EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 11 Oregon Ducks (43-16, 20-10 Big Ten) and Oregon State Beavers (45-14) met on Sunday night for the first time in the history of the NCAA D1 Baseball Championship. The Ducks’ pitching staff looked unhittable for the third straight night, while the Beavers’ staff navigated command issues that ultimately would be their downfall.
A 4-1 win would mark the eighth for Oregon in its last ten games vs. Oregon State, a tilt never before seen in the matchup’s history.
Corvallis, home to the Beavers, and Eugene, home to the Ducks, sit just an hour apart along I-5, yet for Oregonians, the two schools couldn’t be more different. The schools’ long-standing rivalry has largely been a one-sided affair, with their respective athletic proficiencies never quite lining up. Winners of three national championships in the past 21 years, Oregon State’s baseball program has become one of the most renowned in the country. For the first two of those, in 2006 and 2007, Oregon had no baseball team. The third, which was in 2018, came amidst a rough stretch for the Ducks’ baseball program. It’s only been since head coach Mark Wasikowski, now in his seventh year commanding the program, that Oregon has had a baseball program consistently able to win.
Tensions ran high at PK Park, as the Beavers dropped two straight bunts in the bottom of the first inning, the first of which put senior outfielder Easton Talt on base. Talt would move to third on a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman designated hitter Ethan Porter. A two-out walk would further jeopardize the Duck fans’ morale, but junior lefty Miles Gosztola struck out freshman outfielder Josh Proctor to end the frame.
But Gosztola allowed the leadoff man to reach in the second inning as well, which proved crucial. Sophomore outfielder Adam Haight singled to right field and moved to second base on a two-out walk to sophomore shortstop Tyler Inge. Five pitches later, Talt singled through the right side, bringing Haight around to score, putting the Beavers up 1-0, and giving Oregon its first deficit of the weekend.
The very next pitch produced the Ducks’biggest highlight of the game to that point. Freshman catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus threw down to second, attempting to catch a running Talt, but junior second baseman Ryan Cooney threw back home to cut down Inge and prevent the deficit from growing.
Oregon would fight right back, as junior outfielder Jack Brooks smacked a one-out single, before freshman outfielder Angel Laya would join him on the basepaths. Brooks moved to third, but with two outs in the inning, time was running out. Luckily, senior third baseman Drew Smith was able to tie the game back up, lacing the third Duck single of the inning through the right side. Brooks came in to score from third, but Laya, whose strengths lie elsewhere, tried to go from first to third on the play, and was ultimately cut down sliding into third base.
“It’s a thrill to be out there with those guys,” Brooks said following the game. “It was unreal, actually.”
Still, the PK faithful erupted, appreciating the moment and the opportunity to even up the score, no matter how bittersweet. Additionally, the game-tying run was the first moment all evening when one fanbase’s noise had fully prevailed over the other’s. Clashing chants of “Let’s go Beavers,” and “Let’s go Ducks” had been ringing throughout the stadium all game, but the Duck fans’ cheers drowned out the Oregon State faithful.
Both pitchers fell into a groove after the tying run, but Oregon State’s head coach, Mitch Canham, decided he had seen enough of junior righty Wyatt Queen, ending his outing after throwing just 63 pitches in 4 ⅔ innings when junior shortstop Maddox Molony led off the fifth inning with a single, and subsequently stole second base.
Senior righty Isaac Yeager would come in to replace Queen, striking out Cooney to end the frame.
Come the seventh, Yeager would trot out for a third inning of work. Mabeus would lead off, working a seven-pitch walk, while freshman designated hitter Naulivou Lauaki, Jr. would try to take the lead with a line drive to left, but Proctor would make a stellar diving grab to save a run.
One batter later, Molony collected his second knock of the evening, moving Mabeus up ninety feet. Yeager really started to lose control against sophomore utilityman Jax Gimenez, walking him on four pitches, and loading the bases with just one out.
The Eugene faithful rose to their feet, ready to erupt at any time. But they’d have to wait.
Canham would go to the bullpen once more, opting to bring senior closer Albert Roblez into the fold. Yeager’s command issues seemed to carry over to Roblez, as he needed just eleven pitches to walk Brooks and Cooney, giving the Ducks a 3-1 lead. He found his command eventually, but it didn’t matter. Laya went down 0-2, but swung defensively at an offspeed pitch from Roblez and chopped a ground ball to the left side. Sophomore third baseman Paul Vazquez stepped on third base, while Molony made a mad dash for home. Luckily, Vazquez’s throw was offline, and Laya was safe at first base, avoiding the double play and extending the lead to 4-1.
Gosztola’s day was done after the sixth, with sophomore righty Luke Morgan coming in to relieve him. Morgan’s inconsistencies on the mound have been few and far between, with a 5.18 ERA inflated by two rough April outings. Despite allowing a two-out double to Talt, Morgan battled right back and struck out senior second baseman AJ Singer on nine pitches to send the ballgame to the eighth inning.
Senior stopper Devin Bell walked out of the Oregon bullpen in the bottom of the ninth, with hopes of being the last man to walk out of right field. Sophomore righty Tanner Bradley had worked around traffic on the bases in the eighth, so a scoreless ninth would mean a clean record for the Ducks’ bullpen.
“All our pitchers tonight, you know, were tremendous,” Wasikowski remarked following the game. “The pitching we received in this regional was something special.”
Bell finished the job, setting the Beavers down in order to seal the deal and advance to the Super Regional.
The Ducks will now head back on the road, with a trip to Austin, TX, for the NCAA Super Regionals.