Sports

The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team (18-8, 7-8) bounced back from their mid-season slump in a major way. They followed up a win over Northwestern with a dominant second-half performance against Rutgers (12-14, 5-10) resulting in a 75-57 victory. 

The Ducks and Scarlet Knights went back and forth in the early going, with Rutgers etching out in front and Oregon quick to match. Midway through the first half, it appeared like Rutgers would pull away, as it took a seven-point lead at the 11-minute mark. On the ensuing possession, forward Kwame Evans Jr. made just his ninth 3-pointer of the season. Oregon would finally take the lead with 5:13 left in the half on a Nate Bittle free throw and slowly extend that lead to five points at the break. 

Rutgers played well to start the second half. Slightly less than five minutes in, a second-chance layup cut the Oregon lead to only two. From there, the Ducks went on a 7-0 run that lasted around two and a half minutes. It…

As the rain began to clear, cheers erupted from the stands as the baseball soared through the air and out of the park, signaling a Ducks homerun. Oregon infielder Maddox Molony hit the Ducks’ first and only homerun of the 6-1 win late in the eighth, clearing the bases as the Toledo Rockets could only watch. 

The No. 12 Ducks (3-1) entered the game following a 9-0 win on Saturday against the Toledo Rockets (1-3). Oregon kicked the season off with a 2-1 home record having only lost one game against the Rockets this weekend. The Ducks broke a home game record of seven home runs in one game on Saturday, setting a new record. 

Oregon started the top of Sunday’s first inning strong, getting three outs only eight minutes into the game. At the bottom of the inning, the Ducks put themselves on the scoreboard first with a run from Mason Neville, leading the Rockets by one. 

The Ducks continued their lead by the end of the second inning, increasing the score…

The Oregon baseball team entered this one looking to split the doubleheader and take back the series lead. The Duck’s offense didn’t take off until the eighth inning of the first game, resulting in a loss. In the second game of the day, they hoped to get the bats warm earlier. They did exactly that, hitting a program-record seven solo home runs.

“I like program records,” Coach Mark Wasikowski said. “Any record is great.”

Oregon’s starting pitcher for the second game was Saint Mary’s transfer Jason Reitz, who started just six last year, covering 48.0 innings and fanning 65 batters on his way to a 6.00 ERA. Reitz is a lanky junior standing at 6-foot-9 with some high-velocity stuff, touching up to 95 mph Saturday.

Starting pitching seemed to be the strong suit for the Ducks on Saturday Game 1 starter Collin Clarke was excellent, and Reitz started the second game by striking out five of the first eight batters he faced. Reitz went just three shutout innings, running…

An electric opening day win for the Oregon Ducks baseball team did not carry over to Saturday as Toledo took Game 2 of the series 5-3.

Oregon certainly had its chances in this one. In the bottom of the eighth with one out, Toledo held a 4-3 lead but the Ducks had the tying run on third. With junior designated hitter Dominic Hellman at the plate, this seemed like Oregon’s chance as almost anything in play would’ve scored the tying run. Unfortunately, Hellman struck out on a nasty pitch from Toledo reliever Logan Jones. Jones killed the Ducks’ momentum by grounding shortstop Maddox Molony out to third, and Oregon’s best chance at getting back into the game was shut down.

Oregon was coming off a clean 9-2 opening-day win against the Toledo Rockets the night before. Strong pitching held the Rockets to three hits and a late outburst from the offense sealed the win.

The first half of Saturday’s game was a pitchers' duel similar to the day before. Pitchers on both sides…

Has Collin Clarke arrived? It sure feels like it, Oregon’s true sophomore RHP delivered a gem in his 2025 season debut. This season brought questions about the Ducks’ pitching staff this year and whether they could improve from last year despite losing two of their best starters, RJ Gordon and Kevin Seitter.           

During Clarke’s freshman season at Oregon a year ago, he appeared just 13 times and started just once. His freshman year was moderately successful for a young pitcher, allowing 17 runs (14 earned) and striking out 14 batters in 19.2 innings. After his first outing of the 2025 season and just his second career start, he’s already amassed half his strikeouts from last season.

Clarke pushed on strongly despite the lack of run support early in the game. Partially in credit to Toledo’s Luke Walton in left field, who had two jaw-dropping diving catches to end the third and save runs in the fourth inning.…

Early-season jitters are typical, especially in baseball. Batters start off sluggish, pitchers may get hit around a little bit and the manager may still be working the kinks out of the lineup. Oregon first baseman Jacob Walsh completely ignored that norm in the Oregon Ducks’ 9-2 season opener against the Toledo Rockets.

In the bottom of the sixth, the score was tied at one apiece with both teams failing to plate a run in their last four innings of work. After a fielding error put leadoff batter Drew Smith on first, Walsh came to the plate with a chance to put Oregon back in front. Walsh fell behind in the count 1-2 but felt no pressure. On the next pitch, he cranked an opposite-field two-run blast to give the Ducks the lead 3-1.

This blew the Ducks’ offense open. In the last three innings on offense, they scored in every single one. When the dust settled and closing pitcher Seth Mattox sealed it, Oregon took down Toledo 9-2 to cap off a strong opening day at PK Park.…

The University of Oregon Baseball team had a fantastic opening-day game against Toledo. After an initially slow start to the game, the Ducks turned it on in the final three innings winning 9-2. 

This was the result of a fantastic team effort on all fronts. The hitters, pitchers and defense stepped up enormously in Friday’s game. 

Things that went right

Pitching: 

Grayson Grinsell put together a phenomenal demonstration of Division I college baseball pitching on Friday. In the five innings he pitched there was only one run and one hit each. 

When asked about his performance after the game he stated his goal was to “set the tone” for what should be expected out of the teams pitching for the rest of the series. 

Oregon used three pitchers in total for the game, as opposed to Toledo's five. This could affect the Rockets’ pitching for the rest of the series since Oregon has more rested pitchers. 

Risk-taking:…

Baseball love is in the air if you’re a fan of the Oregon Ducks, as their season fires up on Valentine's Day against the Toledo Rockets. 

Oregon comes into this season preseason ranked No. 12 after a strong 40-20 record in the 2024 season. The frigid and rainy Eugene weather will hopefully hold off enough for the 3:05 p.m. first pitch at PK Park. Junior starting pitcher Grayson Grinsell gets the opening day honors for the Ducks, as he looks to build off his All-Pac-12 Conference Honorable Mention from last season.

Where They Left Off

In the 2024 season, the Ducks made it to their second Super Regional in a row. After powering through San Diego and UC Santa Barbara in the regional, Oregon had a best-of-three date with Texas A&M. 

This series turned into a disaster for Oregon. In Game 1, after going up 6-3 in the second inning, the Ducks gave up seven unanswered runs and dropped the first game of the series. When fans thought Game 2 couldn't…

After an unexpected five-game losing streak, the Oregon Ducks needed to get back on track. Tuesday’s 81-75 home win over the Northwestern Wildcats might be what they needed to find their groove.

The Ducks showed a sense of urgency from the opening tip. In the fifth minute, Jackson Shelstad paired a 3-pointer with a fast-break layup to give Oregon an 11-4 lead. Northwestern fought back and tied the game, but then Oregon went on an extended scoring run that lasted the rest of the first half. The Ducks led by 17 around the one-minute mark and went into the locker room up 14. 

Both teams traded points for the majority of the second half. However, things started to get interesting around the eight-minute mark. Oregon led by 13 after a pair of Nate Bittle free throws, but then Northwestern went on an 11-3 run over the next few minutes. Oregon called a timeout to regroup with five minutes remaining and guard Keeshawn Barthelemy immediately sank a 3 to halt the Wildcats’…

Before the fans at Papé Field could even enjoy a halftime intermission, the Oregon Ducks women’s lacrosse team had put their season opener on ice, leading Butler 14-0 at the break and eventually coming out on top 18-6.

Early in that second quarter, the Ducks lead was already 11-0, including a first-half hat trick from junior midfielder Anna Simmons. Her first-half work wasn't done yet, though. 

At the 5:35 mark in the second quarter, Simmons found herself centered to the goal with one defender in her sights and the ball in her possession. She scanned the field but called her own number, planted her left foot and exploded for a vortex-esque spin move that cleared the lane for her to finish the goal.

“It was awesome. Tonight, we just had a spark in us,” Simmons said after the game. “We went out, and we gave it 100 percent. It was a great way to start our season, and it really set the tone.”

The Ducks entered this game looking to build off a solid 8-7…