Charles Fischer

Those darn pesky former Pac-12 schools are beginning to torque-off the B1G stalwarts... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Ten Champs! Ducks, Romero Run Away With Conference Title HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. - Trailing by three strokes entering the final round, the Oregon women's golf team put together a dominant performance on Sunday to run away with the 2025 Big Ten Championship at Bulle Rock Golf Course. The No. 5 Ducks fired a stellar 12-under 276 to win the team title by a whopping 14 strokes, matching the tournament 54-hole scoring record in the process with a 12-under 852 for the weekend. Sophomore Kiara Romero gave Oregon a championship sweep by claiming the individual conference title at 7-under par, winning by three strokes after a 4-under 68 in the final round. Oregon won the Big Ten title in its first year in the league while claiming the second conference championship in program history, joining the 2021-22 team that won the Pac-12 Championship. It is the second tournament win of the season for the Ducks and ninth under head coach Derek Radley. It is also the fifth Big Ten title for Oregon Athletics in its first year in the conference, joining women's cross country, football and both men's and women's indoor track and field. "Just really proud of the way our ladies performed this week," Radley told Big Ten Network after the round. "I was really proud of us because the wind switched today; it was out of the south for rounds one and two and we came in with a strict game plan today and really stuck to it. When those putts start falling, I just stay out of the way and keep cheering. I couldn't be more proud of this group." Romero becomes the third Duck to win an individual conference title, joining Hsin-Yu Lu (2022) and Caroline Inglis (2015). She earned her first individual tournament win of the season and third of her career, moving into a tie for second all-time at Oregon. "I think we all inspire each other and look up to each other a lot," Romero said while with her teammates at the trophy presentation. "It feels good to finally get this dub for all of us." With the conference title, the Ducks earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Regional round and will find out where they will be heading on Wednesday during the NCAA selection show. How it Happened: Oregon started the day three strokes back of No. 24 Michigan State, which fired a 7-under 281 on Saturday to surge into the lead. The Ducks didn't take long to erase that deficit, as their four counting scorers combined to shoot 3-under par on the front nine compared to a 4-over par showing for the Spartans. The Ducks were even better on the back nine to run away with the title, combining for 11 birdies against just one double bogey from the four counting scores. Oregon's 12-under 852 ties the 2016 Ohio State and Northwestern teams for the lowest 54-hole team total in Big Ten Championship history. The majority of the attention on Sunday was on Romero as she captured the individual title, but it was freshman Tong An who provided the low score of the day for the Ducks. An made six birdies en route to a bogey-free 6-under 66, her lowest round as a Duck and the lowest individual round of the weekend. An was 3 under through 15 holes before rattling off three straight birdies to end the day, finishing in a tie for fifth overall. "Just an unbelievable day from AT," Radley said. "For a true freshman to come out and play like that in the final round with a championship on the line is truly amazing. I'm so proud of her and was so impressed with her poise and composure out there today." Romero was nearly flawless on her way to the individual Big Ten title, making five birdies and just one bogey on her way to a 4-under 68. She was 1-under par at the turn to take a one-stroke lead after entering the final round in a three-way tie atop the leaderboard, and she began to separate with a birdie at the par-3 12th. Back-to-back birdies on No. 15 and No. 16 put Romero firmly in control of the individual race, and she finished with a pair of pars to officially secure both the team and individual championships. "To be honest, I didn't look at the leaderboard this whole week so I had no clue," Romero said. "I kind of had an idea that I'd be somewhere around the top and when I made those back-to-back birdies I was feeling pretty confident going down to these last few holes." Freshman Suvichaya Vinijchaitham also put together her best round of the weekend, making four birdies and just one bogey for a 3-under 69. She was even at the turn before shooting 3 under on the back nine, including three birdies in five holes between No. 11 and No. 15. She gave the Ducks three players in the top 10, finishing in ninth overall at 1 under. Sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang, who was the 18-hole leader at 3 under, rounded out Oregon's counting scores in the final round with a 1-over 73. Outside of a double bogey at No. 13, Huang was 1 under across the rest of her 17 holes, and she tied for 19th overall to give Oregon four Ducks in the individual top 20. Ducks on the Leaderboard: 1. #5 Oregon — 286-290-276 — 852 (-12) 1. Kiara Romero — 71-70-68 — 209 (-7) T5. Tong An — 74-74-66 — 214 (-2) 9. Suvichaya Vinijchaitham — 75-71-69 — 215 (-1) T19. Ting-Hsuan Huang — 69-77-73 — 219 (+3) T46. Darae Chung — 72-75-78 — 225 (+9) What it Means: Oregon has looked like a national championship contender all season long, and the Ducks only confirmed that this weekend by capturing the conference title in their first year in the Big Ten. UO won the conference championship with a lineup of all underclassmen, and even did so without one of its top players as sophomore Karen Tsuru was forced to sit out of the tournament with a back injury. The Ducks are a virtual lock to be a No. 1 seed in a NCAA Regional, needing to finish in the top five there to reach the NCAA Championships. After reaching the national semifinals at the NCAA Championships a year ago, Oregon appears poised to be a force to be reckoned with once again this spring. Notable: Oregon's 12-under 276 in the final round is tied for the fourth-lowest team round vs. par in program history and is tied for the fifth-lowest overall team score ... UO's 12-under 852 for the tournament is the program's second-lowest ever at a conference championship, behind only an 848 at last year's Pac-12 Championship ... Oregon led the field in total birdies (51) and par-5 scoring (-11), and Romero led all players with 14 total birdies. Up Next: The 2025 NCAA Women's Golf Selection Show is scheduled for Wednesday (April 23) at 10 a.m. PT and will be broadcast on Golf Channel. The NCAA Regional round is scheduled for May 5-7 at six different sites with 12 teams at each site. Oregon will make its 17th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance after earning the Big Ten's automatic bid.

6-4 Ducks after five innings, as Reitz put the Bruins down 1-2-3, and Oregon had two on base (walks) with no outs...and did nothing with it. Damn.

6-4 Ducks after four innings. Whew! While UCLA got hits off Reitz, our beloved Maddox Molony made two errors that allowed the Bruins to get on base and score a bunch...along with a dinger against us. But then Oregon got going with an Anson Aroz homer, followed by the three-run blast by Mason Neville that set the UO record for most HRs in a season. He is also the current homer-leader in the season to date... Watch the top of the metal roof where his blast landed...

2-1 Ducks after three innings. Got two walks, but did nothing with them...

2-0 Ducks after two innings, as Oregon's starting pitcher, Jason Reitz, is also hitting great control on his breaking-drop ball. UCLA is showing weakness at pitching to start as Oregon got some hits and moved base runners along with a two sacrifices to score runs!

0-0 after one inning, as Oregon's 6'11" monster pitcher, Jason Reitz, has the fast-ball and the changeup working well early against UCLA.

Jon...your tongue-in-cheek imitation of Coach Lanning is pretty good! Our young HC really has learned "Coachspeak" pretty well, and that is why I skip most of the press conferences and reports. A ton of "blah-blah" over the years!

14-4 UCLA is the final with a run-rule in the eighth. Bottom line is that none of our relief pitchers could do a lick...and we went through a ton of them. Yeah, I need more Beer...

8-4 Bruins after seven innings. Oregon's Santiago Garcia only knows how to throw fast-balls, and UCLA hit them out of the park. Jacob Walsh added a homer for the Ducks, but....

4-3 Bruins after six innings. Oregon's Will Sanford missed an easy throw to first base off a bunt, and UCLA scored as a result. The Duck pitcher has the talent, but is learning the mental toughness needed, and two straight bunts by the Bruins were meant to test the Duck pitcher. Whew!

3-3 after five innings, as Oregon's Colin Clarke continued to get beat up, and finished the inning with Bruin runners on 1st and 3rd, but he got through the inning without another run. He has plinked three batters in five innings, and now it looks like another Duck pitcher who has work off the "Yips," Will Sanford, is coming out for the sixth. This can be great, or a nightmare....what entertainment! And Jacob Walsh tied it up...

3-2 UCLA after four innings, as Oregon's Collin Clarke is coming apart. His first two batters got hits, he plinked the next batter to load the bases with no outs, gives up another hit to score one Bruin run, and let another score on a wild pitch. I am ready to pull him as the Ducks are still in the game, but I see he has come out to pitch in the fifth inning.

Gentlemen: I am locking the thread, as we had two very prominent OBD members who posted every day--get into a big dispute a year ago on this topic. It set the stage for more discord on this topic later, and now both OBD members are gone--and it is all due to disagreement on Coach Sanders. I don't like where this thread is headed, and we've lost enough good people to this topic.

2-1 Ducks after three innings, as we left two stranded on base!

2-1 Ducks after two innings. Both pitchers have settled down, and dispatched their side easily in this inning. Nice snag by Carter Garate at the hot corner as a UCLA line-drive did not get past his diving catch at third base.

2-1 Ducks after one inning. Yep, you saw that right, the score for nine innings yesterday is matched in the first inning today. Both starting pitchers have similar ERAs, but it comes down to the particular day. Collin Clarke had a pitch hang over the plate, and it became a dinger for UCLA. Meanwhile Mason Neville had a full count on him, and blew one out of PK Park as well. In the pre-game interview with Waz...Coach acknowledged that we are a HR hitting team, thus look for the right fast-ball to feast on. Thus, he felt that if Oregon batters were patient, that a changeup pitch from Bruin pitchers will come their way as, "a fat, slow pitch" to blast, and that is what Neville got. He also tied the season record for HRs with Walsh with a third of the season left! It was cool to see Drew Smith take a full-count walk, then steal second base, and have Anson Aroz hit him in for the second run. A busy first inning!

Sorry...I don't get it.

I am hoping that the Ducks elevate their level of play unlike any time in the season thus far, as for the first time they are the underdogs. So far...that was true with Grayson Grinsell, and let's hope it continues with our next two starting pitchers.

Either this replay was not available before, or I missed it, but it should be noted. Drew Smith leaped above the wall to prevent a game-tying home run...and it is quite an effort!

Grinsell Dominant in Ducks Win Over UCLA EUGENE, Ore. — Grayson Grinsell picked a nice time to put together his best career outing. The Ducks’ ace tossed a complete-game two-hitter to lead No. 16 Oregon to a 2-1 Big Ten Conference win over No. 10 UCLA at PK Park on Friday night in game one of the series in front of 3,524 fans. Grinsell’s complete game was the first of his career, besting his previous career high of 7.0 innings pitched. His first seven-inning outing came in a regional tournament win at UC Santa Barbara last season where he held the No. 18 Gauchos scoreless on just three hits. His second came earlier this season in Oregon’s 7-0 win at Ohio State where he gave up just three hits. Grinsell moved to 6-1 on the season and dropped his ERA to 3.02, while striking out seven and walking just one. He remained undefeated (5-0) in Big Ten games with a stellar 1.84 ERA. How It Happened: Oregon (26-10, 13-6 Big Ten) took the lead with a run in the bottom of the third. Ryan Cooney led off the inning with a single, stole second and then scored on a two-out Dominic Hellman single. Hellman made it a two-run game in the sixth when he led off the inning with a solo home run, his 10th of the season. UCLA (28-9, 12-4) threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Shortstop Roch Cholowsky led off the frame with a solo home run and then, with two outs, right fielder Drew Smith robbed the Bruins of a tying home run when he reached above the wall and caught the ball for the final out. The defensive gem was the second of the game by Smith. In the third inning, he turned what could have been a first and third with one out situation into a runner on third with two outs when he threw behind Cashel Dugger for an out when he made a wide turn at first on the Bruins only other hit of the game. Box Score Notes: The announced attendance (3,524) was the 26th largest crown in PK Park history with three of the last four home crowds all ranking in the top 26 … Grinsell’s seven Ks moved his career total to 229, allowing him to pass Tommy Thorpe (2012-14) for fourth all-time at Oregon … Hellman went 2-for-4 with two RBI, giving him 12 multiple-hit games this season and 17 in his career … He now has eight multiple-RBI games this year and 11 in his career … Smith went 2-for-3 giving him four multi-hit games this season and 37 in his career … Cooney reached twice (1-for-2, BB) and swiped a pair of bags, marking the first time he was had multiple stolen bases in a game in his career. On Deck: The teams meet again on Saturday with a 2:05 p.m. first pitch (B1G+). Grayson Grinsell Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On Grayson Grinsell’s performance… “You’re only as good as your starting pitcher, and Grayson was really good today. The last outing, it seems like a month ago, was Ian Umlandt, who was fantastic. Two great games in the last two days. One was a nine-inning one where Grayson was in command. The defense was really good, and I thought Anson Aroz was fantastic out in left field today.” On Ryan Cooney’s performance… “He played tremendous defense. I think he was able to steal a couple of bases. They probably got the better of him in his last at-bat, but the ones before that, he set the table with a good base hit. They pitched out on him three different times before he stole, and he was able to read the pitch out and not get picked off or back-picked on the pitch out. He was able to steal even when they countered with their best plays to try to keep him from stealing. Cooney’s just a very good baseball player and a solid team leader. I can’t say enough good things about Ryan. He’s playing to date, although we might have a guy leading with home runs in the country, Ryan could make an argument for being the MVP of the club right now; he’s played that well.” On Dominic Hellman’s performance… “He’s just a different kind of hitter than some of the other guys. Some of the other guys have bigger swings, but when you face really high-quality pitching, a lot of the time the chart just turns into a base hit, and someone who’s got a line drive type of a swing instead of maybe the bigger swing. Dom ran into a ball today, which was great for a bigger swing. But, he was also really short to a ball, and he got one for his first RBI of the day, on a two-RBI day.” Grayson Grinsell On what this performance meant... “It means everything, you know. I mean, as a starting pitcher, it’s what you want. You want to go out there and throw all nine, that’s what you try to do every time, and today was my lucky day. “ On first game against a top 10 team since Stanford in 2023... “Yeah, obviously (Jace) Stoffal and (Logan) Mercado going back-to-back complete games, that series was fun to watch. But it’s fun to play against top 10 ranked teams, you know. We’re right there with them, we can compete with anyone in the country. It doesn’t matter, we’re going to play against the game and not try to play the opponent. But yeah, it was a lot of fun.” Drew Smith Dominic Hellman On driving in both Oregon runs... “It was cool. It was a fun, competitive Friday night game. We all know that in the world of college baseball, Friday night is going to be the toughest matchup in the whole series. It was nice to have the boys just come together in a way.” On hitting double-digit home runs... “It just means that I got a good support system behind me. Trusting in my work, sticking with my process, and the boys picking me up. I like to kind of give all my personal accolades to my team. Kind of shows how we all get after it during practice.” Drew Smith On momentum at the plate... “Yeah, I feel good. I feel like I’m seeing the ball pretty well, seeing it deep. Marder has a really good plan with us, pregame meetings and stuff like that. So, we have a good idea of what the guy throws, what he likes to do, so just kind of sticking to my approach and just execute.”

Ducks win 2-1 on the most heroic effort of Grayson Grinsell's career! On a day where the UCLA pitchers held Oregon to just two runs...Grinsell went all-nine innings, and even put the Bruin batters out 1-2-3 in the ninth! It is Oregon's first win this season over a ranked opponent, and it is just sweet.

2-1 Ducks after eight innings! Oregon's Grayson Grinsell has been tough on Bruin batters, as he now has 76 pitches, held UCLA to nothing in the eighth, and is out on the mound for the ninth. Can he complete the victory? Wowsa. What great drama!

2-1 Ducks after seven innings, as UCLA got a dinger at the bottom of the inning. Grayson Grinsell is back out there for the eighth inning, and has 76 pitches thus far, and has gone just over 100 pitches before...can he hold the Bruins off?

I can't say enough about the pitching of Grayson Grinsell, as Oregon could be down 5-2, 6-2, etc, but he has held UCLA to nothing, while the Ducks are barely scoring. If he stays locked in like this--he might be able to go eight innings?

2-0 Ducks after six innings, as we get a DOM-BOMB from Oregon's Dominic Hellman against the UCLA reliever. We have the PK Park fence, and then there is 20 yards, and then another fence that borders the parking lot. Hellman it over the parking lot fence! Whew!