Charles Fischer

From our friend Jonathan Hoffman...

From our friend Jonathan Hoffman...

Oregon wins 6-4, as the Duck's Seth Mattox comes in to close with his sideways action pitches, and sends the Huskies away whimpering. This makes six straight wins, but we gotta win Sunday at noon as well!

6-4 Ducks after eight innings, as Santiago Garcia got the first Husky out, and then Oregon's Cole Stokes came in and threw his 97 mph flame-throwers to finish the Washington side. THREE MORE OUTS on these Bastards...

6-4 Ducks after seven innings, as Santiago Garcia is getting his confidence as he punished the 'dogs for simply being there 1-2-3.

6-4 Ducks after six innings, as Santiago Garcia replaced Clarke, and kept the damn Huskies scoreless. Jacob Walsh caught a fly that has to be seen to be believed, as it was moving into the Oregon dugout, but the rule is...you cannot touch your feet inside the edge of the field. So Walsh leaped from the edge of the stairs, and caught the ball while in the air before landing. Whew! Mason Neville added to the lead with a wonderful homer!

5-4 Ducks after five innings. The damn Huskies hit two home runs in the inning off Clarke, but Jacob Walsh came back to hit a monster blast of his own.

4-2 Ducks after four innings, as Oregon's Collin Clarke slapped the Huskies with a rolled up newspaper to go 1-2-3. He has only 42 pitches after four innings, so this is promising for him to do deep into the game. Chase Meggers got Oregon going with a line-drive out in right field, and then Ryan Cooney gets plinked by the Washington pitcher for runners on first and second. Carter Garate hits to second base, but the Husky fielder throws a wild one into the dugout to score Meggers. With Cooney on third, and Garate on first, the Ducks Mason Neville crushed a liner just inside the right field to score both runners!

2-1 UW after three innings, as Clarke put them down 1-2-3, but the Ducks stranded two on base.

2-1 UW after two innings. Oregon's Collin Clarke got hits against him, but an error by an infielder set up two unearned runs later. The Ducks saw Drew Smith zing a hit past 3rd base and into the left field corner to start things in the second inning with a double. Then Anson Aroz sacrificed a grounder to right side to move Smith to third. Then the Pride of Springfield, Maddox Molony, smashed a line drive into medium left field for a hit and scores Drew Smith.

I am a baseball fan, but I really don't know the sport very well, and could always use some help by those who have been around the game far longer than I. We've had WILD swings in pitching performances over three different stretches during the season, and I have no explanation... February 14th until March 10th: A pitching staff ERA of 2.88, (superb!) and our record was 14-2 for that stretch. March 11th until April 24: Pitching Staff ERA of 7.87, (Yikes!) and a record of only 13-10. April 25th until just before last night: An ERA of 1.26, (WOW!) and a record of 8-1. Last night's goose-egg of runs given to Washington will drive those stats for Our Beloved Ducks even better. I don't understand how a whole staff can go on a funk, but I also do not know what the coaches did to bring them back to exceptional pitching. Can we keep it up? Thoughts? A New Pitcher Emerged, and We Needed Him!

The Bastard-Huskies do have a good pitching staff, and their starter today, Jackson Thomas, (A fellow with two first or last names?) has an ERA of 3.92, while Oregon counters with Collin Clarke with an ERA of 4.10. Clarke had a bad stretch, but with a number of good outings has brought it down, and we hope for more of the same today. Oregon started out great against their pitcher last night...but then Washington almost completely shut the Ducks down the rest of the game. This will be another tight game, and while I believe we are the better team--we got to bring-it every day as we will get the best shot from the Huskies. Collin Clarke

Stretch Run Begins With Rivalry Win EUGENE, Ore. — With two weeks left to play themselves to the top of the Big Ten Conference and improve their chances of hosting postseason games, all the No. 5 Oregon baseball team can do is take it one game at a time. Friday night was an impressive example. The Ducks got seven innings from ace Grayson Grinsell to lead a shutout effort by the pitching staff, and they jumped on another one of the Big Ten’s top Friday starters to beat Washington at PK Park, 5-0. Oregon (36-13, 17-8 Big Ten) moved within three games of first-place Iowa with five to play — the last three of those being against the Hawkeyes. “We know what the position is that we're in,” said UO outfielder Anson Aroz, who had three hits Friday. “We’re taking each day like it's our last and just trying to win one game.” With Iowa playing a nonconference series this week, Oregon has a chance to get within two games of the Hawkeyes before heading to play them in Iowa City next week. UCLA remained a game ahead of the Ducks for second place in the Big Ten by also winning Friday. “They always say it doesn't matter how you play in February and March, it matters how you play in May and June — and I think we take that to heart,” said Grinsell, who posted his seventh quality start of the season. “We're ready to go with five games left now; six before today. We're gonna go out every game like we want to win this thing, because we do.” Friday’s win followed a pregame ceremony during which Oregon’s home facility was officially named Bob Kilkenny Field at PK Park, in honor of the father of former UO athletic director Pat Kilkenny. A crowd of 3,866 packed the stands to take it all in.' Grayson Grinsell “Really special,” UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. “I know that means a lot to coach (George) Horton; we love coach and that's a really big, big thing for our guys. They wanted to put up a great performance, and Grayson did that. To have the whole family here, we gave the game ball to Pat obviously, in honor of Bob and what the family wanted to do for that great legacy.” How It Happened: Grinsell (8-2) only allowed two runners to reach third base all night, but one was in the first inning. A two-out single and an error on a pickoff attempt put the Huskies 90 feet away from the game’s first run, but Grinsell retired the next hitter to strand the runner. The Ducks then went to work against UW starter Max Banks, who hadn’t lost a Friday start in Big Ten play until facing the Ducks. After Mason Neville walked to open the bottom of the first, Parker Stinson successfully executed a sacrifice bunt and Jacob Walsh followed with an RBI single. Walsh was the first of five straight Ducks to reach before Banks settled in for the night. Drew Smith was hit by a pitch to advance Walsh to second, and Aroz’s first hit of the night plated Walsh for a 2-0 lead. Maddox Molony and Burke-Lee Mabeus then walked, forcing in Smith, and two batters later Carter Garate was hit by a pitch to score Aroz and make it 4-0. “That's big-time stuff,” Aroz said. “We want to give Grayson the run support that we can, and (also) beat good pitchers, because we're going to run into them down the road.” The pitcher’s duel that most anticipated Friday then developed, with Banks getting through six innings and only allowing one more runner as far as second base. Grinsell, meanwhile, got a strikeout with the bases loaded in the fourth to end that threat, and another strikeout to cap a 121-pitch effort in the seventh. Mason Neville was SAFE at home! “It was a gritty one today,” Grinsell said. “Just tried to stay one pitch at a time, trusted in (pitching coach Blake Hawksworth) and Waz and it turned out the way we wanted to with the win.” After Grinsell finished his seven scoreless innings, Jeffery Heard provided some insurance with a solo homer off the UW bullpen in the bottom of the seventh. It was Heard’s first home run since Feb. 28. “It felt really good,” Heard said. “I mean, it’s no secret it's been a minute since I've hit one. So it felt nice, for sure.” Cole Stokes threw the eighth for Oregon, striking out four hitters after the second reached on a passed ball. Seth Mattox continued to hold down the back of the UO bullpen, throwing a 1-2-3 ninth to complete the shutout. Notable: Grinsell has allowed 12 earned runs in 65.1 innings over his last 10 starts. … Grinsell’s 251 career strikeouts moves him into fourth all-time at Oregon, passing Alex Keudell (2009-12). … Grinsell’s 17th career win moved him into a tie for 10th in UO history with Tyler Anderson (2009-11) and Mike Nicksic (1966-68). … The UO staff has posted four straight quality starts in conference play. … Heard’s homer was the 91st by the team this season, 10 behind the program record set in 2023. … Neville’s walk in the first was his 50th of the year, tied for the UO single-season record with Aaron Zavala in 2021. Up Next: The two teams meet again Saturday (2 p.m., B1G+).

Ducks win 5-0 over the Bastard-Huskies, as Oregon's Seth Mattox just mows through Washington so easily in the ninth... Grayson Grinsell has been MONEY for the Ducks...

5-0 Ducks after eight innings, Cole Stokes puts Washington down, and makes it look routine.

5-0 Ducks after seven innings, as Grayson Grinsell is up to 121 pitches...and he still slaps the Huskies with a wet newspaper! Jeffrey Heard subs in at right field, and justifies the move with a home run over the right field fence to add to the lead!

4-0 Ducks after six innings, as Grinsell has been SO GOOD. He has 101 pitches...he has gone further before, but do you risk his arm versus a reliever not doing as well? Four runs is not enough with these BASTARDS we are playing...

4-0 Ducks after five innings, as the pitchers have been superb. With a lead--it is crucial that Grayson Grinsell keep the Huskies howling...and he has.

4-0 Ducks after four innings. I got to hand it to the Husky pitcher, as he is mentally strong and pulled himself together together. Meanwhile, Oregon’s Grayson Grinnell, has been wonderful, as he got out of a bases-loaded jam and left Washington with nothing! (I enjoy this WAY too much)

4-0 Ducks after three innings, as Grinsell’s change up pitch is driving Huskies nuts.

4-0 Ducks after two innings. Grinsell put the Bastards down 1-2-3.

4-0 Ducks after one inning! The Bastard-Huskies have a great pitcher, Max Banks, who was 8-0 in his B1G game starts thus far. Oregon counters with Grayson Grinsell who has shown his usual tough fastball, a slider that appears as a fastball and shifts lower, and then a nasty curve that drops. He blanks the Huskies as we would want... Can you say MELTDOWN? The Washington pitcher may have had a 2.97 ERA in BiG play, but he had not faced the Oregon offense, nor the PK Park crowd. He walks Mason Neville, while right-fielder Parker Stinson sacrifice-bunts to move Neville to second base. Jacob Walsh then drives a grounder just past the second baseman on the right side, and scores Neville from second as the throw from right field is late! Drew Smith gets plinked, and then Anson Aroz zings a hit right over second base to score Walsh from second base! Maddox Molony walks to load the bases, and Burke-Lee Mabeus walks to score another! With Ducks-on-the-Pond, (Bases Loaded) we see Carter Garate get plinked AGAIN by the Husky pitcher to complete his meltdown to our glee!

Devin Bell originally came from La Grande High School, and went to Western Oregon University, and pitched this year a low 2.39 ERA for the Wolves, and he did it pitching a boatload of 75 innings. He will be here in Eugene next year with one year left. Oregon has done well with most players who have shown excellence at a lower level college and moved up.

Well deserved!

I LOVE the 16 team format, so that nobody can claim that a team who was legit at the end of the season is left out. But I HATE the season-ending conference "Play-in" games. That is why we have a regular season, and as Oregon fans know...it is hard to beat a great team twice. At what point are we going to stop the nonsense for every last dollar? Softball had an incredible season tainted....because they got over the hump and won the conference championship with a full effort. But could not keep the intensity for the silly conference tournament. In Baseball? I would feel the same way if Iowa won the regular season championship and Oregon won the tournament. The champ should be Iowa in that case, as 27 games should not be negated by a couple of games in a tournament. Calm down Charles...