The game was moved up due to weather concerns, as is Friday's game to 2:00 PM. We have some really interesting pitching changes for both teams, as Youngstown State has two really-good pitchers, but they are being played on Friday and Saturday of this four game series. The first surprise is how they are playing a senior RHP in Aiden English, who had a 13.79 ERA in 15 innings last year.

That was not a typo. Now we all know that pitchers can improve as we've seen with Our Beloved Ducks, but it appears the Penguin strategy, (yes, that is their mascot) is to put their weakest pitchers on the first and fourth games. The 'GUINS have three .300+ hitters, and another who hit .300 last weekend at Auburn.

The stunner on our side? Oregon is NOT starting Will Sanford like last week, but Toby Twist instead! Apparently Ryan Featherston is back to relief duty again, but not due to his performance last week, as he was nails for us. I believe Coach Waz is trying to get Twist back into things, but he did not have a shining relief role last week.

So we are pitting weak pitcher vs. weak pitcher for the Thursday game? Should be fun to watch...

Toby Twist

4-0 Ducks after one inning. Well, the coaches know best as Toby Twist looked good putting down all three batters to start. Can't say the same for the 'GUINS pitcher, although the fielders made errors as well.

Jack Brooks hit a ball that looked like a Dinger, but hit the top of the wall and bounced back for a double. Jax Gimenez gets to first on a throwing error, and then Gabe Miranda hits a deep sacrifice fly to RF to score Brooks. Maddox Molony hit a deep fly to LF that bounced in front of the fielder to score Gimenez.

Molony then steals second, but the overthrow there allows him to steal third as well! Drew Smith hits a zinger that bounces off the fielder's mitt, into the LF wall and back to result in a triple--while scoring Molony. Burke-Lee Mabeus gets his first hit of the year in shallow right field to score Molony...and we can't ask for too much more to start!

4-1 Ducks after two innings. Toby Twist gave up a homer and finished out the rest although he was assisted by mistaken base runner who thought it was two outs and kept running on a fly...when it was one. Double play!

10-1 Ducks after three innings. Toby Twist gets in jams, but works his way out when he creates a grounder to 3rd baseman Drew Smith, who fires it to second for one out, and then Jack Brooks hurls it hard to just get the batter out. Double play!

Gabe Miranda walked, then Maddox Molony hit a screamer down the 3rd baseline that hugs the LF wall, and get snagged up in the corner. It is a double for him, and Miranda scored from first. The big guy can MOVE!

Drew Smith bunts and doesn't beat the throw, but the 1st baseman lifted his foot too soon, so safe! Molony moved to third and Burke-Lee Mabeus hits a sacrifice grounder that scores Molony. Angel Laya walks, and Ryan Cooney gets plinked...so bases loaded! Jax Gimenez walks to score a run, and the Dominic Hellman got jammed inside with a fastball, but muscled it to shallow RF to score two! Gabe Miranda hits to deep RF to score Gimenez.

This was done primarily on a relief pitcher, so Coach Waz's strategy in starting Toby Twist was correct; get him playing time and experience because we will outscore the 'Guins. (Penguins) He was right!

10-1 Ducks after four innings. No scoring by Oregon, but pitcher Toby Twist got a great pick-off at first base, and kept them scoreless!

10-1 Ducks after five innings. No scoring for Oregon, but Toby Twist went 1-2-3 thanks to an incredible catch by Left fielder Jax Gimenez. He jumped up against the wall and got the catch!

A great day for Toby Twist--only giving up one run in five innings and 67 pitches....

15-1 Ducks after six innings. We got to see a highly regarded true freshman pitch in Josh Hollis, and he went 1-2-3 with a 92 mph fastball, and a nice offspeed curveball.

Maddox Molony got a powerful homer off the left field foul pole, and Drew Smith singles into shallow LF. Burke-Lee Mabeus hit deep to RF, and Smith moves to third. A wild pitch moves Mabeus to second. Angel Laya (a beautiful swing-whew!) hits deep to RF and scores Smith AND Mabeus who jetted from first.

It is a perfect time to see some of the other freshman and transfers play as Elijah Cook hit a screamer at the pitcher and got a base hit out of it! Jax Gimenez hits a LF blooper to get a hit and scores a runner, as did fellow transfer Josh Schleichardt scored a runner on a groundout.

15-1 Ducks after seven innings. Josh Hollis pitches a second scoreless inning, and really looks impressive as a freshman.

18-1 Ducks after eight innings. Freshman Josh Hollis blanks them for a third inning, and gives us confidence in him as a relief pitcher in bigger games.

Freshman Owen Morgan walked, as did Jax Gimenez. Then transfer Josh Schleichardt comes in and hits LF BOMB for a three-run homer!

Ducks win 18-1 as heralded freshman pitcher Cooper Markham got his inning, and he finished out the game with a 95 mph fastball, and a nice curve.

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026

BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball

Ducks Move to 5-0 with Impressive Win

 

EUGENE, Ore. — Five games, five solid starts from five different pitchers on Oregon’s pitching staff. Toby Twist is the latest Ducks’ hurler to impress, allowing just one run on two hits over 5.1 innings in an 18-1 nonconference win over Youngstown State on Thursday afternoon at PK Park.

 

Coming off a weekend where four Oregon starters allowed just two runs on five hits in four games, Twist added to the hot start for the staff while picking up his first career win.

 

Twist (1-0) got plenty of help from an Oregon offense that scored multiple runs in four different innings. The Ducks had 6-run, 5-run, 4-run and 3-run innings while putting the game away early with 10 runs in the first three innings.

 

Twist surrendered a second-inning solo home run and a single to lead off the fourth. On the single, he proceeded to pick off the runner at first. The Ducks’ lefty finished with five strikeouts and just one walk.

 

How It Happened: Oregon did not waste any time getting on the board scoring four unearned runs in the bottom of the first. Ryan Cooney, who led off the first with a double off the top of the left-center field wall, scored on a Gabe Miranda sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.

 

Maddox Molony followed with a RBI single to left field scoring Jax Gimenez, before stealing second and moving to third on a throwing error by catcher Caleb Hadley. Drew Smith drove in Molony with a triple to left before he scored on a Burke-Lee Mabeus base hit through the right side.

  Maddox Molony

After YSU (0-4) got a run back with a solo homer in the second, Oregon answered in the third. Molony delivered a run-scoring double inside the third-base bag scoring Miranda from first. Mabeus picked up his second RBI driving in Molony on a fielder’s choice.

 

Oregon (5-0) added a third run on a Cooney bases-loaded walk before Dominic Hellman made it a five-run inning with a two-out, two-RBI base hit to right field. Miranda added his second RBI of the inning with a base hit scoring Gimenez.

 

Oregon put together another big inning in the sixth. Molony led off the frame with a home run off the left-field foul pole for an 11-1 lead. Three consecutive singles after the home run led to two more runs. Angel Laya, the reigning Perfect Game and Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week, delivered the third to drive in both runs.

 

After a pitching change, Oregon added two more runs in the sixth. Gimenez legged out a double that scored Laya from second, before pinch hitter Josh Schleichardt capped the scoring with an RBI on a ground out to first.

 

The Ducks put three more on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning when Josh Schleichardt belted his first career home run as a Duck.

 

Box Score Notes:  Molony made his 100th career start … Molony’s home run was his 27th, moving him into a tie with Guy Krause (1971-74) for fifth all-time at Oregon … Seven Ducks had multiple RBI led by Schleichardt’s four … Four Ducks had multiple hits with Molony finishing with three and Gimenez, Smith Mabeus all picking up two hits … Molony and Gimenez both scored three runs … Josh Hollis and Cooper Markham made their Ducks debut on the mound in relief of twist … Hollis tossed three hitless innings with a pair of strikeouts … Markham got the final three outs and fanned two.

 

On Deck: The teams will play game two of the four-game series on Friday with a 2 p.m. first pitch.

 

Quotes:

 

Head Coach Mark Wasikowski

 

On a win to start the series…

“A good win, happy the guys played well. They pitched well. Toby Twist getting a start and handing it off to Josh Hollis’ first college outing. Cooper Markham had his first college outing. To be able to get those guys into the game, and to see them throw exceptionally well was really good.”

 

On Josh Hollis’ performance…

“Those guys have really good arms, the freshman, and you saw that today. (Josh) Hollis has been a guy that could easily be a midweek starter for us and will be this year. Then down the road he could easily be a weekend starter. Cooper (Markham) has a power arm and so getting those guys out there, I thought they pitched well. They threw multiple pitches for strikes and were in control of it.”

 

On Toby Twist coming back to the mound…

“He has worked really hard; he has always had good stuff. He has always been a good pitcher. Those guys that come back from arm injuries though, it usually takes them a little bit. Theres a hurdle that those guys have to get over. I feel like he was really clawing to get over that hurdle last year. It took him a few outings before he was able to really clear that hurdle and that’ what you saw today. It’s what we saw in our scrimmages.”

 

On Malosi seeing the field…

“Another talented freshman. Really good player. It was a game-knows moment he gets inserted into the game and the ball finds him, it happens a lot. A very talented player, he squared the ball up with his at-bat, so it was good to see him play well.”

 

Maddox Molony

 

On Josh Schleichardt’s first hit as an Oregon Duck...

“Everyone in the dugout is waiting for that to come back in, and you take a peek at the flag, the winds blowing a little bit out to the right. That’s just meant to happen ... He works. He works really hard. I expect that that’s what he's going to be doing. He’s going to be doing that a lot for us this year.”

 

On teammate Josh Hollis performance...

“He looks like he’s been doing this for three years, and you can see it and you can feel it. That’s what we want out of him.”

 

On today’s appearance after struggles at the plate last week...

“It’s just a testament to the work I put in. The game has ebb and flows. It goes up, it goes down, but as long as you can stay steady, stuff like that happens.”

 

Toby Twist

 

On his journey throughout his collegiate experience...

“It’s been great, definitely. Family and friends and teammates, just day by day, keeping my spirits up, but just staying with our guys next to us is the big thing. Just keeping their spirits high.”

 

On Josh Hollis…

“He just looks old, looks like he’s done it before. He’s ready whenever as well.”

 

On his first career win, and being part of a pitching staff that has been so effective to start the year...

“It shows you the depth that we have with this pitching staff. Everyone’s ready, and we all have a lot of belief in the next guy.”