Charles Fischer

(From UO Press Release, and Duck-Buddies...I am excited about this hire!) EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon head baseball coach Mark Wasikowski announced Wednesday the addition of former Major League player Blake Hawksworth as Oregon’s new pitching coach. Hawksworth comes to Oregon after spending the last 20-plus years playing and working in a variety of roles in both professional and college baseball. A former big leaguer, Major League Baseball agent and collegiate pitching coach who helped lead his team to the College World Series, Hawksworth joins Wasikowski’s staff after stints at Cal State Fullerton, Grand Canyon and UC Irvine. “Blake is the total package in terms of what we were looking for in a pitching coach,” Wasikowski said. “He has Northwest roots which will be a huge advantage in recruiting with the connections he has established. His professional baseball experience, playing in the majors for both the Dodgers and Cardinals, will be invaluable for our program, as will his track record as a collegiate pitching coach who helped lead his team to the College World Series." "His approach in player development leans heavily on technology and modern pitching training methods.” “His experience off the field is equally as impressive,” Wasikowski added. “His knowledge as an agent in the Scott Boras agency will benefit our players immensely.” After spending 10 years playing professional baseball and later working as an agent in the Boras Corporation, where he actively recruited top MLB and amateur prospects and signed the first overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, Hawksworth landed his first collegiate job as the pitching coach at Cal State Fullerton in 2017 and immediately helped lead the Titans to the College World Series. The Titans’ pitching staff posted a 3.64 team ERA that ranked 29th in the nation and was noted for its control, ranking among the nation’s best in strikeout-to-walk ratio (17th, 2.94), WHIP (19th, 1.25) and walks per nine innings (6th, 2.55). Cal State Fullerton finished 39-24, a record that included regional and super regionals wins and a trip to Omaha. Hawksworth also spent a year as the pitching coach at Grand Canyon during the 2020 season. In 18 games, Hawksworth oversaw a pitching staff that posted a 3.44 ERA, the best by a Lopes team since 1982 (3.07). GCU ranked 22nd nationally with a 2.91 strikeout-to-walk ratio, led by Pierson Ohl’s No. 3 mark nationally of 0.32. As a right-handed pitcher, Hawksworth was drafted in the 28th round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent his first seven professional seasons rising through the organization as a minor leaguer, earning the billing as the organization’s No. 1 prospect in 2004. In his eighth season in the organization, Hawksworth made his big-league debut on June 6, 2009. He made 30 appearances spanning 40 innings during his rookie season, going 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA. He made a one-inning relief appearances in the 2009 NLDS. Hawksworth spent the 2010 season with the Cardinals going 4-8 with a 4.98 ERA over 40 games and 90.1 innings. After an offseason trade following the 2010 season, Hawksworth spent his final pro season as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made a career-high 29 appearances including 12 starts, posting a 2-5 record with a 4.08 ERA. After dealing with injuries, Hawksworth officially retired from baseball in 2014. In between his draft selection in 2001 and pro debut in 2002, Hawksworth played one season at Bellevue (Wash.) Community College as a draft-and follow selection. He left no doubt to his professional abilities by going 8-0 with a 0.18 ERA while earning recognition as both the Bellevue College Most Valuable Player and the NWAAC’s Most Valuable Player. A native of Vancouver, B.C., Hawksworth attended Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Wash. He and his wife Amie have a daughter, Madison, and two sons, Jaxon and Luke.

(From UO Athletic Dept.) The Oregon football coaching staff will host its annual “Saturday Night Live” camp for youth football players on Saturday, July 29, inside Autzen Stadium. The camp will begin at approximately 6:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Parking will be available in the East Lot next to Autzen Stadium, and fans can begin entering the stadium through the South Gate beginning at 5:30 p.m. Concession stands will not be open, but fans are welcome to bring in outside food and drink. The list of recruits for 2024, 2025 and 2026 coming to the event is huge!

You don’t see them until something negative happens. I forgot about that phenomenon, and then sure enough today some names surfaced that I have not seen in quite some time. I look it up, and sure enough this one particular member hasn’t even been in the forum for over four months, and the last time he was, it was complaining about missing on a recruit. Before that it was about play-calling, and before that it was about losing one of the last two games of the season. We have a batch of people like that, that just show up to complain, what we used to call “Negative-Nellies.” People are funny…

The PAC 12 will have five teams ranked in the top 25 at the beginning of the football season. And we will have five ranked after the conclusion of the season. What happened today does not change that. Even after USC leaves, I am quite confident the coach Dillingham will have his team in the top 25 very soon, and we will again have five ranked teams because we have five great coaches. The PAC 12 will still be the second strongest football league at the end of this season regardless of what happens with the lowly Buffs. That is a lot to build upon…facts, not panicked feelings.

Banned another! One ACC member and one Big-12 member could not restrain themselves from trying to tweak me/us, and thus are removed. We no longer have to read their crap! It is too bad, as we have had great inter-conference discussions with them before, but they cannot help but enjoy our current misery a bit too much.

Well....if we go to an eight game conference schedule...I know an easy P5 team to schedule for non-conference! (Maybe more)

This repair could take a while...like days.

Trying to keep my sense of humor...

Perhaps Oregon should look out for....only Oregon? How about a bidding war between the Big-12 and B1G for Oregon? Neither conference can afford to miss the opportunity, since Oregon is the No. 7 brand globally, and doesn't come available very often! Use the Big-12 as leverage for the B1G? But I would love to keep the Pac-12 alive...

Believe me...for what I pay the hosting service--it really torques me off. So trust me--I AM WORKING ON IT. Our site volume was up yesterday, but not this much--it is maddening beyond my patience. Anything else today?

I did not post a summary because, as you can see....nothing new but a ton of "blah-blah." We are not supposed to be reprinting them here, as that is a copyright violation that could get me in trouble. With the hassles people are giving me right now?

Do a search...or check another thread here....

So many think that their opinion is so exalted...I wouldn't ban them? Wrong, as I banned another this morning. Take a clue folks, I do not like excessive negative delivered tons of times. Want to complain? Do it once, and then take it somewhere else. We are not your therapists couch here...

What a bunch of nonsense. Losing Colorado and Arizona would not be the end of the conference, as SMU is better at football than Colorado, and SDST is better at football AND basketball than Arizona.

Oh, the agendas that our visitors from other conferences have....

You are making assumptions without knowing any of the background information. How do we know whether or not the media deal fell apart in the last few days? What if the league was not working with Oregon on key points, or could not follow through with what was agreed upon? What if GK lied to Oregon? Regardless...we will go on here...

Amen to our Pac-12 Brothers...

I don't like the sound of this... Report: Oregon to hold Thursday meeting amid reports of Colorado leaving Pac-12 WWW.ON3.COM .

As written a hundred times here....most would prefer to stay in the Pac-12, but are resigned to how the move may happen sooner or later. If it happens--we will embrace the good elements of it, and cheer for Oregon through it all. Need a 101st?

I hate this, but have to post it. It is "suggestions" and "ifs," and again--let's see the new Pac-12 Media contract first! Oregon to the Big-12 is a step down, in my opinion, and the Pac-12 has more preseason ranked top 25 teams than the B1G. Which conference is tougher? How Colorado, Big 12 aggression could force Tony Petitti's hand with B1G expansion - On3 WWW.ON3.COM Roughly a half hour before word leaked Wednesday of Colorado ramping up discussions for a return to the Big 12, Tony Petitti settled in for his final interview of the day.

...and you will be banned immediately. I just caught an offending post that was up only three minutes, and our moderators have a fast-finger to hide your post. This applies to EVERYONE. Big-12 fans, ACC fans, B1G fans and Oregon fans....anything posted here that tweaks or needles the members of our GREEN REFUGE will get...

You know....I could trade Colorado and Arizona for SMU and SDST in a heartbeat. SMU>Colorado in football. SDST>Arizona in Basketball.