Charles Fischer

I guess it depends upon the objectives and whether you achieved them? What I mean is that we had a TON of new players to merge into the team, and half the time when Jaksa plays catcher...we have FIVE new starters out there. Four when Mabeus catches, but the point is...it makes sense to start slow and find out what you have. I'll bet Waz is delighted that he got the lineup right, and it does not look like anyone needs to be replaced. We also have 23 pitchers on the team, TWENTY THREE. He wants to find out who can play, and only in games where you are up big--can you get them in and see what they can do. I think that is incredibly valuable for Waz's analysis, and for the growth of the players. It's like playing Montana State to get going in football; you are challenged, but should have it in hand. Now...that being said...people were pretty steamed when we lost a game (out of four) to Toledo last year in a similar early season series. They were torqued when we lost a game to Rhode Island in the next series of four games last year. As it turned out, Rhode Island won the conference and George Mason (who we played last week) was second in the Atlantic-10 with 40 wins...which is pretty good for any league. So this year we did not lose a game we shouldn't have, and we played a ton of pitchers. Sounds like a good warm-up to me. Everything changes this next weekend with this big tournament in Las Vegas. More on that later...

I don't know a thing about Hockey, so I very much enjoyed your posts. I cannot believe all the connections you have to all these people. And thanks for pointing out all the Big-10 players on both the Mens and Womens teams.

Ducks win 15-6 as Luke Morgan from Grants Pass and Lassen C.C. in Redding took a turn and gave up a run, but closed out the game.

15-5 Ducks after eight innings. Michael Meckna put them down 1-2-3 and looked impressive. Brayden Jaksa walks, and Ryan Cooney hit a fly to RF...that was dropped. Jaksa jetted all the way to score from first. (Such a fast team this year!)

14-5 Ducks after seven innings. They tried Hudson Carvalho pitching, but it did not go so well. They brought in Michael Meckna to finish up. Nothing on offense this inning.

14-2 Ducks after six innings. Geez...Ryan Featherston just looked great as he put the side down 1-2-3 again! Maddox Molony grounds up the middle for a base hit, and Owen Morgan walks. Angel Laya hits a base knock to shallow RF to score Molony. Jaksa nails a liner to short LF for a hit, and scores Morgan. Not many HRs, but we are scoring runs with what is given us...

12-2 Ducks after five innings. Ryan Featherston comes and pitches really well and dispenses the side easily. He looks like a starter, and I'm sure he' be a great mid-week starter for us. You need a good one! Maddox Molony walks, then Drew Smith hit one off the LF wall for a double, and scores Molony from second. Angel Laya rips one to RF, and that scores Smith from second. Angel Laya was picked off, but Brayden Jaksa walks and Jack Brooks drives one off the wall for a double with Jaksa going to third. A passed ball scores Jaksa. Ryan Cooney hits deep to RF in the gap to score Jaksa. Jax Gimenez walks, and a passed ball moves both runners up. Another passed ball scores Cooney. You gotta appreciate our catchers and coaching when you see other teams struggle...

7-2 Ducks after four innings. Cal Scolari gives up a hit and a walk, but gets through the inning scoreless. At 79 pitches, I imagine he is done for the day. YSU brought in a relief pitcher who put us down easily. Hmmm.

7-2 Ducks after three innings. Cal Scolari is in trouble every inning, but gets out of it with a great strikeout for the third out. Drew Smith fielded a ball at third base, and made a rapid throw to home to allow catcher Brayden Jaksa an easy tag. Angel Laya hit a ball super-high, but the 3rd baseman lost it against the clouds and rain..so he's on error-infield double! Laya got to third on a passed ball. Brayden Jaksa does an RBI groundout to score Laya.

6-2 Ducks after two innings. Cal Scolari is having control issues today as he is walking batters more than he'd like. He gave up a homer, and after a hit and a walk...another score for YSU from another hit. Ryan Cooney gets to first on an error by the 3rd baseman, and Jax Gimenez hit a zinger up the middle that had side-spin you could see on the replay. It skidded on the wet turf and got past the center fielder, and with his speed--he made it to third and scored Cooney. Dominic Hellman sacrificed an infield grounder to first to score Gimenez, and we got the two runs back!

4-0 Ducks after one inning. Well, the weather did get to Cal Scolari, but even with a walk and a plinked batter--he got out of it. The first runner stole second, but slid too far off the bag in the wet turf, and Maddox Molony tagged him! Then Scolari picked off the other runner at first! He was 3-0 hole, but came back to strike the batter out! Even in the cold and wet--he threw 95 and 97 mph? Whew! Ryan Cooney walked, and then Jax Gimenez sac-bunts down the first baseline to move Cooney to second. Cooney then zips to third on a passed ball, as Dominic Hellman walks. Gabe Miranda nailed a liner to short RF for a hit and scores Cooney. Another passed ball advances both runners up, and then Drew Smith hit a homer that bounces on top of the wall...and then over! Three run HR! What a start...

Well, the long term forecast for today was RAIN. And what I see outside is RAIN, and the forecast for the entire game is RAIN. Now our opponent is from Ohio, and used to cold weather, but is Oregon's starter on the hill, Cal Scolari from San Diego at a disadvantage? Fun to watch for.... Youngstown State starts a veteran pitcher, Brandon Mikos, who threw 58 innings for them last year, was 5-3 on the season, and had an ERA of 7.60 in 2025. Will he be as good as the Friday starter against us, or more like yesterday? Again...that is why I watch! Cal Scolari

More reasons for Canadians to hate us!

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OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2026 BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball Ducks Clinch Series With Another Shutout EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon baseball team remained undefeated and secured a series win over Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon with a 7-0 victory in game three of the four-game series at PK Park. The Ducks (7-0) recorded their second shutout in as many games, following a 3-0 win on Friday. Oregon got six scoreless innings from starting pitcher Collin Clarke (2-0), who was backed by an offense that put up five runs in the first three innings and scored in four of the first five frames. "Collin has pitched well so far this season, and he pitched well again today," head coach Mark Wasikowski said. "He mixes them up and locates his fastball really well. When he's doing that, he has been really effective so far this season." Seven different Ducks checked in with a base hit, and both Gabe Miranda and Burke-Lee Mabeus slugged their first home runs of the season. Miles Gosztola relieved Clarke and fired two scoreless innings before giving way to Leo Uelmen to close it out in the ninth. Oregon will try to complete its second straight four-game sweep to open the season on Sunday afternoon. "It's hard to win four games in a row against anybody," Wasikowski said. "We have to be ready to play. That's one of the things we focus on in our postgame talk and just getting our minds right. I think if they do the same thing and are aggressive on the mound, they'll be fine tomorrow." How it Happened: Oregon got on the board early against Youngstown State starter Jack Messmore (0-1), who loaded the bases in the first inning with two walks and a hit batter. Drew Smith came through with a clutch two-out hit for the Ducks, ripping a two-run single through the left side for a 2-0 lead. The Ducks used the long ball to add to their lead in the third, starting with a solo shot to right field off the bat of Miranda. Maddox Molony followed with a double, and Mabeus ripped a two-run shot to right field to extend Oregon's lead to 5-0. A Home-Run Huddle Miranda and Mabeus became the eighth and nine Ducks to hit home runs through the first seven games of the season. "They are good players," Wasikowski said. "I know we lost a lot of home runs from last year, but we take a lot of pride in being in the weight room. We feel like that is one of the staples of our program." Oregon took advantage of more free passes in the fourth inning, adding a run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Molony. In the fifth, a pair of singles gave the Ducks runners on the corners with one out, and Jax Gimenez executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to make it 7-0. That was all the offense Clarke would need as he struck out six batters and gave up just two hits and a walk across six shutout frames. It was the second straight scoreless outing by an Oregon starter, after Will Sanford kept Youngstown State (0-6) scoreless over six innings of his own on Friday. Clarke worked around singles in each of the first two innings before facing the minimum in each of his final four frames, and he was helped in the first inning by a terrific leaping catch at the wall in right field by freshman Angel Laya. The Ducks also erased a leadoff walk in the fourth inning on a slick double play that started with a diving stop by Molony at shortstop. "Our defense is amazing," Clarke said. "I have full confidence in the world knowing that the guys behind me are going all out." Gosztola came on in the seventh and struck out the first two batters he faced before walking the next two, but he escaped the inning with a groundout. He then struck out two more in a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Uelmen erased a one-out walk in the ninth with a double play to end the game. Collin Clarke Box Score Notes: Ryan Cooney and Gimenez each had two hits, and both Smith and Mabeus drove in a pair of runs … The Ducks worked eight walks, including two each by Molony and Dominic Hellman, and struck out just three times … Oregon has now held Youngstown State to just one run on eight hits with 29 strikeouts through 27 innings in the series … The Ducks recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since March 2-4, 2025. On Deck: The Ducks will go for a four-game sweep of Youngstown State on Sunday. First pitch is set for 12:05 p.m. at PK Park. Quotable: RHP Collin Clarke On his go-to pitch to get back in the zone... "Today it was the change-up, normally I try and throw all pitches in the zone, but today it was the change-up. There wasn't really anything different today, last week I was in the zone with it too." On what he's learned so far from this series and how he will prepare for the next... "Prepare the right way. Go home, watch film, and keep going about the process the right way." 1B Gabe Miranda On the depth and power Oregon's hitting has... "It's awesome. I know that one through nine are going to have competitive at bats. And it's good knowing that the guy behind me is going to get the job done, whether it's with power or not." On his mindset at the plate today... "The pitcher was struggling with his command, so I was able to find my timing and that's been a real issue for me, struggling with my timing. It felt good, I saw the pitches really well, got in the hitters count and did what I do." C Burke-Lee Mabeus On how it was behind the dish today with three different pitchers… "It was my first time this season catching Clarke and Leo to close out the game, and they did exactly what we asked them to. We kept them to zero runs, and we put a lot of emphasis on 0-0 and 0-1 pitches. They did exactly that and got ahead early, so kudos to them." On his first home run of the year… "It felt good. I was looking for that. I was just trying to ambush the fastball there, and I know the report said he threw a lot of them. Once I got it, Gabe and I were both pretty pumped about that."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2026 MEN’S BASKETBALL | @OregonMBB Late Run Lifts Oregon over USC LOS ANGELES — Oregon closed the game on a 7-0 run in the final 51 seconds, capped by two free throws from Nate Bittle with 10 seconds left, to edge USC Trojans men's basketball 71-70 on Saturday at the Galen Center. Oregon (10-17, 3-13) trailed 70-64 with under a minute remaining before Kwame Evans Jr. ignited the winning run. Evans drove for a layup with 59 seconds to play, then buried a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound with 51 seconds left to pull the Ducks within 70-69. After a defensive stop and a rebound by Bittle, the 7-footer calmly knocked down two free throws to give Oregon its first lead since early in the half. USC (18-9, 7-9) had one last chance, but a turnover by Alijah Arenas in the closing seconds sealed the Ducks’ win. Evans led Oregon with 21 points, hitting a career-high 11 of 13 free throws and adding eight rebounds. He scored 18 of his points in the second half. Bittle added 14 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, anchoring the Ducks inside and finishing 4 of 6 from the line, including the go-ahead attempts. Takai Simpkins scored 12 points, while Drew Carter contributed a career-best 11. The Ducks shot 45.1% from the field (23 of 51) and made 21 of 27 free throws (77.8%). Oregon dominated the paint with 30 points and converted 14 second-chance points, capitalizing on eight offensive rebounds. The Ducks also turned 11 USC turnovers into 25 points. How It Happened: The first half featured 10 lead changes as neither team built separation. USC grabbed its largest lead at 23-15 midway through the opening period after back-to-back 3-pointers from Chad Baker-Mazara. Oregon responded with an 8-0 run and carried a 35-32 lead into halftime after Carter’s layup in the final seconds. In the second half, Oregon pushed its advantage to five points at 43-38 following a Bittle tip-in with 16:41 remaining. USC answered with an 8-0 run midway through the period, highlighted by Arenas’ back-to-back baskets, to take a 52-47 lead. The Trojans extended the margin to seven, their largest of the half, at 63-56 with 4:54 to play. From there, Oregon chipped away. Evans repeatedly got to the foul line, converting six straight free throws over the final five minutes to keep the Ducks within striking distance. Simpkins added a midrange jumper with 2:52 left to cut the deficit to three before Evans’ late heroics completed the comeback. USC shot 38.3% (23 of 60) and finished 6 of 19 from 3-point range. Ezra Ausar led the Trojans with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Baker-Mazara added 21 points, including three 3-pointers in the first half. Notable: Oregon has now defeated USC in four consecutive games on the road … Evans Jr. recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season, setting a new career high with 11 made free throws … Bittle set a new career best with four steals, adding 14 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season … Drew Carter scored a career-high 11 points, his second career double-figure outing. Up Next: Oregon returns home to play Wisconsin on Wednesday (8 p.m., Big Ten Network).

Ducks win 7-0 as Miles Gosztola finished the eighth inning with two strikeouts, and in the ninth--we saw Leo Uelmen get an inning and create a double play to finish the game.

7-0 Ducks after seven innings. Reliever Miles Gosztola, a transfer from Gonzaga takes over for Collin Clarke and walked two, but also got two strikeouts with a scoreless inning. Pretty darn good day...

7-0 Ducks after six innings. Collin Clarke has a very tough changeup...even when they know it is coming. He went 1-2-3 and now has dispensed with 13 of the last 14 batters faced. GREAT pitching!

7-0 Ducks after five innings. Collin Clarke is in a zone, as he is throwing strikes to retire 10 of the last 11 batters. Only 63 pitches after five innings... Angel Laya hits a line drive that hits first base and bounces awkward, but it holds him to a single. Jack Brooks sacrifice-bunts to advance Laya to second. Ryan Cooney hits into a hole in RF to move Laya to third and get Cooney on base. Jax Gimenez does a perfect sacrifice-bunt down the first-baseline to score Laya!

6-0 Ducks after four innings. Collin Clarke gave up his first walk of 2026, and then Maddox Molony made a superb fielding play as SS to deliver a sweet double-play! Jax Gimenez gets a hit, and Dominic Hellman walks. Gabe Miranda gets plinked to load the bases. Molony hits a sacrifice fly to score Gimenez, and the Ducks strand two runners again.

5-0 Ducks after three innings. Collin Clarke went 1-2-3, and seems to got his control down further. Gabe Miranda has a big-hit reputation, and was batting cleanup...but we had not seen the big bat until now. He had a sweet swing to make the ball bonk on the practice facility roof past RF. Maddox Molony hits a screamer down the 3rd baseline to get a double. Then another bat came to life as Burke-Lee Mabeus hit a two-run homer at the top of the roof of the practice facility. Whew! We needed both those bats to come around...

2-0 Ducks after two innings. Collin Clarke gave up a hit and plinked a batter, but got out of it scoreless. On offense...Ducks stranded two on base!

2-0 Ducks after one inning. Collin Clarke gave up a hit, but dispensed with the rest, although freshman Angel Laya leaped above the RF fence to rob a Penguin home run. Whew! Ryan Cooney walked, and steals second base. Jax Gimenez gets plinked, and both runners move up a base on a passed ball. After two outs...Maddox Molony gets in a 0-2 hole as a batter, and works it into a walk! Bases loaded and two outs... Drew Smith comes up and nails a zinger between the 3rd baseman, and the shortstop for a hit that scores Cooney and Gimenez!

Oregon faced a great starting pitcher yesterday who only gave up one unearned run in six innings. Today we face Penguin pitcher Jack Messmore, a senior RHP, who also had an incredible game last week against Auburn where he scattered six hits in six scoreless innings versus the Tigers. This will be a tall-test for Oregon's starter Collin Clarke to keep up, and it looks to be another low-scoring nail-biter today. In the end, it was the relievers for Youngstown State yesterday that gave up the most, and I hoping for the same today--and I think our batters are better. Collin Clarke