Charles Fischer

D1Baseball Top 25: Texas A&M ascends to No. 1, four new teams enter • D1Baseball D1BASEBALL.COM Texas A&M takes over the No. 1 spot in the D1Baseball Top 25, and four new teams join the rankings after a tumultuous week. Oregon baseball continues to rise in major polls following 3-2 week 247SPORTS.COM Oregon baseball continues to rise in major polls following 3-2 week

There are a ton of Baseball polls, but the one I keep my eye on the most is D1 Baseball, and they have moved Oregon to No. 16 in the nation. It is vital that Oregon remains in the top-16 in order to be able to host an NCAA Regional again. To host a Super-Regional, you have to be in the top-8, of which the Bastard Beavers are in line for at No. 5 in the nation again this week. Arizona has moved up to No. 21, thus only three Pac-12 teams in the top-25. What about other conferences? SEC: Eight teams in the top 25, including No. 1 thru No. 4 at the moment. ACC: Seven teams in the top 25! How about the B1G? How many from that esteemed league? Gonna be some opportunity to clean up in that league next year! (Remember this when you hear their blustering about their conference)

Remember the massive risk to taking a portal player? If the player did not work out--you were stuck with him, and burned a scholarship. Now the rules have changed, and they can leave immediately in the next portal opening period! Boy this could alter portal recruiting strategy... Coaches can take a flyer on a player with only the one-year scholarship at risk! A coach could burn through a TON of players this way to find the good ones sooner?

Something I forgot to mention is how the "elite" schools will lose TONS to the portal every year of players who do not see them moving up the depth chart, or have already been passed by underclassmen. As you know, Dan wants to continuously recruit the best he can at each position. When you have four-deep at every position, then whoever is not playing or does have low prospects of playing are leaving. Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia--all will have highly ranked HS players who leave because they got beat out by other highly ranked players. It does not bother me anymore, and it is the natural way. (The opposite of what is happening to the Pig-2 teams) And another area I did not point out is how Danno has had very few misses with the portal; their analysis has been superb. Evan Williams was truly a BIG-HIT for Oregon...

Amen.

The Athletic has created an article about the different strategies used by CFB teams in recruiting from the portal. They are... The Portal Enthusiasts The Desperate Portalers The Need-Based Portalers The Portal Denier The NIL Barons Here is when Oregon is mentioned... ---------------------------------------------------- The NIL Barons If these guys have offered, (the player you want) you’re out of luck. The programs that do the best job in portal recruiting aren’t always the ones operating with the most NIL money, and players don’t always pick the highest bidder. But those that spend the most tend to get who they want. “If you have good player relationships and if you have a collective that’s run really well,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said, “you then stand a chance in this portal world.” In December and January, the schools consistently battling and setting the market for elite transfers were Oregon, Texas, Ole Miss and Ohio State. ---------------------------------------------------- I will not explain all the strategies, because I think you can guess how they operate based upon the title of each. I believe the Ducks are mislabeled, because our numbers of recruiting the portal are not even in the top half of what other schools do. And we are told often by insiders that Oregon does not bid the highest on NIL, but sells the total package of what the Oregon experience can provide the player. I believe Oregon is a Need-Based strategist, that happens to have a good collective in Division Street backing it. The amount of portal transfers coming to Oregon will gradually decline as Dan's top-ten classes that are freshmen and sophomores mature as players, and within our systems. In fact I would bet that Danno wants to eventually be like Alabama and Georgia in taking only a few that fill immediate needs, or are exceptional offerings. This Was a Good Transfer...

Don...this is a great article that gets me pondering and asking even more questions. Good coaches who have a track record, (and thanks for the research into his time at St. Mary's and Gonzaga) do not get incompetent over-night, thus I cannot explain it. Yet the slide in five years is dramatic.

Ducks lose 4-2, and not great decisions batting today.

After eight innings, Ducks trail 4-2, let’s go!

After four innings, Oregon leads 2-1, as the Trojans got a HR. Giving up only one run in four innings is a great start for Kevin Seittrr.

After two innings...Oregon leads 2-0 on a bomb off the fists of Dominic Hellman on the foul pole...and a bases loaded walk.

I missed this, and it is HUGE! The Ducks moved into the Top-10 at No. 9 with only giving up 16.50 points per game? Whew! That was fast; Danno put us in the top ten in just his second year? Whew! Two elements need to be into account; first, we were gifted with an easy foe in the Fiesta Bowl. Had Oregon been in the Playoff--we would not have looked as good in the final stats. Second: it is one thing to do this when you are in the slogging-offense B1G, but to do that in the Pac-12? Remarkable. And we are nowhere NEAR where Danno will take us on defense....agree? NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com WWW.NCAA.COM Discover the current NCAA FBS Football leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

Damn Right!

Dilly is a good man...

Urban Meyer...if you are going to visit Oregon...shut your damn mouth!

Good for him!

Random, but interesting! Is that really Jedd Fisch, or did he just see what is left of the team?

With the way the Bastard Beavers keep winning...Oregon needs to keep winning to stay in close touch with them in the Pac-12 standings. Another conference win would also begin to put some space between the Ducks and other teams that are in the top half of the conference. C'mon Our Beloved Ducks, let's get it done! Put them OUT!

Gritty Effort Clinches Another Series Win EUGENE, Ore. — A similar formula provided a similar result for the second day in a row Saturday, as the No. 17 Oregon baseball team parlayed a solid start buoyed by strong defense and timely hitting for a 5-3 victory over USC before 2,494 fans at PK Park. The start of the game was delayed 90 minutes by rain, before UO starter Grayson Grinsell grinded through five innings. Ryan Featherston followed with three shutout innings helped by two slick double plays turned by Oregon’s infield, protecting a lead the Ducks took thanks to a four-run fourth inning that didn’t include a single extra-base hit. “With the weather conditions today, that was just a real challenge,” UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. “… I really respect our guys, being out there and fighting through that and coming out on top with the win. It was a very gutsy performance.” The Ducks improved to 25-9 overall and 10-4 in the Pac-12, a game behind first-place Oregon State pending the result of OSU’s game later Saturday. The victory for Oregon clinched the Ducks’ fifth straight series win to open conference play, two more than the program’s previous best to open a Pac-12 season. “There’s a lot of room to improve, a lot more we can do, but we’re still getting the job done,” freshman shortstop Maddox Molony said. “And that’s what’s fun about it, is that you’re getting the job done but you know, I can get better. It makes every day fun. It makes the game fun.” How It Happened: Grinsell had to warm up multiple times due to the pregame weather delay, then pitched around a four-pitch walk to open the game. Oregon’s infield defense had its first of several highlights in the second when, with runners at second and third and one out, a ball to third base caromed to Molony at short. The freshman was able to throw home, getting an out that saved a run. USC then loaded the bases, but Grinsell got out of the jam. “The game ball went to our infield coach, (Marcus) Hinkle,” Wasikowski said. “He’s really worked hard with this infield group this year, and it shows. We’re starting to get some real returns on the diamond, and that was probably the biggest reason we won the game.” The Ducks gave Grinsell a lead in the bottom of the second, when Jeffery Heard walked, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Anson Aroz. But USC took a 2-1 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly and a UO throwing error, then added on in the fourth with a solo homer. Grinsell then struck out the side in the fifth, however, ending his outing on a high note. “It was just a day to go out and compete and give everything I had,” Grinsell said. “Obviously we got the ‘W’ on the board. So that's all that matters.” But that time, his team had the lead. Heard walked again to open the fourth, and Aroz followed with a single. With one out, Chase Meggers came up and singled up the middle, drawing the Ducks within a run. Aroz took third on the play, and Meggers ended up at second after an error. He's OUT! Meggers drove in a run for the second game in a row, after his RBI groundout Friday encapsulated Oregon’s unselfish approach at the plate in the Ducks’ series-opening win. “We talk about plus-ABs, and just being positive in the box — whatever that looks like,” Meggers said. “We don’t need everybody to hit a home run. Just consecutive plus-ABs, good at-bats, show presence in the box. Doing that will lead to scoring runs. We’re a gritty group; we’re going to find ways to score runs.” Molony proved that again in Oregon’s very next at-bat, dropping down a bunt on a play designed to try and bring across both runners in scoring position. It was executed to perfection, and Oregon had a 4-3 lead after Meggers slid into home safely behind Aroz. “Our whole lineup knows that at the end of the day, we're all gonna be better off — we're all gonna play better — when we want the team to win,” Molony said. “And wanting the team to win doesn't mean you go up and try to hit a home run every time. You do what the situation needs.” After Molony took second on an error, Bryce Boettcher capped the four-run inning with an RBI single for a 5-3 lead. Grinsell wrapped up his outing in the fifth, then handed the ball to Featherston, who pitched a 1-2-3 sixth. In both the seventh and eighth innings, USC put two runners on with one out. And in both innings, the UO infield turned inning-ending double plays behind Featherston. Bradley Mullan pitched the ninth for the Ducks, and induced a grounder to first with the bases loaded and two out to finish off his fourth save of the year. On Deck: The Ducks and Trojans close out the series Sunday at noon.

The play of the year? Look how hard it is raining, and how it went off the third baseman's mitt and Maddox Molony scooped it and made the throw to prevent the run!

Good gosh, what a great bunt from the Springfield freshman!

This is what I'm talking about!