Charles Fischer

10-2 Northwestern after five innings. Good Grief! Michael Meckna comes in and give up two homers, one a three-run shot. The entire Oregon pitching staff today is off, and they appeared to get progressively worse while the Wildcats are seeing the ball superbly. I do not sense a lack of effort, just some days--you get your butt-kicked. Coach Waz is waving the white flag early; he is already subbing the outfield, and true freshman pitcher Blake Crawford is coming in. (This could get even uglier)

6-2 Northwestern after four innings. EGADS! Our pitching staff is having a bad day, as Toby Twist comes in and gives up even more than Scolari. Whew! Michael Meckna replaced Twist to get the final out. And we can't hit-a-lick on offense. Lovely.

3-2 Northwestern after three innings. Cal Scolari got it done this inning, but he has a high pitch count with 70 pitches in just three innings. Nothing on offense...

3-2 Wildcats after two innings. Whoa! Cal Scolari lost control as he gave up a homer, a walk and two hits. Might not be very strong after his bout with the flu? Ducks strand Maddox Molony at second base...

2-0 Ducks after one inning. Cal Scolari was throwing 95 mph and even 96 mph, but adds a tough cutter, and a nasty curve-drop pitch to generate three strikeouts in just the first inning already! The opposing pitcher for the Wildcats has an issue with walks, and must have been nervous as he walked both Ryan Cooney and Jax Gimenez to start the game. Oregon makes them pay as Dominic Hellman nails a grounder through the right-infield to score Cooney. Drew Smith sacrifice-flies to score Gimenez!

Northwestern lined up their best pitcher today for their best chance to win. They will start Matt Kouser with an ERA of 2.57 vs. Oregon's Cal Scolari with an ERA of 2.37 who was absent last week because of the flu. This figures to be a tight, low-scoring game that either team could win. I give Oregon the edge with home field, and better batting averages. Oregon now has seven of their nine starters hitting over .300 and the Wildcats only have one. Cal Scolari Information I pulled from D1Baseball taken from their scouting of Cal Scolari at Oregon fall practices.... Cal Scolari showed as the top prospect for the Ducks. He’s a redshirt sophomore and 2026 draft-eligible who transferred from San Diego and was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year last season (over then-teammate Logan Reddemann, who is now the ace for UCLA). The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Scolari is a good athlete with a loose arm. His other starter-type traits include two above-average pitches for strikes, a repeatable delivery with a loose, high leg lift and above average extension out front (6-foot-6 for Scolari with 6-foot-2 the MLB fastball average). His fastball touched 97 and sat 94-95 for much of his five-inning, eight-strikeout start on 84 pitches on a hitter’s day. And it’s just not a garden variety heater. It showed riding life and some swing-throughs at the top of the zone and had good carry, holding its plane down in the zone which resulted in some called third strikes. His 78-81 mph downer curveball is an even better pitch with up to -15” IVB depth and spin rates into the 2600s rpm. It’s a pitch he threw to both sides of the plate with success. He also flashed a promising 86-87 mph cutter/slider. Scolari looks to be building into another Friday option for a spot that’s already a strength for Oregon with Sanford as the current Ducks’ ace. At this point the industry has Scolari evaluated around the fifth round, but I saw a higher round prospect on my look. Time will tell what he turns out to be, but Scolari impressed during week four.

I understand the legality of your summary, and fully understand the major merits of the OSU-WSU argument: "You ten schools...you broke up the conference." Then those two schools go about destroying another conference to fit their objectives. (Mountain West) "You left only because of money--it is all you care about." And the two schools then sued to received over 300 million from the departing schools...of which very little was earned by OSU-WSU. The real-life contradictions?

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2026 BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball Ducks Go Deep Four Times to Clinch Series Win EUGENE, Ore. — For the second consecutive day, Oregon hit four home runs on its way to a win. The Ducks clinched the series against Northwestern with a 6-4 victory on Saturday in Big Ten Conference action at PK Park. Drew Smith, Gabe Miranda, Brayden Jaksa and Ryan Cooney all homered to lead the Ducks to the win. Collin Clarke (4-1) got the win matching a career-high 10 strikeouts in seven innings of work while allowing four runs on five hits with a pair of walks. Tanner Bradley and Devin Bell both tossed a scoreless inning with Bradly fanning two and Bell picking up his fifth save. How It Happened: A day after putting 10 runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning, Oregon (19-3, 7-1 B1G) took another first-inning lead. Smith slugged a two-out, two-run homer over the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead. Northwestern (7-11-1, 1-4 B1G) answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second, but Oregon got them right back plus one more in the bottom of the inning. Miranda and Jaksa hit back-to-back homers to center field that traveled a combined 875 feet. After Maddox Molony reached on a hit by pitch, Miranda hit a two-run homer that traveled just over 408 feet. Three pitches later, Jaksa one upped Miranda crushing a ball 467 feet over the center-field wall for a 5-2 lead. Ryan Cooney Ryan Cooney pushed the lead to 6-2 with a solo homer in the fourth over the center-field wall. Box Score Notes: The series win is the 12th in a row for the Ducks dating back to April 4-6, 2025 … Oregon has won 18 of 19 series since the beginning of last season … With his first inning home run, Smith extended his reached base streak to 22 games this season and 24 dating back to last season … Smith went 2-for-4 with two RBI, giving him 55 multiple-hit and 28 multiple-RBI games during his career … He moved into a tie with Anthony Hall (2020-22) for the ninth most multiple-RBI games and sits in eighth in multiple-hits games, one behind J.J. Altobelli (2010-13) and Mitchell Tolman (2013-15) for sixth all-time … Miranda went 2-for-3 with two RBI. On Deck: The Ducks will look for the series sweep against the Wildcats when they wrap up the series on Sunday at 12:05 p.m. (B1G+). Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On what he saw in the teams approach today… “I thought they did a nice job breaking down their starter for the second day in a row. The complaint I have is that I didn’t feel like we did a really good job of adjusting to the lefty they brought in. I thought he was a really competitive young guy. He pitched with a ton of emotion and spirit. I thought he threw really well, and we could have adjusted a little bit better to him. Nevertheless, it seemed like a complete game. The pitching was good, the defense was good, so was the hitting, and the bullpen work was good.” On if bringing the offensive energy into today after scoring 20 runs yesterday was difficult… “I don’t know. Every day is different; every day is a new day. It’s hard to score 20 runs two days in a row. I don’t know how many times that has ever happened. It’s hard to score 20 runs to begin with. Every day is a little unique. That was the pregame message: ‘What challenges is the game going to bring us today?’ Yesterday is dead, and now today is dead. We’re onto tomorrow.” On Collin Clarke’s start… “He had a really good start. He made a couple of mistakes, and the only mistakes he made today were in two-strike counts where he left a fastball in a place that he wasn’t trying to put it. They capitalized on those, but he made some big pitches. He is a tremendous competitor, and that’s obvious.” On Gabe Miranda reaching every time he came to the plate… “I thought he was the offensive player of the day. There were some other really good offensive performances. There were several guys who got into balls and hit them out of the park, but we need Gabe moving forward. He’s a tremendous leader and a clubhouse guy. I thought he swung the bat really well today.” Drew Smith Drew Smith On his thoughts on the game… “It was a good, competitive game. I thought Collin pitched his butt off, and the hitters did a really good job pounding baseballs that were in the zone. I think we could have done a better job against that lefty and adjusting to what he was doing, but all around, I think it was a solid game.” On the message after yesterday’s game… “Each day is a new day, so we can’t let something like that soften us up and think it’s going to be easy. We wanted to attack and do the same thing that we do day in and day out.” On how important it was for him to hit that home run in the first inning… “I think every situation like that is clutch and critical to get the guys going, especially in the first inning. It’s great to get the ball rolling and give Collin some cushion.” On having Angel Laya hitting behind him… “It really takes me back to my freshman year because I was hitting behind Tanner Smith. Getting to see him work at-bats and do that kind of thing gives you an extra layer of confidence going into your at-bat. I think I definitely rub off on Angel in the right way. He’s just a great kid, and I love talking to him every day. Any nuggets of knowledge I can give him, I’m all in.” Gabe Miranda On what's been working for him at the plate... “Having some good conversations with Coach (Jack) Marder, taking some of the pressure off, and realizing that we’re just playing a game. Trying to have as much fun as possible and enjoy the ride.” On having impressive at-bats but a lower batting average... “Just by taking it one pitch at a time. Baseball is one of the hardest games in my opinion because you can go 0-4 for four lineouts and have nothing to show for it, and your average is going to drop, but you can go home as happy as can be because you know that you won that battle between you vs. the pitcher and that you scored four balls today; you can't do much about it.” Gabe Miranda On if he felt that he earned his home run... “Definitely, I saw two change-ups early, and I saw them both well. All day we were talking about if you're ahead in the count to look for your pitch, and he threw my pitch, and I put a good swing on it. Everything was just so simple about it; it was awesome.” Devin Bell On how he is settling into the role of closer with five saves now… “It’s good so far, and having the defense behind me is great. Those saves don’t mean much to me. It’s more of a team stat, I think. Today is a good example. Two pop flies to Brooks in centerfield and one groundball to Drew. They got the outs, and I just had to throw it down the middle.” On having Will, Collin, and Cal as the starting rotation… “Having Clarke, Will, and Cal on the mound is just insane. That is probably one of the best rotations in the country. Having them ahead of you, knowing that they are going to keep the lead most of the time, is a great feeling. All I have to do is go in and do my job.” On if the UC Irvine game helped him acclimate to the Division 1 level… “I still think about that game to this day. I think it was good for me to experience that, and now it’s in the past, and I keep looking forward. I grew from it, and that’s all I can do.” On pitching behind Tanner Bradley… “I love it. Tanner and I offset each other really well. He is a big change-up guy, and I go out there and pound fastballs and sliders. We work well back-to-back, I think.”

Ducks win 6-4 as Devin Bell came in and generated two flies, and a routine grounder to get his fifth save of the season! Full game recap will be up--as always, about two hours after game ending. (On this thread)

6-4 Ducks after eight innings. Tanner Bradley took over, and gave up two hits, but got it done to keep Northwestern scoreless in the inning.

6-4 Ducks after seven innings. Collin Clarke came out and pitched his seventh inning, and tied his PR with 10 KOs!

6-4 Ducks after six innings. Collin Clarke had two base runners, but struck out two to rescue the inning. Bats were quiet against the Northwestern relief pitcher.

6-4 Ducks after five innings. Clarke gave up a two-run homer to help Northwestern close the gap. Oregon stranded two on base again...

6-2 Ducks after four innings. Collin Clarke did it again, (1-2-3) and only has 47 pitches in four innings, and could go deep into the game. Ryan Cooney crushed a pitch, and sent it over the CF wall for a HR that adds to our score.

5-2 Ducks after three innings. Good Gosh...Collin Clarke put them down in order, with two strikeouts! Oregon leaves two runners stranded...

5-2 Ducks after two innings. Collin Clarke gave up a walk, some hits, and with sacrifice grounder and fly--the Wildcats tie up the score. But not for long, as Maddox Molony got plinked, and then Gabe Miranda tore through a pitch and sent it over the CF/RF wall to score two! Then the Ducks go back-to-back as Brayden Jaksa (catching today) blasts a ball over the CF/LF wall for another dinger.

2-0 Ducks after one inning. Collin Clarke has a cutter that along with the drop-curve tied up the Northwestern batters...1-2-3! The Wildcat pitcher is Garret Shearer, who had a 3.60 ERA coming into this game. After a couple of fly-outs, Dominic Hellman walked, and the Drew Smith blasted a pitch over the LF wall for a two-run homer!

For those who have watched baseball for long....we know today is a new day, and Our Beloved Ducks face a new pitcher. The pitcher for Northwestern yesterday was their worst in Ryan Weaver, whose ERA was 8.86, and I am sure has ballooned up. Today we face one below with great-to-decent ERAs... Matt Kouser, ERA of 2.57 Garrett Shearer, ERA of 3.60 Jake Rifenburg, ERA of 5.63 Oregon counters with Collin Clarke, whose ERA is 2.27 and a different thrower than the hard-throwing Sanford. I expect a battle! Go Ducks!

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2026 BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball Ducks Roll to Win in Series Opener vs. Northwestern EUGENE, Ore. — Will Sanford allowed just one hit over five innings while No. 21 Oregon’s offense had eight extra-base hits including four home runs in a dominant 20-6, 7-inning, win over Northwestern in Big Ten Conference action on Friday at PK Park. Sanford moved to 4-0 on the season after allowing just a second-inning solo home run while fanning eight over five innings of work. Dominic Hellman slugged two of Oregon’s four home runs, while Jack Brooks and Angel Laya each added one. Laya finished 3-for-3, adding a double and a career-high five RBI. Brooks went 2-for-3 with four RBI, also a career best. How It Happened: Oregon (18-3, 6-1 B1G) made an early statement sending 15 batters to the plate while putting 10 runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Drew Smith, the nation’s 10th leading hitter going into the game, delivered a one-out, RBI single scoring Ryan Cooney while putting runners at the corners. Laya followed with a hard-hit ball at the center fielder who misjudged the ball resulting in a run-scoring double. Maddox Molony picked up a pair of RBI scoring Smith and Laya with a base hit into left-center field for a 4-0 lead. Burke-Lee Mabeus reached on a hit-by-pitch putting runners at first and second, which led to a Gabe Miranda RBI single through the left side scoring Molony. Brooks made it 8-0 when he slugged his second career home run in his first start since the Purdue finale when he left the game after running into the outfield wall. Angel Laya The Ducks were not done scoring, loading the bases with two outs for Laya, who lined a single sharply into right center scoring two more runs. After Northwestern (7-10-1, 1-3 B1G) cut the lead with a solo home run in the top of the second, the Ducks answered with two homers and three runs in the bottom of the third. Helman belted a two-out solo shot 411 feet over the center-field wall, before Laya added two-more RBI with a homer to right field. Oregon tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning. After a Mabeus single and Miranda walk, Brooks added RBI number four on the day with a run-scoring double to left center scoring Mabeus. Cooney added a sacrifice fly scoring Miranda for a 15-1 lead. Hellman added home run No. 2 on the night to lead off the fifth, this one going over 425 feet. The Ducks then capped their scoring with a four-run inning in the sixth getting production from their bench. Freshman pinch hitter Naulivou Lauaki Jr. drove in a run with a bases-loaded ground out. Tyler Holley added a two-run double off the wall in right field before Josh Schleichardt drove in the final run with a single up the middle. Malosi Mata’afa-Alferos capped the inning with his first career hit. Box Score Notes: Cooney made his 100th career start, joining Smith and Molony in the 100-start club … Oregon’s 10-run first inning marked the first time the Ducks scored double-digit runs in an inning since putting 10 on the board in the first inning vs. San Francisco on March 29, 2022 … Hellman homered twice in a game for the third time in his career … Hellman moved into a tie for eighth in career home runs at Oregon with Anson Aroz (2022-25) and Kenyon Yovan (2017-21) … Laya was the last Duck to homer twice in a game (3/8/26). On Deck: The Ducks and Wildcats meet in game two of the series on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. (B1G+). Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On takeaways from today... “Well, what can you take away? Take away a win. You can take away, you know, all the positives and all the things that you need to correct, and it’s another good day to be with the team. I mean, just being around the guys. You know, every single day, sometimes games are close, and sometimes it's like that. But the bottom line is, we were able to get some really talented people in the game and, you know, and get people experience. This is a young group that's got a lot of talent, and they need experience. And the way you can get experience is by playing in games and playing in games against somebody else, in front of people that have beer and hot dogs and popcorn and all that kind of stuff. It's just a lot different than it is when you come out here on a Tuesday, and you play a scrimmage, and you see that with each one of your players. And so, the biggest takeaway is the fact that we get a chance to be around each other again for another day. We win the ball game, that was the objective of the day. And those guys got experience, which is great.” On later pitch hitters and relievers... “Well, I mean, [Tyler] Holley and Malosi [Mata’afa-Alferos], those two kids worked their tail off, right? And both of them got hits today, their first hits in Duck uniforms, I think, which was awesome, you know? And they flat out are grinders, whether it's in the weight room or whether it's in the practice field. And so, everything that they are getting, they deserve. When the success happens, they deserve it. They're really good players. And so, it's, it's really happy. I'm really happy to see those guys succeed, because they succeed every day in our work.” Will Sanford On Will Sanford... “Yeah, I mean, we saw it coming. Last year in scrimmages, he was the most dominant guy we had as a freshman in scrimmages. And then he got out there in game, and he wasn't the same guy that we saw when nobody was here, you know. And then the band showed up, and it was different, a little bit for him. He's settling in now. He's still on Friday nights. He's been successful for us. You'll see the same thing with Hudson Carvalho and Cooper Markham and Shane Johnson, and all those freshmen. You're going to see the same type of thing as soon as they settle down. Those guys have tremendous ability, once they settle down, to do the same things we watched them do in every scrimmage that we play. I mean, once they do that, they're going to be lights out, you know. I mean, guys like Carvalho, are going five innings against our hitters, and giving up no runs. And today, you’d go, ‘Whoa, that doesn’t seem like that would be accurate based off what I see today,’ but it’s just an experienced thing. And they got to get out there and get comfortable.” No. 6 Jack Brooks On his first at bat... “Hitting is contagious. I mean, you see everyone else doing it. I mean, [Ryan] Cooney leads us off with a single up the middle, and then everyone else is just kind of teeing off. So, after that, you're pretty loose, going up there knowing you can't fail. Just got to keep doing your thing.” On contributions off the bench... “You see the work they put in day in and day out. I mean, they're coming to the field every day, fighting to play. I mean, they're fighting to get their time or their spot, and it's really special to see those guys getting hit stuff like that or just being on the field. Like seeing Malosi [Mata’afa-Alferos] go get his first hit today. I mean, that was amazing. Seeing [Tyler] Holley do the same exact thing. I love cheering those guys on, because, those guys are putting in the work, and they deserve it, and they deserve every, every moment of it.” No. 28 Will Sanford On freshman pitchers’ performances... “I just kind of relate it to myself last year, and I was in those shoes where it is hard to pitch at this level. And like, we have a really good freshman class, and like, all those guys dominated in high school, and that's why they're here. But it's more so just trying to get them in that mode. They dominated our hitters in the fall. Just because you're in a game now doesn't mean you need to change anything. And it's all a mental thing where it is hard to work at, and it took me a while to get to that, like, freeness, but it's something where a guy like Hudson [Carvalho], where he has all the talent like that, I'm just trying to help him mentally, where he can feel free on the mound.” On having a 10-run lead... “It does make it easier, but at the same time, it's hard to stay competitive in that state when you're up so much. But that's why I like to take it inning by inning. And you know, I'm trying to win innings. It's my job. So, the more innings I win, the more chance we have a winning so that's all I have to do mentally to keep myself going.”

Ducks win 20-6 in a run-ruled seventh inning. Oregon ran a bunch of freshmen pitcher through who gave up a lot, but they got experience, and we all got the win! (Hudson Carvalho, Shane Johnson, etc.)

20-1 Ducks after six innings as Leo Ulemen comes in for relief, and was a little nervous at first, but settled in to generate a double-play to finish off the inning! Jack Brooks is plinked, and Ryan Cooney walks while Jax Gimenez beats out an infield single. Nauvata Lauaki hits to score Brooks, and Tyler Holley hits off the wall to score two runs! Josh Schleichardt hits up the middle to score the speedy Holley from second!

16-1 Ducks after five innings. Will Sanford walked two, but no problem as he disposes of the rest. Dominic Hellman got his second homer in the game!

15-1 Ducks after four innings. We've got Super-Sanford running batter out--so sweet! Burke-Lee Mabeus hits to a gap in CF, and Gabe Miranda walks. Jack Brooks hits to his opposite field (LF) to the wall to score Mabeus. Ryan Cooney sac-flies to score Miranda. The next hour is dicey for my reporting as I'm entering my Intermittent Fasting window...and I gotta eat!

13-1 Ducks after three innings. Boy...when it goes your way--enjoy it! Will Sanford is dialed in, and so impressive as he takes care of business 1-2-3. Dominic Hellman got the timing down on a low pitch and drove a line-drive over the CF wall for a solo homer! Then Drew Smith hits to a hole in mid-LF to get on base. Then Angel Laya hits a two-run homer over the RF wall!

10-1 Ducks after two innings. Will Sanford gave up a solo homer and dispensed the rest. He's got a 94 mph fastball with his big-dropping curve today!