Charles Fischer

Top-Three DMR Finishes at NCAA Indoor The UO women have eight scoring chances on day two of the national meet. VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Women of Oregon finished second in the distance medley relay Friday at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships, and the UO men broke the school record to finish third in the DMR to close out day one of the national meet. The Oregon women carry eight points into Saturday’s finals with eight chances to score. In addition to those who advanced to finals, the Ducks will have an early opportunity with Ryann Porter in the triple jump and Jaida Ross in the shot put. Silan Ayyildiz, already into the mile final, is also entered at 3,000 meters. The Ducks will also be represented by Matthew Erickson in Saturday’s final of the men’s 800 meters. Making his debut at the NCAA Indoor meet, the UO senior was the fastest overall qualifier with a new lifetime best of 1:46.11. Erickson moves to No. 2 on the program’s all-time indoor list with a time that doubles as the fastest ever run during the prelims in NCAA Indoor Championships history. Into the #NCAATF Finals Silan Ayyildiz – mile Matthew Erickson – 800 meters Jadyn Mays – 60 & 200 meters Aaliyah McCormick – 60 hurdles Wilma Nielsen – mile Women’s track finals start at 12 p.m. PT with the men to follow at 3 p.m. Both sessions will stream on ESPN+. The team of Wilma Nielsen, Ella Clayton, Ella Nelson and Silan Ayyildiz combined for a time of 10:45.99 in the final event of the women’s session. The time secured a national runner-up finish in the DMR and made the quartet the second fastest in UO history. Nielsen and Ayyildiz were doubling back from heats in the mile earlier Friday afternoon. The top four teams—BYU, Oregon, Providence and LSU—were all faster than the previous meet record of 10:50.98 set by Tennessee in 2009. The Men of Oregon closed out the evening session with a school-record performance and bronze finish in the distance-medley relay. Tomas Palfrey, Fuad Omer, James Harding and Elliott Cook clocked a time of 9:17.57, shaving nearly two seconds off the previous UO standard of 9:19.42 set in 2021. The outing also moves Oregon to No. 7 on the all-time collegiate list. Five teams—Virginia, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas A&M and BYU—bettered the previous meet record of 9:19.98 set by the UO DMR of Reed Brown, Xavier Naire, Charlie Hunter and Cooper Teare at the 2021 indoor meet. In the Ducks’ first event of the day, Nielsen and Ayyildiz were the first and third fastest, respectively, in the opening round of the women’s mile. Both ran in heat two with Nielsen crossing in 4:34.17 followed by Ayyildiz in 4:34.76, securing their spots in Saturday’s final (12:00 p.m., ESPN+). Mia Barnett posted a time of 4:37.37 in heat one but did not advance. This will be Nielsen’s first NCAA mile final but third overall having been a finalist in the 800 the last two years at Bradley and Washington. Ayyildiz, making her third NCAA Indoor appearance, is into the finals for the first time. Aaliyah McCormick, the Big Ten champion in the 60-meter hurdles, will run for a national title Saturday after equaling her lifetime best of 7.97 in the prelims. She won heat one with a strong close off the last hurdle and finished with the second-fastest time in qualifying. McCormick is into her third NCAA Indoor final. The women’s 60 hurdles final is set for Saturday at 12:40 p.m. PT. Pulling sprint double duty, Jadyn Mays was 2-for-2 with advancing efforts in the 60 and 200 meters. In each event, she ran the third fastest qualifiers of 7.13—a season’s best—and 22.59, respectively. Mays will line up for the 60 final at 12:10 p.m. PT and then return to the track about 40 minutes later for the 200. This is Mays’ third-consecutive season advancing to the final of both sprint events. Running in his first race since Feb. 1, redshirt freshman Simeon Birnbaum made his NCAA Indoor debut with a 4:09.64 in the heats of the mile and did not advance. He wraps his first collegiate indoor season with a lifetime best of 3:52.81—and No. 4 performer at UO—from the Razorback Invitational. NCAA Indoor Championships (Virginia Beach, Va.) – Day One MEN 800 Meters – prelims 1. Matthew Erickson – 1:46.11Q (PB, UO #2) --. Koitatoi Kidali – DNF Mile – prelims 16. Simeon Birnbaum – 4:09.64 Distance Medley Relay 3. Palfrey/Omer/Harding/Cook – 9:17.57 (UO #1) [6 points] WOMEN 60 Meters – prelims 3. Jadyn Mays – 7.13Q (SB) 200 Meters – prelims 3. Jadyn Mays – 22.59Q Mile – prelims 1. Wilma Nielsen – 4:34.17Q 3. Silan Ayyildiz – 4:34.76Q 12. Mia Barnett – 4:37.37 60m Hurdles – prelims 2. Aaliyah McCormick – 7.97Q (=PB) Distance Medley Relay 2. Nielsen/Clayton/Nelson/Ayyildiz – 10:45.99 (UO #2) [8 points]

Ducks Open Minnesota Series with a Win EUGENE, Ore. — No. 9 Oregon scored five early runs and then held off Minnesota 5-2 in Big Ten Conference action on Friday night at PK Park. The Ducks (16-3, 4-0 Big Ten) got a strong start from Grayson Grinsell (3-1) and strong relief outings from Jason Reitz and Cole Stokes in the win. Grinsell tossed five scoreless innings while striking out seven and walking just one. Reitz allowed a pair of seventh inning runs but struck out three in three innings of work. Stokes came out of the pen with the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth and proceeded to retired three of the four batters he faced, who via strikeout, to pick up his second save. How It Happened: Oregon took the early lead scoring four runs in the second inning. Jacob Walsh led off the inning with a walk before moving to second on a wild pitch and then scored on an Anson Aroz double off the right-center field wall. Two hit-by-pitches loaded the bases and then Oregon added its second run on an error by Minnesota (7-9, 1-3 Big Ten) second baseman Easton Richter. Dominic Hellman drew a bases loaded walk to make it 3-0, before Chase Meggers delivered an RBI infield single. Maddox Molony made it a five-run game with a solo home run in the third, his sixth of the season and first since hitting two homers in game on of a doubleheader against Columbia on March 1. Box Score Notes: Molony’s third-inning home run snapped a streak of 10 consecutive home runs by either Neville or Hellman dating back to an Aroz home run in game two of the Columbia doubleheader on March 1 … Grinsell’s seven strikeouts brings his career total to 199 … Maddox, Aroz and Cooney all finished with two hits. On Deck: Oregon and Minnesota will meet in game two of the series with an 11:05 a.m. first pitch at PK Park. The game time has been moved up three hours to avoid forecasted rain showers in the afternoon. Ducks in Flight... Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On Grinsell and Reitz pitching on Fridays… “We started the year with four straight weeks of four-game sets. Jason was a starter at that time, and he is really good. We view it by throwing two starters on a Friday night. With Jason coming out of the pen today, I thought the conditions got really tough out there. That probably took its toll a little bit more than it normally would on a dry day.” On Aroz’s improvement at the plate… “Recently, Coach Marder and Aroz have been spending a lot of time together, so I would give Marder a lot of the credit for Aroz’s effort. They get along great, and they’ve been putting in a lot of time together at practice to be able to get himself right. Nobody knows a swing better than Coach Marder, and they’ve been grinding it out in the cage. That’s probably what you’re starting to see click a little bit, so credit to both of those guys.” On Cooney proving himself… “It just seems like he plays really good defense, and he gives you really competitive at-bats. He doesn’t hit as many home runs as some of the other guys, but you can argue that his productivity at the plate is equally as good, if not even better than anybody. He’s played well, and he is just a different type of player than some of the other kids. Dom Hellman brings his strengths to the table, and Mason Neville brings his; everybody has a bit of their own game. Ryan’s game is a solid, complete game. He’s a good baseball player, and he is one of our clubhouse leaders.” Grayson Grinsell Grayson Grinsell On Pitching in the rain… “I mean, both teams, obviously we're both playing the same weather, so it's not going to affect either of us any differently. So, just kind of go out there and treat it like I would if it was 75 and sunny.” On Impact of a four-run inning… “Not much. You know, just same as if we scored one, just go out there and try to give the guys behind me a shutdown and keeping the momentum on our side of the field.” Anson Aroz On impact of starting the day 2-for-2… “I mean, you just walk in the box feeling pretty good. The goal is to feel that way every time. I think if you asked any of our hitters, they'd say the same thing. But, you know, naturally, when you've had success. It kind of continues to keep rolling.” On steps towards becoming an everyday left fielder… “I think it's just mentality. I mean, the guys before me set the tone, you know, playing with a guy like Boettcher last year, seeing the way that he played the outfield, how aggressive he was to every ball that went into the air, and learning from a guy like that. And, you know, having Coach Waz work with us every day, and EDDs, you know, a guy with a fungo like that can give you tough balls to catch, and you go get them, and you kind of work on that kind of thing. And just the standard that the pitchers expect, you know, early in the fall, we kind of make a promise to them that anything with an arm’s reach at the park is caught. So, you know, that's the goal.” Game on Saturday has been moved to 11:00 AM due to expected inclement weather....

About a third of the seating is covered, and when people see that it’s going to be cold and rainy… Attendance suffers. for those who are there, they will move up under the cover, and then you will not see them behind home plate.

Ducks Win 5-2, but with tough-on-heart drama. Jason Reitz did well in the eighth inning to not allow a run, but he walked the first two batters in the ninth! So Oregon's closer Cole Stokes comes in, strikes out one, and then could not find the plate to walk the bases loaded! He generates a fly ball for the second out, but Minnesota had their ideal batter at the plate--a home run hitter who could win the game for them. Then Stokes pitches three balls! Then he gets a couple of foul balls to make it full count with bases loaded and two outs. Then he strikes the batter out. Whew!

5-2 Ducks after seven innings, as Oregon reliever Jason Reitz gave up a couple of runs, and we gotta get the bats going again! Pretty nasty rain going on...

5-0 Ducks after five innings, as Grinsell is done for the day, and gave us five scoreless innings. Can't do better than that!

5-0 Ducks after three innings, as Oregon's Grayson Grinsell has shown more control on his inside fast-balls today, without hitting any batters. And The Pride of Springfield, Maddox Molony, hit a solo home run to juice the lead.

4-0 Ducks after two innings, as it was Christmas in March as the Gopher pitcher hit a batter, and walked three to set up a barrage of base hits to score runners.

This is such great news! If you missed it...Bruce wrote a terrific article below in the forum about how the Men went from 6th to first at the B1G Championships, and a preview of this weekend. Let's do it, WOMEN of OREGON!

You gotta read about the ninth inning at the bottom of the thread! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minnesota has a 7-8 record on the year, but their RPI with the NCAA and Warren Nolan is No. 11....why? Because they have played a tough schedule... They lost a series 2 games to 1 to Houston, and another to Purdue. But they won a series 2 games to 1 against Arizona State, and BEAT No. 8 Oregon State 10-4 a few weeks ago. They narrowly lost 3-2 to Oklahoma, and lost 4-2 to No. 2 Virginia. Thus why their RPI is so high. This makes this series that much MORE important for Oregon, as our RPI is No. 51 and we need to play higher RPI teams to help get into the Playoffs. The B1G is weak in Baseball, and actually running into a good RPI in the B1G is both surprising and an opportunity. Get it Done DUCKS!

It is not a great chance, but the women have a shot at a 'Natty. The story behind how the Oregon men pulled a massive upset to win the B1G Mens Indoor Track Championship is highly entertaining, and I wish to thank Bruce for his knowledge and description of how it happened. I learn a ton from his articles, as he is a great track fan of Oregon. So much so, that he is at the Indoor Track Championships right now! In the future, he has promised an update article on the future of the resurgence of the Men and Women of Oregon...as things are improving!

I provide baseball scores as the game is happening, and when I’m busy during the day, I sure wish somebody would provide the same with Basketball. What is the halftime score?

I wish I could help, but I've had problems with FB for years, and given up.

Ducks Win 16-6 in the eighth on the Run-Rule! Freshman pitcher Kellan Knox looked good for his inning.

15-6 Ducks after seven innings. Santiago Garcia is gaining confidence and showing good stuff as a lefty for Oregon.

13-6 Ducks after six innings as Santiago Garcia is pitching for Oregon.

12-6 Ducks after five innings.

12-4 Ducks after four innings, as The Pride of West Linn, freshman Gabe Howard is now pitching for Oregon. Time for a DOM-BOMB!

10-2 Ducks after three innings. Stranded bases loaded, and now the freshman from Nebraska, Michael Mekna is pitching. Fantastic catch by Anson Aroz to prevent runs scoring! ]

10-0 Ducks after two innings, as the reliever for GCU was no better than the starter. Great to see Oregon hitters focusing on just getting on base or score the runners with a single. Dominic Hellman is known for his homers, but he is helping the scoring with his ongoing singles. Jacob Walsh has been getting on base much more often it seems this year as well. In the pregame interview....Coach Waz admitted that his review of yesterday with the team was quite extensive, as he did not sleep well last night.

Timely hitting today by Our Beloved Ducks that was missing yesterday, as a single scores two!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5-0 Ducks after one inning. What is the difference between yesterday and today? The GCU pitcher yesterday was very, very tough, as was the primary reliever. Today, the GCU starter has only pitched ONE inning this season, so the 'Lopes are way down in their pitching depth. Oregon is giving the hill to Julian Hernandez, the transfer from Whitman College who got shelled his first outing against Toledo, but has done well since. He walked a batter, who then stole second base, but wait....Maddox Molony kept the tag intact for over ten seconds, and in the slick turf....the GCU runner's foot slipped off the base for half a second. That is all it took for the out!

If they keep this up--they have a great shot at hosting a Super-Regional and taking a trip to the Womens College World Series! The season has a long way to go--but the opportunity is there with how they are playing. SIDEARM Integrations GODUCKS.COM No. 12 Oregon tied the school record with 20 RBI.

Yeah, I figured you would comment when we lose...