Charles Fischer

After seven innings, the score is tied, 3-3 due to wild pitch by Oregon reliever, Santiago Garcia.

3-2 Ducks after six innings. Once the Rutgers hard-throwing pitcher left, we got two runs in an inning off their reliever!

After five innings, it is 2-1 Rutgers, still. Gotta get our bats going!

Gotta love learning from our "Schedule Maven" in South Carolina!

2-1 Rutgers after three innings. Grinsell was getting hit, and the pitcher for the Scarlet Knights is throwing 95 mph in the rain. I thought this would be a fly-ball...

See the game summary at the bottom of the thread! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our Beloved Diamond-Ducks play at 3:00 PM PST on B1G+, against Rutgers, who at 9-12 doesn't sound impressive, but apparently they have some good pitchers in their bullpen. As you recall we lost a game to Grand Canyon last week, and Rutgers got beat three out of four games in their series with the 'Lopes. On Tuesday of this week, the Scarlett Knights came to Oregon early to play Beavis in Corvallis and lost 7-3. You might recall how Grayson Grinsell had a couple of tough days in the early part of the season, and his ERA was up to nearly 7, but since then has really improved and got his ERA down to 4.56 of which is in striking distance of his ERA last year of 4.08. We now know that the reason Ryan Featherston did so poorly in his first two outings of the season, is because he came back too soon from an injury over the holiday season. He wanted to play badly, and Coach Waz admitted his admiration for that, and wanted to give him a chance. But he got beat up, and we lost one game because of it. His ERA was something crazy, like 19.50 for a while, but with many hitless innings...he has brought it down to 10, and perhaps can bring it down to his average last year of 3.76 eventually. Featherston looks completely different now than the first couple of weekends. I am still amazed at how much Collin Clarke improved between last year, (ERA of 6.41) and this year. (2.08 ERA) There is even talk of him moving up to being a Friday night starter, but I don't know baseball enough to know how important that is, and how much psychological damage that might do to Grinsell? With all the pitchers we have...I forgot about Toby Twist. When recruited two years ago, he was the No. 1 left-handed HS pitcher in California and last year he did well until late in the season when he got a bit injured. His ERA was decent, (4.60) but he had a TON of upside, and Waz hinted that he is getting close to being ready to play as the injury recovery is nearly complete. This is why pitching coach Blake Hawksworth, (Hawk) can pull pitchers immediately if he sees they don't have control today, as he has a TON of options to turn to! BTW...Oregon Baseball at 17-4 is off to the second best start in the entire history of Oregon Baseball. Only 1963 at 19-2 was better at this point... Pretty cool today....Baseball from 3:00 to 6:00, and then Mens Basketball at 7:10 PM! And boy...it is cold in Eugene, with very gray skies...not what I'd expect for the first day of spring! Toby Twist is a Big Guy...

Well, this gets to my long-held contention that conference tournaments are a crock. You play 20 conference games in basketball to have the champion declared from a couple of games at the end? Ditto for baseball, only it is 30 conference games...and then decide the champion on a couple of games over a couple of days? Now they want to do the same with football, and it is stupid-as-hell, IMHO.

I completely agree, and did not understand that for years--that you cannot apply the same expectations from football to baseball. That is why when so many were concerned about our losses to Toledo and Rhode Island...I chalked it to "that's Baseball!" In the past two years that we went to the Super-Regionals and finished No. 12 in the nation both years....we lost games to Portland, Sacramento State....and Niagara! And Niagara was at home! I agree with you, but had to laugh at the Huskies at any opportunity... When is this OVER?

This video is incredible about what is happening at Oregon Baseball. Let me set the stage....this is Ian Umlandt from Sherwood Oregon, who is having an incredible year thus far, (An unbelievable ERA of 1.19) and they are discussing an Oregon pitcher who has blown up in Collin Clarke. Last year Clarke was less than remarkable with an ERA of 6.41 and now he is at 2.08 ERA? They are also discussing the new pitching coach, Blake Hawksworth, who clearly has coached and developed them extremely well. You will learn a ton from this...

And the Huskies won a series from Nebraska recently?

Damn right, Duck-Brother.

Clemson losing to McNeese State makes me laugh, like Oregon State losing to LAMAR. Whoops! I forgot the loss to Ball State... But Beavis Took Action...

You know...I am not very worried at the loss of Pharma revenue at all--even if it happened in future years. Why? Because this is FOOTBALL, where there are TONS of products and services that fit the consumer profile watching the games. They COULD just sell more Beer Commercials..

They don't want to lose the revenue from Championship week, thus the gyrations. I think it is going too far, and hurts what has been established from a very long regular season. Your thoughts about the metrics--I completely agree with. In the end...the schools will need to be willing to give up the Championship week revenue to retain the integrity of the season, IMHO.

I can't share it, but The Athletic put out an article detailing portal activity, and two things stood out to me. First, that just over 200 players who transferred out of Power-4 programs remain unsigned, or 17% of the total. Not even being signed to Group of 6, FCS, D2, etc.? Quite a risk for players to give up a scholarship! Second, when looking at the metrics of players transferring in with the most starting time experience....Our Beloved Ducks are in the top four of all schools, and that does not surprise me. Dano is looking for proven talent to plug openings, otherwise we use what we recruited years ago. "If gaining starting experience is more your thing, these four programs led the way in net career starts added: Arizona, Missouri, Oregon and Indiana." Or another metric...the Ducks are still in the top four..."If you go by which programs signed the most top-100 players (per 247Sports), Miami (eight), LSU (seven), Texas Tech (six), Oregon (five), Ole Miss (four), North Carolina (four) and Texas A&M (four) were the biggest winners." Makhi Hughes

I still often think about how...this might be part of Lanning's learning curve as a young coach who doesn't just want to be successful....he wants a 'Natty. That so difficult with all the great programs out there, and you need some luck with injuries. Or catch Chip Kelly on his Michigan day, and not his Oregon day. Lanning is learning pretty well, as the number of losses for each of his three years was three losses, (10-3) then two losses, (12-2) to one loss. (13-1) That is a pretty good trendline! We'll get there...

I completely agree. When Bear's name surfaced...I wrote here--PASS. Yet we took him? I forgot that Lanning was there when Bear was at Georgia, and thus a relationship. I think they had the "Come to Reality" conversation in the recruiting process, as the reports coming out of Spring Camp and Winter workouts, is that Bear is a man-possessed. He is trying to make his last shot work, and I am happy for him and the Ducks if it works. If it does not--I am quite comfortable with the talent Lanning has assembled at Eugene...as Elijah Rushing, Tionne Gray, Aydin Breland, etc. are all defensive linemen that the best of CFB were after, and they are now maturing into starter-mode. Lanning has done the impossible at Oregon, as it is SO HARD to recruit this far away from their homes, and major metropolitan centers. By contrast, it would be SO EASY to be in Georgia, and clean up on local talent and that within two hours flight time. When I watched SEC recruiting in the past....I said to myself that if a great coach and recruiter ever came to Georgia and captured what is in their backyard...they would dominate. And Kirby has done precisely that. I love what you have done, and if Dano achieves similar? It will be a much BIGGER success, (IMHO) as the talent pool locally, sucks by comparison.

If I was a No. 4 seed going into that weekend...I'd be torqued. Why the game should be played when this team locked up the No. 4 slot on the field during the actual long season? Get beat by the No. 5 Seed, (which could certainly happen) and that meant that all the tough games, all the workouts, all the planning over a three month season is for naught? This diminishes the importance of the regular season...just get hot in the final week, and you're in! Oregon could be a No. 4 Seed this year...

As always Jon...you give us a ton to ponder, and to be honest--I am not sure I like the replacement for the Championship weekend. It will be interesting to see what others think about what is being proposed, and what you covered so well...

We have provided an enormous amount of information about our defensive line, depth, recruiting, etc. in the threads of articles posted for the benefit of Oregon fans reading here. It is typical for 15-20 articles are posted here per day, especially during the season about our upcoming defensive line. To recite all of it would be extensive, and while we are not discussing them in depth--we are all reading the articles and are aware of what we have coming up. As a courtesy, I will give you a quick update: Lanning has placed a massive emphasis on defensive line in recruiting, (no surprise) and the Ducks are very deep with Rivals 4-Star NT, DT, SDE and Edge rushers. We have a 5-Star in there, Matayo Uiagalelei, who, like another DE/Edge Teitum Tuioti, are now juniors who are ready to step up in a big way. We have quite a few others, but aside from Bear as a transfer--the year of maturing players stepping up from the prior years of good recruiting has arrived. In his first three years--we were heavy on transfers for the defensive line, but this is the transition year to players recruited and developed to establish the defensive line. I will not list all their stats--bottom line is that Lanning knows what we need, and if he did not get a ton of transfers....that tells us all that the years of stacking top-ten recruiting is ready on the defensive line. At linebacker we are very fortunate to have Bryce Boettcher back at one inside linebacker, who graded out as one of the top-five LBs in the country according to PFF. The other spot will be taken by Devon Jackson, who played as much as the starters, and is one of the fastest players on the team. A perfect fit for Lanning... Beyond that we have a bunch of high-talent 4-Star LBs, but they are young, and will sub-in often as Jackson did last year. A'Mauri Washington is an example of a very big-boy about to step up. (6'3' 320) In the secondary--the recruiting as been astounding from the HS ranks, as we have a ton of uber-talented players stacked up, but again....young. For the meantime--Oregon went out and got two safeties in the portal, and a corner. We have a former starter at corner returning who sat out last year with an injury, and another corner with extreme promise, as he was the No. 1 JC recruit a year ago. He is in the system now, played some and it there to challenge, although some young-guns will have a ton to say about that. Are we at Georgia talent on defense? If we have to rely that much on the portal for the secondary, then the answer is NO. We have another year before recruited talent is ready to take over in the defensive backfield as it now has at LB and defensive line. And of course--you will always have a few transfers regardless, especially when exceptional players become available. I am a 38 year ticket holder, and have written over 600 articles about Oregon, and I can tell you that the talent recruited to Oregon is the deepest I've ever witnessed. They are still young and maturing at many positions, but we are slowly getting there. Lanning will have the Ducks permanently entrenched as elite with another year of recruiting, IMHO. (We are there now with our top five ranking to end last season, and another top-five projected for this season, but to remain there as a fixture will take another year of elite recruiting--I believe.) We also have a link to our depth chart, although not yet updated for spring yet right here, and I expect it will be updated to reflect those gone, and newbies soon. Hover over the name and you will see the stats on the player pop up. (To find this depth chart....go to the top of the site and click on "Repository," and then on ChileDuck's Depth Chart)

The word I hear from passionate Irish fans is...."no way." They make more money being independent than anyone else, and they do not want to be part of any conference that may change policies that would conflict with their particular religious affiliation. They look on it as more to lose than gain, but...

I believe that after all the coachspeak, and verbal dancing...that is what he was indirectly stating as well. Lanning may have immersed in recruiting, and perhaps this experience may impact his trust in Lupoi to be ready? Or defensive analysts came up short? Or Lanning didn't consider the potential changes? Who knows? Unfortunately, this is part of his learning curve and it comes at the expense of everyone. But I also have to count the blessings he brought us that I doubt that few, if any other coaches, could have done this season. And yeah....I think Chip got his NFL job based off his brilliant game plan versus Oregon. It certainly wasn't versus Michigan!

Oregon remains at No. 9 in the nation with D1Baseball, although they moved around with other polls. Whatever....what matters is the end of the season rankings and RPI. Speaking of RPI...the Ducks moved up from No. 47 to No. 41, and I think that climb will continue with the upcoming schedule. (UCLA is No. 13 as one example) More honors for Our Beloved Diamond Ducks! Clarke earns Big Ten honor EUGENE, Ore. – Coming off an impressive outing in a win over Minnesota, Oregon starting pitcher Collin Clarke has been named the Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week. The Ducks’ right-hander did not allow an earned run on just three hits while matching a career high in both strikeouts (8) and innings pitched (7.0). He picked up his third quality start of the season in just five total starts. Clarke, who got the win in the series-clinching victory, retired the side in order in the first, fourth and fifth innings, while fanning a pair of hitters in the same inning twice. The Irvine, Calif., product lowered his season ERA to 2.08 while seeing his batting average against drop to .189. He is the third Duck to win a conference honor this season. Dominic Hellman claimed Big Ten Player of the Week accolades on March 3 after Burke-Lee Mabeus was the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on Feb. 24. All-Time Big Ten Conference Pitchers of the Week Collin Clarke (3/17/25) All-Time Pac-12 Conference Pitchers of the Week Jace Stoffal (5/1/2023, 4/17/2023, 4/10/2023) Matt Dallas (3/20/2023) Robert Ahlstrom (5/10/2021, 4/13/2021, 3/15/2021) Cullen Kafka (3/23/2021) Kenyon Yovan (4/30/2018, 4/2/2018) Parker Kelly (3/12/2018) David Peterson (5/1/2017, 4/3/2017, 3/14/2017) Conor Harber (2/23/2015) Tommy Thorpe (3/24/2014) Cole Irvin (5/13/2013, 4/1/2013) Alex Keudell (4/16/2012, 4/9/2012) Jimmie Sherfy (2/21/2012) Madison Boer (2/22/2011) Justin LaTempa (5/3/2010)

Another former Pac-12 Team! UCLA is 16-4, and just swept Nebraska in three games. They also took their series with Maryland 2-1, and seeing them at the top with Oregon makes it feel like old times! I think USC will also climb to the top cluster as the season goes on.

This was posted in another thread, but thought it was important since so much discussion has been about this game. The actual transcript of what Tosh said is a bunch of run-on, run-around sentences that if I were to summarize came down to..."we did not self-scout ourselves enough." Do you get the same impression? Tosh Lupoi opens up about what went wrong for Oregon Ducks vs. Ohio State DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Oregon Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi opens up about what went wrong against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.