Sports

Oregon softball made its return to Jane Sanders stadium today, opening the Oregon Classic with a 9-5 victory against the San Diego Toreros. Coming into the game with a 15-1 record, the Ducks looked to keep momentum rolling.

Bats were hot in the first inning for Oregon, with Kai Luschar leading off the team. Following bringing up a quick 1-1 count, she held her own, ending a full count show with a lead off single, stealing second shortly after. With help from an error made by the San Diego infield, Luschar found herself in scoring position and Dezianna Patmon advanced to first. 

This sent Rylee McCoy up to bat, who was tied for second on the team in RBIs. Naturally, she set up Patmon and Luschar to score with a deep single to right field. A pair of outs and a single brought Oregon to the top of its batting order, allowing Luschar to earn her second hit of the inning. This resulted in an early 3-0 lead for the Ducks, as Stefini Ma’ake was able to find her way home…

In the bottom of the seventh of the Sunday, Feb. 23 series finale against Rhode Island, the Oregon Ducks were coasting and looking to put the nail in the coffin, and junior left fielder Anson Aroz had the chance to do it.

With the bases loaded, Aroz and the Ducks would’ve been happy with any base hit, but Aroz wanted it all. He was patient at the plate, going down 1-for-2 before fouling two pitches and taking back-to-back balls. Rhode Island pitcher Parker Aikens left the next pitch over the plate and Aroz didn’t miss it. He crushed it to left-center field and left the yard with some help from the wind. This grand slam put the Ducks up 15-2 and enacted the run rule, winning the game and series for Oregon.

“It was a good way to cap off the day,” Aroz said. “Got us out of here a little quick, made up for some lost time. It always feels good.”

This was the Ducks second grand slam in the game. The first came from freshman catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus back in the fourth…

In the bottom of the eighth in Game 2 of the Oregon Ducks doubleheader against the Rhode Island Rams, the Ducks were sitting pretty with a 17-12 lead on their way to a 2–1 series lead.

Somehow, Oregon wasn’t satisfied with the already monstrous day from the offense. Third baseman Carter Garate doubled to lead off the inning, setting up for red-hot center fielder Mason Neville. He got ahead in the count 2-0, and on the next pitch, his eyes lit up when he saw the ball soaring right into his sweet spot. Neville swung and got all of it. He sat in the batter's box for a second to watch it fly into the PK Park parking lot, then took his trot as he put the dagger into the double-header sweep for Oregon. This was Neville’s second homer of the game.

“He got me on a changeup that I rolled over on the at-bat before that, so I was just focusing on letting it get deep,” Neville said. “I tried to put a good swing on it and let the ball travel.”

While that game was an offensive…

The No. 11 Ducks (5-2)  found their rhythm and clinched a dominant 19-12 win against the Rams (3-3) for the first blowout of the series. The score was 8-3 at the middle of the eighth, when the Ducks finally seized control. With bases loaded from walks and HBPs, Jacob Walsh added to the tally by blowing a double deep into center field that scored two. It was the only hit of the highest-scoring inning. 

From then on, the Ducks found their momentum and turned a nail-biter into a lopsided victory. 

“You’ve gotta be able to win a lot of different ways,” said head coach Mark Wasikowski. “You gotta be able to win by hitting a ball over the fence. You gotta be able to win by bunting sometimes or stealing base, or just walking and taking long at-bats.” 

The Ducks took advantage of 15 free passes throughout the game. “We showed that we can win in a different way today and that's the first time we showed that,” Wasikowski said. 

…

No. 11 Oregon (4-2) won the second game of the series against Rhode Island (3-2) 1-0 after a walk-off error. Going into two extra innings, it was a pitcher's duel at the mound. Ryan Cooney batted an infield single, making it to first base. After stealing second, he advanced to third on a fielder's choice. Dominic Hellman then stepped up to the plate and grounded out to short. The shortstop threw it low to the Ducks’ dugout, giving Oregon the win. 

The Ducks were coming off of a thrilling 12-11 Friday night loss. After bouncing back from an 8-4 lead, Oregon’s comeback efforts still fell short to the Rams. 

Saturday starting pitcher, Collin Clarke, played deep into the game, pitching seven innings, four hits and one walk. 

“What won us the game was keeping the score down and trusting the guys being me, Stokes and Howard,” Clarke said. “Just keeping a 0-0 ballgame.” 

Cole Stokes took over in relief for two innings, with four strikeouts. Gabe…

The No. 11 Oregon Ducks (3-2) found themselves down one run in the bottom of the ninth in the series opener against the Rhode Island Rams (3-1). The bases were loaded, and utilityman Drew Smith was up to bat. He worked a 1-1 count, then smoked a ball to deep left field. The fans rose to their feet in anticipation of the walk-off slam, but the cold Eugene air killed the ball in the air to end the game.

Oregon’s effort can be applauded, as they scored nine runs in the final four innings after going down 12-4.

“I thought we tried to do too much, especially there at the very end. We had some at-bats get away from us,” manager Mark Wasikowski said. “I think Mason [Neville] had one early in the ball game that could’ve turned the tide in the game, as did a couple other guys.”

Oregon starting pitcher Grayson Grinsell picked up where he left off last weekend by striking out the first batter he saw. A single threatened him with two outs in the inning, but Grinsell…

The University of Oregon Ducks baseball team (3-2) suffered a disappointing 12-11 loss Friday against Rhode Island. With the upset, the team showed a mix of strength and glaring vulnerability.

The game started off even between the two teams, with the score tied at 1-1 through the fourth inning. At the bottom of the fifth, Mason Neville earned a solo homer, which appeared to show the Ducks in control. That very quickly changed in the sixth inning. The Rhode Island Rams asserted control with back-to-back three-run homers at the top of the sixth. This, along with an RBI, brought the score to 8-2.

From there, the Rams could not be stopped and continued to lengthen their lead. Despite a late charge from the Ducks, the Rams took the victory 12-11.

With the result of Friday’s game, there is a mix of negative and positive takeaways for the team.

To start with a positive: Julian Hernandez had a fantastic two innings on the mound to close the game. He allowed no hits…

Hosted by Olivia Arciniega with Devlin Christiansen and Ben Schoenfield

6:00- Recap Men’s and Women’s Basketball

• WBB Losing to Nebraska on the Road in OT, 94-90
  • Started strong, typically not the story of this team
  • Five players with 10+ points, so what went wrong?
  • Where does this loss put this team for March Madness?
• MBB wins a close one at Iowa, 80-78
  • Impact of Nate Bittle, TJ Bamba
  • Prediction: what will be the team’s record over the last four games?
  • Where does this win put the team for March Madness?

6:20- Diamond Sports Deep Dive

• Oregon BSB taking on Rhode Island in 4 game series
  • Concerns from last series that need to be addressed
  • What went well in the opening series?
  • One of the top teams in the country, is this sustainable?
• Oregon Softball in Palms Springs
  • Fantastic…

Hosted by Austin Ota, Tayten Torgrimson and John Evans

6:00 - Oregon Softball Opens 10-1

• Softball off to its best start since 2021. What's so special about Version 7?
• Freshmen have been leading the charge, can they keep it up?
• Lyndsey Grein is the truth

6:15 - Oregon Women's Lacrosse is Dominant Through Three

• Oregon is outscoring its opponents by ten a game
• Anna Simmons has a case as Oregon's best attacker ever
• Has Oregon solidified its spot in the cage?

6:25 - Oregon Baseball Takes the Series Against Toledo

• Pitching dominated the three-game series
• How will Oregon fare behind the plate?
• Rhode Island coming up

6:40 - Roundball Roundup

• Oregon MBB on the road at Iowa
• WBB wins back-to-back big games

As the rain came down at PK Park, Oregon Ducks sophomore closer Cole Stokes was on the mound in the top of the ninth and had two outs, with a chance to seal a 6-1 Ducks win. This was a big spot for Stokes, as this win would give Oregon the opening series win and avoid what would have been a disappointing split against Toledo.

Stokes got ahead 1-2 on Toledo catcher Brayden Smith and the Ducks could taste it. On the next pitch, Stokes dotted a slider in the top-left part of the zone. Smith whiffed and Oregon came out on top to put it at a solid 3-1 record coming out of the cold opening day weekend.

That strong showing from Stokes was one of many from the Oregon pitching staff this weekend. Great pitching is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Oregon Ducks baseball program. The last two seasons, poor pitching and defense have arguably kept Oregon out of the College World Series, so this is a nice sign for skipper Mark Wasikowski and his crew.

“Dust will settle on…