Charles Fischer

6-2 Iowa after five innings, as Jacob Walsh hit a dinger that needed no wind, but Oregon's Collin Clarke was blasted for two homers before being replaced by Ian Umlandt. (About two innings, too late, IMHO!) With that homer, Oregon ties the season home run record set in 2023... This game is not yet out of reach, but...

4-1 Iowa after four innings, as Clarke continues to be hit, but Oregon's defense in the field has not been it's usual stellar play either. We have seen three dove-for flies that got by the Duck fielders, and yes--the wind is a confusing factor to it--but...

3-1 Hawkeyes after three innings. The Iowa batters have figured out Oregon's Collin Clarke and are beating him up...gotta make a change!

1-0 Ducks after two innings, as both pitchers dispatched the sides easily.

1-0 Ducks after one inning. The wind is terrible, blowing left to right with flags seeming to nearly flap-off the poles. Iowa got a plinked batter out of Oregon starter Collin Clarke, but he got through the inning unscathed. On offense, we saw Jacob Walsh hit a zinger down the first-base line to deep into the right field corner to give him a double. Then Drew Smith hits to the middle of right field on the ground to score Walsh--just barely past the Hawkeye tag at home! The stats show that Oregon wins the game just over 80% of the time when they score first...so let's hope that holds up.

Grinsell Brilliant, Ducks Homer Four Times in Win IOWA CITY, Iowa — No. 5 Oregon opened its crucial series at Iowa in impressive fashion Thursday night shutting out the Hawkeyes 10-0 in seven innings in Big Ten Conference action at Duane Banks Field on Thursday night. Grayson Grinsell continued his dominance of Big Ten teams lowering his ERA in conference games to an obscene 1.36 while improving his record in league games to 7-1. The Ducks’ lefty was in control from the first batter on, recording a strikeout on his way to a two-hit shutout in a run-rule shortened game. Grinsell finished with eight strikeouts and just one walk on an evening where the wind was blowing out to right field at 20 miles per hour with gusts as high as 30 miles per hour. Grinsell’s season stats continue to impress with tonight’s outing lowering his season-long ERA to 2.33 with his season record moving to 9-2. The Ducks’ (39-13, 20-8) offense gave Grinsell plenty of support, hitting four home runs to run the club’s season total to an even 100 homers. Carter Garate hit a grand slam in the fourth to highlight a five-run inning, before Maddox Molony hit his first of two bombs in the fifth inning. Molony added homer number two in the seventh before Ryan Cooney put Oregon’s 10th run on the board with a solo shot later in the inning. How It Happened: Oregon did not waste any time getting on the board. Back-to-back-to-back one-out base hits by Dominic Hellman, Jacob Walsh and Drew Smith gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead. After going eight up, eight down after scoring the run, the Ducks broke out in a big way scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Smith led off the inning with his second hit of the game, this time a double into the right-field corner. Anson Aroz moved Smith to third with a base hit to left before Burke-Lee Mabeus picked up an RBI with a squeeze bunt. After a Cooney walk loaded the bases, Carter Garate made it 6-0 with a grand slam over the right-field wall. Grinsell took it from there, not allowing a runner past first base after the first inning. Box Score Notes: Garate’s home run was his second of the season, both grand slams … The two grand slams ranks second on the team behind Hellman’s three, while also moving Garate into second all-time in single-season grand slams and a tie for third in career grand slams. Dominic Hellman headed for home! Oregon has now hit eight grand slams during the 2025 season, three more than they hit in any previous season … Molony’s two homers were his 14th and 15th of the season, moving him into a tie for ninth on Oregon’s single-season list … It was also the 24th and 25th of his career, tied for the sixth most all-time at Oregon …. Grinsell’s 18th career win moved him into a tie for eight all-time at Oregon … His ninth win of the season moved him into a tie for sixth on the single-season list … His eight Ks give him 259 for his career and 93 for the season, tied for the seventh most on the single-season list … Oregon needs two home runs on Friday to set a new school record … The shutout was Oregon’s seventh of the season. On Deck: The two teams play game two of their series on Friday with a 4:02 p.m. PT first pitch. (Big Ten Network).

If Oregon can win the next two games against Iowa...they win the B1G. The Ducks would have the same number of losses as UCLA, but have the tie-breaker due to the series win over them earlier this season! Let's do it Ducks!

Ducks win 10-0 on the Run-Rule, as Maddox Molony zaps a pitch over the right field fence for a solo homer, and then Ryan Cooney does the same to the right-centerfield! Grayson Grinsell is such a stud; he went all seven innings, so all relievers are available for the next two games!

8-0 Ducks after six innings, as Oregon strands two, but Grinsell keeps Iowa at zero.

8-0 Ducks after five innings, as Grayson Grinsell keeps Iowa scoreless again. He is at about 76 pitches, so I think he can go seven innings, and the more--the better! Anson Aroz walked, and then Maddox Molony nails a line-drive that clears the right field fence!

6-0 Ducks after four innings, as the Oregon offense stuns Iowa. Grayson Grinsell puts the Hawkeyes out 1-2-3 again, but the massive action occurred when the Ducks were batting. Drew Smith drove a pitch deep to right field and bounced off the wall for a double. Anson Aroz singled to left field, and then Burke-Lee Mabeus hit a short bunt that was thrown to the plate and Drew Smith barely slid on the outside corner of home plate to miss the tag in time. Safe! Ryan Cooney walks, and now with Ducks-on-the-Pond, (Bases Loaded) Carter Garate steps up and hit a GRAND SLAM to deep right field. He is not known as HR hitter, but that strong wind blowing to right field really helped him! Sorry...the replay is down, so no video of this--darn!

1-0 Ducks after three innings, as the Hawkeyes got a hit, but a great throw by Oregon catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus, and a tag by Ryan Cooney--where he kept the tag as the runner slid off the base! Grayson Grinsell is at 44 pitches after three innings...

1-0 Ducks after two innings. Grayson Grinsell gave up a walk and a plinked a Hawkeye batter in the first inning, but got through the inning unscathed. He finished them off in the second inning 1-2-3 as the fastball, changeup and slider are all working well thus far. While we did nothing in the second inning on offense, in the first we saw Dominic Hellman hit a single to the off-side, as did Jacob Walsh after that. Drew Smith drove a hit medium-deep to left field to score Hellman. Oregon had more opportunities, but the Iowa pitcher is tough and stranded out two base runners.

Ok...I just found this set of projections that came out yesterday. In it.. "Both D1Baseball and Baseball America have Oregon now as a regional host, with D1Baseball putting Oregon as the No. 9 overall seed in the tournament, up from No. 13 last week. At No. 9, Oregon is just outside of potentially hosting a Super Regional should the Ducks get there. The Top 8 seeds in the tournament get home-field advantage for the tournament if they win." "Baseball America's latest projections put Oregon as the No. 10 seed. In both predictions, Oregon is one of three West Coast teams to host a regional, joining Oregon State No. 11 and UCLA No. 12." For the Supers?

We broke the 2012 record with a Regional yet... or more to come?

Pretty cool...you don't see this every day!

The newest revised rankings for Oregon had the odd one of writers (NCBWA) go from No. 19 to No. 7, thus nearly every poll has the Ducks in the top eight. We average No. 6... To achieve hosting a Super is a tough task, as Oregon has to sweep Iowa and win the B1G Tournament, IMHO. Thoughts?

A good midweek interview about the Iowa series, and future of Oregon Baseball...

With the extra round… Could we skip the damn play-in Conference games?

A cold weather baseball team can become a national champion if the financial support is there, and the coaching is there. Oregon has both, and we are going to be a growing power to reckon with!

Thank you for bringing this article, as it is an important discussion. He acknowledges that the only B1G teams ranked are the "teams in their first year" in the conference. (Those pesky west coast teams!) He brings up a couple of good points; the B1G Network prioritizes football reruns over current baseball games. Baseball being streamed by B1G+ is only being seen by a very few people, as even most Oregon fans who are even remotely interested in Oregon baseball will not purchase the streaming. I thought that considering how many baseball games there are each month--it was a good value for the eight bucks per month. But most will not watch unless it is on TV, and that is a massive factor. His other points about cold weather is legit, and while Oregon State has shown that a cold weather team can still win, the truth is...our cold weather in Oregon--as frigid as a game at PK Park is in February and early March...it is not as bad as the cold weather at other schools in the B1G. He made a passing reference to non-conference performance, and Coach Waz stated yesterday that Oregon's NON-CONFERENCE ranking in RPI was in the top-10, thus we are dragged down by the weak conference. Adding the four west coast schools was the best thing that could happen to B1G Baseball, IMHO. In that recent interview....Waz also flat-out stated that the long-term goal at Oregon Baseball....was to win a 'Natty! So maybe Oregon can help rescue the conference? That ties into the young writer's conclusion that I agree with... "In short, Big Ten baseball can be saved. There just needs to be a bigger effort from athletic departments, fans and national broadcast networks." Great catch by Anson Aroz!

Thanks Jon, and while that is just another opinion...it is a curious one. Oregon State is No. 7 Seed, and could host a Super-Regional, while Oregon is a No. 13 Seed? And if that bracket held up...there would be FIVE B1G teams in the tournament? Beside Our Beloved Ducks they have UCLA as expected, (A No. 9 Seed, and who we won the series with?) and they have Iowa, Michigan and USC? Fun to watch for over the next two weeks...

Good thing he is being paid well, as we won't see him deep in the Playoffs! It's a Good Choice...

I hate the play-in games...hate them. I just KNOW in the future that Oregon will face a team in conference final of No. 1 vs. No. 2, (Like Ohio State) that the Ducks have already played before during the regular season schedule...and then there will be a good chance of playing them again, a third time in the playoff? So THIS is progress?