EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon Ducks baseball team was electric after coming off a series win the previous weekend, sweeping the George Mason University Patriots in all four games, with three of those scores reaching double digits. With a 4-0 record, the Ducks looked to extend their success that weekend against the Youngstown State Penguins, who entered the series 0–3. Oregon extended its streak with an 18-1 win over the Penguins.
Starting pitcher Toby Twist opened the game with a strikeout, followed by a groundout. After a flyout, the Ducks came to bat, and second baseman Ryan Cooney doubled in his first plate appearance, narrowly missing a home run as the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced over.
After an error by the Penguins’ pitcher, Aidan English, left fielder Jax Gimenez reached first while Cooney advanced to third. The Ducks went on a roll as Cooney scored on a flyout and Gimenez scored after Moddox Molony singled. When left fielder Brady Shannon failed to catch the ball, Drew Smith tripled, allowing Molony to score. Smith later scored after Burke-Lee Mabeus singled, ending the first inning with the Ducks leading 4-0.
Shannon led off the second inning with a solo home run. After Ryan Schummer was hit by a pitch, the Ducks regrouped on the mound and recorded three quick outs. Following a groundout from Jack Brooks, the Ducks reset to the top of their lineup as Cooney reached first due to a throwing error. Following a double play by the Penguins, the second inning ended 4-1 with the Ducks still leading.
In the bottom of the third, Gabe Miranda walked and later scored after Molony doubled down the left field line. Youngstown brought in Tyler Heflin from the bullpen for English. Molony scored when Mabeus reached on a fielder’s choice, with Smith out on the play. Back at the top of the lineup, Cooney was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Gimenez drew a walk, scoring Mabeus. Two consecutive singles followed, bringing three more runners home. The Ducks scored six runs in the inning and led 10-1 at its conclusion.
After he reached first, Brayden Kuriger was caught stealing after a rundown between first and second base. The fourth inning ended with the Ducks still leading by nine.
The fifth inning moved quickly as both teams went three up, three down. Gimenez made an impressive catch at the fence, preventing a home run at the top of the inning. Twist recorded his fifth and final strikeout before Josh Hollis replaced him on the mound in the sixth.
To start the bottom of the sixth, Molony hits his second home run of the season, ending Oregon’s two-inning scoring drought. Angel Laya singled to right field, allowing both Mabeus and Smith to score.
“It’s a testament to the work I’ve put in,” Molony said of his home run. “The game has ebbs and flows, but as long as he can stay steady, stuff like this happens. I’m always trying to hit a bomb. He threw a curveball, I saw it well, and I hit the line.”
Brevin Smith entered from the bullpen for Heflin, and the Ducks added two more runs as Laya and pinch hitter Elijah Cook scored, ending the sixth inning ahead 15-1.
After a quick seventh inning and a scoreless top of the eighth, pinch hitter Josh Schleichardt got his first home run of the season and as a Duck, a three-run blast that put Oregon in the lead by 17.
The Ducks sealed the victory in the top of the ninth as relief pitcher Cooper Markham struck out two batters before inducing a flyball for the final out.
The win marked the first of Twist’s career. He appeared in only four games during his freshman season before undergoing season-ending surgery and had missed the first 46 games of the previous season while rehabbing, making just four appearances that year. Twist finished with five strikeouts over five innings, allowing only one run.
“Those guys that come back from arm injuries, it usually takes them a little bit, and it’s a hurdle those guys have to get over, and I felt that he was clawing to get over that hurdle,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said of Twist. “ He went off, and he pitched this summer in the Cape Cod League, and I think it took him a few outings before he was able to get clear of that hurdle, which is what you saw today.”
The Ducks are set to play Youngstown State again on Friday, February 9th, for their second of four games in the series.