Charles Fischer

A pretty big development that will impact Oregon later... Venu Sports announced as brand for ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery joint sports streaming service SPORTS.YAHOO.COM The joint sports streaming service combining ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery programming will be called Venu Sports.

Neville, Gordon lead Oregon to series-opening win over WSU EUGENE, Ore. — Mason Neville homered in both the first and second innings to give No. 20 Oregon an early lead and RJ Gordon did not let Washington State back in the game in the Ducks’ 9-2 Pac-12 Conference win on Thursday night at PK Park. Neville reached base four times going 2-for-3 with two home runs and a career-high five RBI while walking twice and scoring three runs. Gordon (7-4) gave Oregon a strong start holding the Cougars (21-30, 9-19 Pac-12) to two runs on five hits in 6.0 innings of work with six strikeouts. With the win, Oregon (35-16, 17-11 Pac-12) locked up at least a top-four seed in next week’s Pac-12 Tournament. The Ducks can still finish as high as second in the standings. How It Happened: Neville gave the Ducks an early lead lining his 13th home run of the season over the right-field wall in the bottom of the first, a two-run shot after leadoff batter Drew Smith reached on a hit-by-pitch. WSU got one back in the top of the second on a ground ball that Carter Garate dove for and deflected past shortstop Maddox Molony who was in position to make the play. Oregon came right back with a three-run inning in the second, thanks to Neville. After Bryce Boettcher and Smith reached on walks, Neville laced a two-out, three-run home run over the center-field wall for a 5-1 lead. The Ducks made it 6-1 in the third. Jeffery Heard reached on a hit-by-pitch, moved to third on a Molony single through the right side and then scored on a wild pitch. After the Cougars scored a run on a solo homer in the top of the sixth, Oregon added three runs in its half of the inning. Chase Meggers reached on an infield hit before Smith and Neville loaded the bases for Jacob Walsh with back-to-back walks. Walsh responded with a bases-clearing double to center field to put Oregon up by seven. Box Score Notes: Neville’s home runs were his 13th and 14th of the season, moving him into a tie for sixth on Oregon’s single-season home run list … The two-home run game was Neville’s second in the last nine games and he now has six home runs in those nine games … Walsh’s three-run double gave him 128 for his career, tying him with Mitchell Tolman (2013-15) for fourth all-time at Oregon … Gordon’s quality start was his fifth of the season … Gordon picked up his 14th career win. On Deck: The Ducks and Cougars play game two of the series on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On overall performance... “I thought they played a complete game. Got a good start from RJ Gordon, got some really clutch swings from Mason Neville. Some good at bats lead to Mason having the traffic on the bases to where those home runs counted for more than one run. Then late in the ballgame to have Jacob Walsh extend the lead with that single, the guy had to go for it. You can’t fault their player. The guy made a great effort on the play, and it got away from him. Didn’t make that play and we were able to get three on that big swing from Jacob.” On Mason Neville’s game... “Mason was a top-50 player out of high school, and we fell short in the recruiting battle and that was really disappointing to me. You don’t want to fall short in a recruiting battle, especially when you think you’re the best program to have a young guy like himself come and join. At the time he disagreed, and then he joined us afterwards. I wish my staff and I had another year of development with him. We would have loved to have been a part of that first year out of high school. I think now that we’re getting late in the year, you see how talented he is and the development and the growth that he’s had over the course of the year.” On RJ Gordon’s pitching... “His velocity was back up, it was great to see. I think it wasn’t a season best velocity, but it was up there with the best velo that he’s had all year. That just tells you how strong the kid is. One day short on rest isn’t a big deal for these guys. In the big leagues, those guys are going four days rest and every fifth day they’re getting rolled out there. The college slate is a little bit easier on the arm than it would be in pro ball. He is just a strong kid and he’s worked his tail off to get to a point where he is resilient. Him having the philosophy that he’s had now in some time on one shorter day is a testament to how strong he is and Darrell Hunter’s work in the weight room.” On carrying momentum into Pac-12 tournament... “The complete games will result in the work they’re putting in between games and before games. The practice time leads to what you see in the completeness of the games, so just to continue to do our work the right way.” RJ Gordon Arm strength at the end of the season… “Feels good. Throwing hard and getting my recovery in. I’m doing everything I need to be doing and now it’s just about putting it all together on the field.” How the feeling was on the mound… “It was good. My sole plan today was just to throw hard, to be honest. I did that, it worked out and I don’t have any creeping feelings that I need to get over.” Emotions for the last time potentially on the mound at PK Park… “I haven’t even thought about that yet, to be honest. It’s kind of crazy. Hopefully, it’s not the last time. Hopefully, we find a way to play here again whether its in the Regional or Super Regional. If it was my last time, I am happy I went out there and did what I wanted to. It’s been a hell of a four years so I wouldn’t take anything back.” Mason Neville Biggest developments this year… “I feel like with (Coach Jack) Marder I’ve worked a lot on my swing. He works really hard and I work just as hard I think. We have had little things that we have worked on. Some have worked and some haven’t, but I feel like the biggest thing for me has been the mental side of things. Being able to go out there and flush away striking out or failures and just continue to get better. I feel like the mental side has been very important.” Feelings at the plate… “I feel like we are facing good pitchers still. I just feel like my approach and confidence that I am working on in the cages and at practice is paying off, yet there’s still room for improvement.“

After six innings, the good guys lead 9-2!

Mason Neville is hot, hot HOT! A three-run homer as well!

Oregon could finish anywhere from second to fifth in the conference. To assure an NCAA tournament appearance...we NEED to win this series! After two innings, Ducks lead 5-1...good start! Mason Neville blasted this two-run homer...watch the sweet swing.

Completely agree. Once he got his confidence about halfway through the season of, "oh...I can kill-it at this level,"...he has been unstoppable. The deep threat of Stewart is going to open the drag routes for him and Ferguson wonderfully.

Sorry, but making fun of the Beaver Bastards is now Blood-Sport for some of us. It's so much fun to give Beavis a kick...

I don't understand it; USC fans are usually so well grounded and reasonable...

Perhaps that is total yards of defense, but the most important stat is scoring. Oregon was in the Top-10 (9th) with only giving up 16.5 points per game. Incredible, and if we could duplicate or improve upon this with our schedule--I would be delighted.

One of my favorite memories of Chip and Barner was during halftime of a bowl game with Holly Rowe of ESPN...

Sometimes players who complain are "Prima-Donnas" who did not get their way. I cannot confirm that in this instance, but the accusations of favoritism based on race....are hard to believe. Favoritism based on behavior? Sure, and that is the prerogative of the coach.

And we play in a "White-Out" in 2025... I'd like to get a FishDuck group to go!

Another team that I look forward to seeing in my rear-view mirror....

I agree with Coach Waz in saying that most of us felt that USC and Arizona State would get into the tournament last year--but got left out. If Oregon loses this series to the Cougars, they will have the same risk, IMHO. Most pundits say that Arizona, the Beavers and Oregon will be the only Pac-12 participants in the NCAA tournament, but we gotta do our part this weekend. Arizona hosts Oregon State this weekend, so we cannot overcome both teams for first place. We have a shot at second, but most important--we need to hold onto third by winning this series. Go Ducks! The balance of the conference was amazing this year; everybody could beat everybody on a given day. We beat Arizona in our series, but lost to OSU and the one that hurt was to Stanford. One of the two games lost to the Cardinal was by ONE run... Series starts THURSDAY instead of Friday, so that teams have more time to travel to next week's Pac-12 Tournament.

HDuck...that was a fantastic article to post, thank you. EVERYONE...do help out posting articles like these to help the community that serves you. Oram is usually such an OSU tool, and Oregon hater, that this honest article above is stunning to me. The quote from HDuck from the article is what I was thinking...as having Beaver games on the CW allows Beaver fans around the country watch...but who else will? "The Pac-12 will be going head-to-head with games on CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, the Big Ten Network and SEC Network. Even with traditionally strong viewership, what the Beavers do on The CW won’t resonate on your average Saturday." "Being on national television sounds like a triumph after all those travails. But being available is no longer enough. Rather than national exposure, Oregon State football games will more likely be hidden in plain sight." "The viewership out of market, playing a largely Mountain West schedule, will be abysmal." "What will happen when Oregon State does a terrible rating in every game on The CW but scores a decent rating in its one game on Fox, against Oregon? What will that say about where the value is?"

This is how you become elite, and have a shot at a 'Natty!

Who wants it?

You make a good point Darren, in that in the end....it was really UCLA that was the tipping point that destroyed the conference. USC was headed out no matter what, but if UCLA stayed and we got 40 million? The conference would still be intact. But the Ducks would be making half of what they will make in the future at our new conference, and Oregon's exposure is probably tripled in the B1G. So in the end...

There are other articles out there, but Canzano provided below the home schedule... (And they should NOT call it the Pac-12) Oregon State Home Games • 8/31 - Idaho State - 3:30 p.m. PT on The CW • 9/14 - Oregon – Time TBD on FOX or FS1 • 9/21 - Purdue - 5:30 p.m. PT on The CW • 10/5 - Colorado State - 3:30 p.m. PT on The CW • 10/19 - UNLV - 12:30 p.m. PT or 7:00 p.m. PT on The CW * • 11/9 - San Jose State - 12:30 p.m. PT or 7:30 p.m. PT on The CW * • 11/23 - Washington State - 3:30 p.m. PT on The CW Bolded above are league games... I expect the deal to fall in the range of $5 million to $9 million per school.

Do read the top post again as I added more thoughts about Duckster's passing...

I will admit that...I do have to let this go. It is just that I grew up in Corvallis, and truly cheered for both teams through my adult life. I've actually had OSU season tickets along with Oregon back in the 90s...and I was there when both Oregon and Oregon State were equally bad in the 1970s. What happened after that was innovation by Oregon and incompetency by Oregon State. It's OK to admit that and move on, but to make us all pay for your mistakes? Whew! The Oregon Athletic Department and I have something in common; between my divorce and the Ducks moving to the B1G--we are both paying a big exit fee, but it leads to a better life. I gotta view it that way.

Why would either party publicize this? The pressure on the player to perform will be enormous, the team will be required to show results for such money....when you consider all the elements--it's all downside. Oh well, UW will know how to take care of the problem.

Canzano continues to play both sides, and Beaver fans eat it up as they are given comfort by John Canzano for their indignation and claims. From Parts of His Article Today.... For years the rival schools were governed by the same board of trustees. In 2011, Senate Bill 242 was passed by a 29-1 vote. It decentralized the state’s higher education system. Each public school in Oregon got its own board vs. a single board that oversaw all the state-funded schools. Legislators believed that doing so would help the larger public universities save time and money. Nobody thought the move would open the door for Oregon’s trustees to vote on a matter (i.e. leaving for the Big Ten) that would harm OSU in such a consequential way. “The discussion didn’t include athletics,” one lawmaker who worked on that bill told me. ---------------------------------------------- Officials at OSU and Oregon tell me they’d like to continue to play the rivalry series. The Ducks bought their way out of two games and traded a game (See: Hawaii, Texas Tech, Boise State) to make that happen in the next two seasons. It makes sense for both schools to keep playing the Civil War. Oregon avoids having to get on a plane next season for a non-conference road game. The Ducks get to host the game in 2025, avoiding having to travel by plane for a non-conference game. Meanwhile, OSU gets a premium home game for the season-ticket package every other season. ------------------------------------------- I found it interesting that the Oregon Legislature appropriated an extra $10 million to OSU at the very end of the last legislative session in March. The funds are earmarked for “athletic scholarships” and this was the first time the state did such a thing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remember how Canzano asked the new UO President in his recent interview..."how are you going to help Oregon State?" You have to give Oregon State credit...they have turned their Athletic Department incompetency into a massive scam, while weak Oregon administrators are made to feel sorry and give concessions to the Pig-2. It is a shame the Pig-2 could not be as skilled at building their brand and audience, as they are at scamming fellow universities and acting as a victim.