Charles Fischer

Not his point, just an observation.

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2026 BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball Hellman Claims Big Ten Weekly Honor EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon’s Big Ten Conference series win over Northwestern led to Ducks’ designated hitter Dominic Hellman being named co-Big Ten Conference Player of the Week, the conference announced today. Hellman dominated in a series win over Northwestern hitting two home runs in two different games. The Ducks' DH slashed .417/.533/1.417 with a 1.920 OPS in the three games. He went 5-for-12 with four home runs, eight RBI and five runs scored in the series while also walking three times. In game one, Hellman homered twice in a 20-6 win while reaching base three times (2-for-3, BB) with two RBI and two runs scored. He homered in consecutive at-bats in the third and fifth innings while also walking in the first. In a 6-4 series-clinching win on Saturday, Hellman walked and scored in Oregon's two-run first inning. In the finale, Hellman was instrumental in helping Oregon rally from a 10-2 deficit to force extra innings. After driving in Oregon's first run in a 2-run first inning, Hellman slugged a two-run home run in the sixth to pull Oregon within six runs. In his next at-bat, Hellman capped Oregon's five-run inning with a three-run bomb to cut the NU lead to one. Hellman finished game reaching base four times (3-for-6, BB) with six RBI and two runs scored. Hellman moved into seventh on the Ducks’ career home run list with 26 passing Shaun Chase (2012-15). All-Time Big Ten Conference Players of the Week Dominic Hellman (3/23/26; 3/3/25) Ryan Cooney (5/5/25; 5/19/25) Mason Neville (4/21/25) All-Time Pac-12 Conference Players of the Week Jacob Walsh (3/11/24; 4/3/23) Drew Cowley (5/1/23) Gabe Matthews (4/13/21) Kenyon Yovan (3/9/21) Spencer Steer (4/15/19) Scott Heineman (5/25/15; 4/15/13) Shaun Chase (5/5/14) Mitchell Tolman (4/14/14; 5/6/13) Ryon Healy (4/29/13; 2/19/13) Aaron Payne (5/7/12; 4/29/12) Brett Thomas (4/9/12) Danny Pulfer (5/16/11) Aaron Jones (3/21/11) Eddie Rodriguez (5/17/10; 3/8/10) He hits DOM-BOMBS

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2026 CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK AND FIELD | @OregonTF Bair Named National Field Athlete of the Year Peyton Bair won the NCAA title in the heptathlon with 6,503 points. EUGENE, Ore. – Peyton Bair has been named the 2026 USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year as announced Monday afternoon by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Bair won a second-consecutive NCAA title in the heptathlon while becoming just the third-ever collegian to score 6,500 points in the event. Bair, in his first season at Oregon, becomes the second man in program history to win Indoor National Field Athlete of the Year, joining Ashton Eaton who won back-to-back honors in 2009 and 2010. In winning the NCAA title, Bair posted a lifetime best of 6,503 points to break Eaton’s 16-year-old UO school record (6,499) and become the No. 6 performer in world history. Bair had lifetime bests in the long jump, shot put, pole vault and 1,000 meters during the NCAA Championships. He won the NCAA title by nearly 400 points. The Kimberly, Idaho, native ran 6.67 in the opening event at the meet, good for a new meet and NCAA record for the heptathlon 60 meters. Earlier in the year, Bair clocked a lifetime best of 6.61 at the Don Kirby Invitational (Feb. 14) which is tied for fourth on the UO all-time list. Bair added another program top-10 effort in the long jump when he got out to 7.70m/25-3.25—No. 8 UO—on his final attempt of the day. Overall, he established new lifetime bests in all seven heptathlon events during his standout indoor season. Bair is now a three-time NCAA champion having won the heptathlon and decathlon at Mississippi State last year. With Bair’s performance and Liisa-Maria Lusti winning the NCAA title in the pentathlon, Oregon is the first school to sweep national indoor titles in the combined events since Georgia did so in 2017. The Men and Women of Oregon were both the national indoor runner-up at the NCAA Championships. Bair was the top overall national qualifier in the heptathlon with his 6,371 points during the Razorback Invitational in late January. He opened his postseason with a fourth-place finish in the long jump at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Indianapolis. Oregon will host an open practice Tuesday at Hayward Field. The first session featuring the UO sprints, jumps and multis groups is scheduled to start at 9:45 a.m. Fans will be able to enter through Hayward Hall starting at 9:15 a.m. Ticket packages for the Ducks’ outdoor home schedule are currently on sale. The team is set to host the Oregon Team Invitational (April 18) and Oregon Twilight (May 8), along with the NCAA Championships in June. For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and X.

While that was a tough loss, all teams lose on occasion such as Sunday. The offense came through with 10 runs, but the pitching gave up 11? Whew! Nonetheless, Oregon (19-4) went from No. 21 to No. 20 this week with the D1Baseball rankings. Other teams of interest.... No. 1 UCLA 21-2 No. 12 USC 24-1 No. 16 Beavis 17-5 No. 24 Nebraska 18-6 It has been a long time, if ever, that the Big-10 has had four in the top-25. While that is not exemplary, it is for this cold-weather conference. Good thing the West Coast teams elevated the conference in this sport! And to help our RPI...Our Beloved Ducks play all four with Nebraska and USC at home. Speaking of them, the Trojans are winning with incredible pitching...something to see later! Dominic Hellman got his hitting Mojo back....

That doesn't concern me at all....

Unlike Howard Cosell, this fellow could play the game. He is Neff Giwa, who lives in Ireland, but was born in Nigeria. He is considered an offensive line prospect, and Mario Cristobal has already offered him, as other D1 schools are jumping in. He is physical because he plays Rugby, and because he is 6'7" and 295 pounds with a 37 inch wingspan--longer than most OTs in the NFL. And he runs a 4.88 40 yard dash, which is elite for offensive tackles. He grew up playing soccer, and is very agile. This came from an article in The Athletic, and I can't copy it. But it goes to show you how now that there is NIL....and agents can get a cut--they will be bringing more international prospects to college coaches. Whew!

Yes, I wrote that.

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2026 BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball Ducks Rally Falls Short in Extra-Inning Loss EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon rallied from an 8-run deficit to send the game into extra innings, but Northwestern scored a run in the top of the 12th inning to salvage a game in the series with a 12-11 win at PK Park on Sunday afternoon. After Oregon fell behind 10-2 after five innings, Dominic Hellman homered twice to pull the Ducks within one run in the seventh inning. Ryan Cooney completed the comeback with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning and send the game into extra innings. The Ducks (19-4, 7-2) had chance to win the game in extra innings. Oregon got two on with one out in the 10th inning but failed to score after a strikeout and flyout. Oregon loaded the bases in the 10th inning after a double and two intentional walks but the Wildcats escaped with a strikeout and a ground out. After Northwestern scored a run in the 12th inning, the Ducks had chances to tie it in their half of the inning. Naulivou Lauaki reached first to lead off the inning after being hit by a pitch, but NU turned a double play to get within an out of the win. Oregon responded with a Cooney single and a Jax Gimenez bunt single to put runners on first and second, but Wildcat pitcher Justin Fryer fanned Hellman to end the game. How It Happened: For the third straight day, Oregon put runs on the board in the first inning. Northwestern issued a couple free passes to Cooney and Gimenez to lead off the inning and Hellman made them pay. The Ducks’ designated hitter singled through the right side, scoring Cooney and moving Gimenez to third. Drew Smith followed with a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats (8-11-1, 2-4) took their first lead of the series, scoring three runs in the top of the second, before sending nine batters to the plate in the fourth to push the lead to 6-2. A pair of homers, a solo shot and a three-run home run, in the fifth pushed the lead to 10-2. Oregon got a pair back in the bottom of the sixth inning. After Cooney doubled to lead off the inning, Hellman lined a two-run home run over the left-field wall to cut the lead to 10-4. The Ducks cut the lead to one in the seventh, scoring five times. Burke-Lee Mabeus and Gabe Miranda drew back-to-back walks to open the inning before Josh Schleichardt delivered an RBI single to score Mabeus. Gimenez followed suit with an RBI base hit of his own to cut the lead to four. Hellman stepped to the plate with runners and first and second and lined a homer over the right-center field wall for his second home run of the game. Cooney then tied it in the ninth with a leadoff home run. Hellman finished 3-for-6 with six RBI and two runs scored. Cooney went 4-for-6 with a home run, double and three runs scored. Blake Crawford (1.1 IP, H, 2 BB), Luke Morgan (3.1 IP, 2 H, 5 K) and Tanner Bradley (1.1 IP, 1 H, 3 K) combined to toss six innings of scoreless allow the Ducks to send the game into extra innings. Box Score Notes: Oregon scored 14 runs in the first inning in the series against Northwestern … Smith (2-for-5, RBI) extended his streak of reaching base to 23 games this season and 25 games dating back to last season … The top four – Cooney, Gimenez, Hellman and Smith -- in Oregon’s order combined to go 12-for-22 with three home runs, nine RBI and seven runs scored … Hellman homered twice in a game for the fourth time in his career with two of those coming this weekend … Hellman moved into seventh on the Ducks’ career home run list with 26 passing Shaun Chase (2012-15) … Oregon had its winning streak snapped at eight. On Deck: The Ducks hit the road for a five-game road trip in San Diego and Santa Barbara, Calif. The Ducks face UC San Diego in a pair of midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday before opening a three-game series at UC Santa Barbara on Friday. Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On today’s performance... “I thought the guys really did a great job battling back. I thought the pitching was shaky early, and then things settled in. There were some really good relief outings. Luke Morgan was tremendous today, just flat out tremendous. And there were some other guys that threw the ball very well. We got mileage out of Blake Crawford, which was really handy, and then we just didn't have enough to be able to get it done. We had the table set a couple of different times, and we had a chance to win that ball game a couple of different times with the bats, and we just weren't able to do it. I was really impressed those guys were so resilient to grind their way back into that game after being down by so much, and then, you know, by the end of it, having opportunities to win the game. It didn't work out, and we're disappointed about that big time, but very proud of the fact that those guys were able to really fight and scratch and claw their way back into it. You know, I appreciate that effort.” On Luke Morgan... “We've had a lot of faith and belief in Luke. He's thrown the ball very, very well in scrimmages, and we have a lot of confidence in the guy. I mean, the guy throws 95 miles per hour with a really good breaking ball and good off-speed pitches. I mean, he's tough to hit. And so, for him to get out there and go three and two-thirds and only give up two hits and not walk anybody and strike guys out like he did. I mean, he kept us in that game, right? He gave us a chance.”

Northwestern wins 11-10 as Devin Bell gave up two hits, but a wild pitch set up a runner on third. Oregon stranded two on base to end the game.

10-10 after 11 innings. The Ducks' Tanner Bradley gave up a hit, but struck out three! Good-gosh the action on his pitches are something to see... And the Ducks strand bases-loaded!

10-10 after ten innings. Oregon's Luke Morgan got two outs, but gave up a hit and plinked a batter. With two on base, Tanner Bradley was brought in to get the third out...and did. Ducks strand two on base... On to the 11th!

10-10 after nine innings...we're going for more baseball! Oregon's Luke Morgan got it done again in the ninth, as his meltdown vs. Irvine is long in the past. Ryan Cooney hits the homer over the CF wall that ties it up! Unfortunately, the Ducks could not get any more to end the game.

10-9 Northwestern after eight innings. Luke Morgan got them 1-2-3, and looked good doing it. But Oregon had a man on, but struck out and hit into a double play--AAARRRG! Still have an inning.

10-9 Wildcats after seven innings. Oregon's Blake Crawford got in a jam, but Luke Morgan came in to pitch and generated a double-play to end the inning. I cannot believe what happened in this inning; Burke-Lee Mabeus walks, and Gabe Miranda is walked, and then Josh Schleichardt hits a zinger off the 3rd baseman mitt to score Mabeus. Then Jax Gimenez hits a short blooper into LF, and scores Miranda. Then Dominic Hellman comes up and blasts a dinger over the CF wall for a three-run homer! Two innings to go...Ducks can do it!