game, Wesley had a team-high 19 points and managed to pick up his numbers despite the Ducks focusing their defense towards him. The Trojans do not have many scorers on their team, so it will be key to slow down Wesley as much as possible.

Guernsey — Controlling Byron Wesley, for one. Wesley is USC’s leading scorer and rebounder, so if he’s taken away, the Trojans will struggle in multiple areas. USC is also one of the worst teams in the country in terms of turnovers. They rank last in the Pac-12 in total turnovers (395), turnovers per game (14.6) and turnover margin (negative-3.4) and committed 22 in Eugene on Feb. 1. The Trojans also have one of the worst scoring defenses in the nation, so as long as Oregon plays up to par they’ll be fine.

Kostecka — It’s not one individual matchup but a team effort … and it’ll be on defense. USC turns the ball over more than any team in the Pac-12 and Oregon has a press that’s been lethal in conference play. That combination favors the Ducks heavily, so if the press leads to turnovers by USC and easy buckets for the Ducks, this game should be a runaway.

4) How will Oregon do this week against UCLA and USC?

Kim — Considering Dotson might be sitting out for at least the UCLA game, this will arguably be Oregon’s hardest road trip of the season. The Ducks lost a close game against the Bruins 70-68 at home in their last matchup and it will only get harder on the road. With the likelihood of Kyle Anderson having a much better game two, the Ducks will have their hands full on both ends of the floor. As for USC, the Ducks will need to not overlook the 12th-ranked team in the Pac-12. Every road game is tough and if the Ducks want to walk away with two road wins, they’ll have to carry over their level of play from their last three games.

Guernsey — Assuming Dotson returns, Oregon’s winning streak continues and they come out of Los Angeles with two wins. A close victory Thursday night against UCLA will give the Ducks a ton of momentum going into USC on Saturday, a game they should win easily. If Dotson is held out against the Bruins, it’s a toss up. Oregon didn’t look themselves in the first half against Washington State and can’t afford to have a repeat performance against a much better UCLA squad.

Kostecka — I’m a believer in Oregon and I think they get the SoCal sweep. The expected return of Dotson is going to be vital for the Ducks on Thursday night against UCLA and Oregon will find a way to pull out the close win in the end. In order to win, Oregon is going to have to look like and play like the team that was ranked No. 10 in the country at one point. Look for Joseph Young, Mike Moser and Dotson to score between 15-25 points each and Oregon’s free throw shooting in the last three minutes to be the difference.

Follow Hayden Kim on Twitter @HayDayKim
Follow Madison Guernsey on Twitter @guernseymd
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka

Oregon head baseball coach George Horton broke two pieces of news to the media before practice this afternoon. The first was that third baseman Scott Heineman missed last night’s 8-2 win over Portland due to a left shoulder sprain he suffered against Loyola Marymount on Sunday. Horton said Heineman is day-to-day. The second piece of news regarded pitcher Porter Clayton. Horton said the sophomore left-hander will get his first start of the season Sunday against Cal State Fullerton.

Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415

The Oregon baseball team didn’t need extra innings, a spectacular catch, an eight-run eighth inning or any other late-game heroics to beat Portland (2-6) tonight. All they needed was the first inning to seal the victory in their first home game of the season.

“Anytime you put up six in the first inning, that’s a good feeling,” right fielder Tyler Baumgartner said after the 8-2 win.

For a team that’s 8-0, the Ducks’ previous seven games were surprisingly close going into the final three innings. The aforementioned eight-run eighth inning turned an otherwise tight battle against Loyola Marymount into a blowout. Oregon scored six runs in the eighth inning of George Horton’s 900th win, turning a three-run lead into an eight-run romp over Hawaii. Two days earlier, the Ducks beat the Rainbow Warriors 10-5, but Oregon was tied 5-5 going into the seventh and ahead by three heading into the next inning.

It’s hard to know what to make of those first seven games. Maybe the Ducks aren’t as good as their record and they were lucky to win some of those close ones. Maybe the small leads in the late innings masked Oregon’s true ability as the far superior team. The truth might be in the middle or somewhere else entirely. But the Ducks are hardly complaining how they got to their 8-0 record and they sounded more than happy with their wire-to-wire dominance tonight.

“It felt good to be out in front for a change,” Horton said.

Junior catcher Shaun Chase, who hit a three-run home run in the first inning to give the Ducks a 6-0 lead, said he can’t remember his team ever putting up that many runs in the first during his career. Any pressure Chase or his teammates — especially starting pitcher Jeff Gold — felt before that inning was immediately lowered.

“Just knowing that and giving the ball to Jeff,” Chase said, “it was really comforting.”

Horton said it’s especially nice to get a six-run lead at PK Park, which has a reputation as a run-depressor. Still, Horton said, his players can’t afford to lose focus with eight innings ahead of them. They certainly didn’t show signs of complacency, increasing their lead to 8-0 through three innings and only giving up two runs the rest of the way.

“We’ve been accused of not being aggressive enough at home and not put up enough numbers,” Baumgartner said. “So we wanted to come in and show people that this is a new season and we can hit top to bottom.”

Oregon’s first true home test will come this upcoming weekend against Cal State Fullerton. Despite their 4-3 start, the Titans are still ranked in the top 10 in several national polls and were widely considered one of the best in the nation heading into the season. The Ducks could easily lose two-out-of-three or get swept off their home turf.

But with this blowout win tonight, the Ducks will likely have some extra confidence going into Friday. The win also helped silence any doubters who looked at their seven close wins as concerning. Plus, that close game experience could come in handy against Fullterton.

“Really good sign going into Cal State Fullerton,” Chase said of tonight’s performance. “It’s going to be a good matchup this weekend, our staff against their staff, and we’re going to grind.”

Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415