OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2026 BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball Featherston Dominant as Oregon Clinches Sweep EUGENE, Ore. — Making the first start of his career, Ryan Featherston put together his best outing as a Duck leading Oregon to an 11-1 win while clinching a series sweep over George Mason on Sunday. Featherston (1-0) tossed a career-high six inning picking up a quality start while allowing no runs on just two hits with five strikeouts and no walks. The junior right-hander retired the first five batters faced before giving up a two-out single in the second. He got the next hitter to ground out to end the inning. After getting out of the second, Featherston got the Patriots in order in both the third and fourth innings. George Mason (0-4) singled to lead off the fifth, but Featherston got the next hitter to ground into a double play before getting a fly ball to end the inning. He finished the outing with a 1-2-3 sixth inning ending his day retiring 17 of the 19 batters he faced. How It Happened: Oregon did not waste any time putting runs on the board scoring five in the bottom of the first inning. After Gabe Miranda plated the first run with a bases-loaded walk, Maddox Molony laced a double inside the third-base bag to score Jax Gimenez and Dominic Hellman for a 3-0 lead. A pair of run scoring groundouts by Drew Smith and Angel Laya for a 5-0 lead. Oregon kept the pressure on in the second inning adding three more runs. Hellman picked up and RBI with his second base hit of the day, before Smith drove in a pair with a hit to left and an 8-0 lead. Oregon added to the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Brayden Jaksa led off the inning with a single before coming around to score on a Jack Brooks triple. Ryan Cooney followed with an RBI single for a 10-0 lead. After GMU got on the board, Oregon talked on its final run in the eighth inning. Pinch hitter Josh Schleichardt reached when he was hit by a pitch and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch. Box Score Notes: Cooney, Hellman, Smith and Jaksa all had two hits … Smith finished with three RBI while Molony drove in a pair of runs … The top three in Oregon’s order – Cooney, Gimenez and Hellman – all scored twice … Eight of Oregon’s starting nine had at least one hit while eight different players scored a run … Toby Twist, Devin Bell and Luke Morgan all made their season debuts out of the bullpen … In the series, Oregon outscored GMU 45-12 while batting .324 with 18 extra-base hits (8 HR, 1 3B, 9 2B) … Fifteen Oregon pitchers combined for a 3.00 ERA … Oregon’s four starters on the mound combined to allow just two runs on five hits in 21 innings of work (0.86 ERA). On Deck: Oregon opens a four-game series against Youngstown State at PK Park on Thursday. First pitch is at 3:05 p.m. Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On takeaways from this weekend... “Ryan Featherston, I thought he pitched really well. I thought it was a solid defensive effort. I thought the guys played really well in the field and got off to an early lead that helped us secure the sweep. But you know, really good pitching by Featherston and a couple of bullpen guys. I mean, it's great to see Devin Bell out there. He pitched really well, and clutch hit by Jack Brooks. Really good defense by the guys, so happy to come out on top four times this weekend. It’s good.” On Toby Twist’s performance... “Really good. I mean, there's obviously a lot of talent on thea mound that we have, and some of those guys got to pitch today, which is good. To have those guys rolling out on game four is really a lot of fun. You know, when you're able to pitch well enough and play well enough to where those guys are out there in the fourth game of the series, that's a good feeling.” On Jack Brooks’ productivity... “New, right? I mean, he's a veteran guy. He's been around the program. He's just been behind some people that have been really good players. You know, last year he was behind the guy who led the country in home runs. And, you know, Jack is a really good player, and we see it every single day when we're in practice. And we knew what kind of a player he was last year, even though he didn't play a whole lot, we knew that he could be an elite player for us this year, and he's starting to show that a little bit. So, it's really nice for him. I mean, he's an explosive player. He does a lot of good things.” On Dominic Hellman’s singles today... “Well, he can really hit, and, he even said if they're going to play me in that shift, I'm just going to take my single. Which is amazing, because it's not a slow pitch softball game, you know? I mean, it's not that easy when you're facing 90-mile-an-hour fastballs, to be able to place baseballs as you choose to do. He's got really talented bat and ball skills. He's not just a big guy swinging hard, he's got more to him than that.” On Hellman’s development... “He cares a lot, right? He cares a lot and works really hard. You asked the question ‘what do you learn about your club?’ I mean, I knew they care a lot about each other, but I guess I learned even more that how much they care about the little things like you're referring to with Dom's just development of this hitting. I mean, he does. He's a cerebral guy. A lot of times you see a big guy and you think, ‘oh boy, he's probably not very cerebral or something,’ and that's so false with Dom. I mean, he's a smart kid. He's got a lot of depth to him.” On Ryan Cooney’s development and leadership... “He did it again today, too, right? With the clutch single up the middle. I mean, he's been probably our most clutch player, you know, he leads off because he's pretty well the captain, you know, and he runs the deal. His makeup, his intangibles are elite. Tremendous student. I mean, he's just a well-rounded human being, and he's a hell of a baseball player. You know, if he was playing shortstop, nobody would even notice the difference. That's how good he is. I mean, Maddox Molony is a great, great player, and yet, Ryan can play shortstop right alongside him just as well. That's how good he is. You know, just watching him and seeing his growth and development through Coach Marder and Coach Grant and those guys have really been cool." Ryan Cooney On how today’s game went for him... “I talked earlier this week about just enjoying it today, and thought I did a good job of going just one pitch at a time, staying present, and my defense worked behind me, makes my job a lot easier. And hats off to [Brayden] Jaksa too. I thought he had a good game today.” On feeling ready for this weekend... “Yeah, I think just the preparation that we had throughout the fall and the winter, and not taking any day for granted, just coming just coming out and attacking each and every day and every pitch of the game.” Jack Brooks On the transition from infield to center... “Yeah, I think it's just being able to communicate with the guys around you, because, I mean, everyone can hit here, I mean, just kind of understanding like what your role is out there, like how to communicate with, like the other guys that are out there. And then just getting good reads off the bat, get first steps, what we do every single day in batting practice. So, it's just, kind of, getting the little things right.” On his bigger role now... “Yeah, it's been a good learning piece. I mean, just kind of learning from guys that are really good at baseball. And I mean, got to give them praise for what they deserve. Because, I mean, Maddox and Cooney, they're legit. And then Mason Neville last year was really good. So, it's just good to learn from those guys. And like, now that I'm coming into my own and just kind of hopefully keep it going but playing just good baseball. So, it’s fun.” Drew Smith On what has been clicking for him at the plate... “It’s the same thing as last night: just stick with our plan and our approach. Coach does a really good job with film and making sure we are really well prepared.” On what he thinks the team needs to do better throughout the season... “We just need to stick with our approach and kill it in practice. We need to try to get better every single day. There is also stuff we can work on in our game, so attacking those little things is important. It’s also important to know what we are good at, and that was a point of emphasis this week. We need to be mature, know what we are good at, and do more of that.” On being part of the first double play of the season and the team's chemistry... “The infield has been together for a long time. I know Gabe is new, but it feels like he has been here with us for all four years, just by the way practice goes and the chemistry we have already.”
There was Armstead and Buckner in 2015, when they disappeared against OSU2 in the title game.
Perhaps Hyloti Nyata & Devon Long on the 2004 roster come close, but I think/hope the 2026 d-line is going to be more dominant!
Thanks, David. A lot of talent on the 2026 roster. I'd add the already-impactful DL players A'Mauri Washington and Bear Alexander. When, if ever, has OBD had two potential All-Americans on the interior of the D-line?
Yeah Finney is going to be huge next year. He'd count for sure. I also left off Dante and Dakorian. So much of this roster is young first year starters who are going to have big impacts next year.
Brandon Finney? I assume he was left off the list because he was already an All American, but it would be quite the disappointment if he doesn't have a "monster second season" next year.
Dear SantaRosaDuck -- 80 years old and crushing it! Way to go and way to take as much control of your health as possible. Your comments and experience are truly inspiring & just so encouraging. And your 5 keys/points to longevity absolutely nail it. I think the one aspect out of the five that especially surprises people is how critical sleep is to our overall health. It's only been in the last 5 years that I've come to learn this. I used to view sleep as an inconvenience as I just had no idea regarding the healing powers that take place when we consistently get 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. And that is something that doesn't cost us a penny and the return is off the charts amazing. For those interested in learning more, Stanford's Andrew Huberman has an fabulous podcast and has done a few episodes on sleep. One of my favorites is with sleep expert Matthew Walker, PhD, who has an excellent book out titled, "Why We Sleep." Best wishes to all for a long and healthy Duck life! GO DUCKS!!
I don't know if he qualifies since he had a big second half of the 2025 season, but I would count Jamari Johnson in this list. I considered him a starter as his role was expanded along with the rest of the TE room when so many WRs were injured and Stein had to run a lot of 12 personnel. He will now be the #1 TE and I think he will be a nightmare matchup for most LBs and 'delta' safeties, even if he isn't quite as gifted athletically as Sadiq is.
Key walking wounded returners. Besides Stewart, Davidson made the list along with Gernorris Wilson, Tre McNutt, & Dakorien. Key Oregon Ducks Making Injury Returns Next Season
Good insight into the needs for each BIG Ten team. Saturday Tradition1 burning issue for each Big Ten team as they head toward...The 18 Big Ten programs have digested the 2025 season and are heading for spring football with a burning issue to tackle.
The advantage for Oregon changed when the NCAA changed the breakneck speed of the game due to some serious whining from an SEC Head Coach that will remain nameless, Ick-Nay Aban-Say. Only took about 5 years to dismantle Oregons coaching advantage.
2025 was a year of mixed expectations. As fans we expect a lot from our team and knew we had some real talent on our hands this past season, but the problem was that we had a lot of young talent. In the end, that youth was beat out by a team of veterans. In 2026, these young guns are ... These Ducks Will Have Monster Second Seasons as Starters
It's embarrassing. I feel "sorta" sorry for them..
"New-World Pac-12?" More like "Olden Mountain West!"
