Arizona will be a step-up in competition, but not as much as we thought it would be. Last year Arizona won our Regional, won the Super-Regional and was in the CWS. This year they are 1-7...and reeling. The word is--they have good-to-great pitching, but can't hit a lick. We will be facing a good pitcher tonight at 6:00 PM PST.

He is one of those guys that has a first-and-last name that are interchangeable, as righthander Smith Bailey was a Freshman All-American in 2025 and his stuff ticked up this fall. The 6-foot-4 sophomore shows uncanny pitching for a young arm and his fastball has been up to 96.3 mph this spring. His slider strike percentage (66.7%) is in the 90th percentile, and the changeup has an outrageous whiff rate of 76.9% through two starts. (3.27 ERA is all!) Velocity plus secondary out pitches plus command equals a hitter’s worst nightmare.

I assume we will counter with emerging star pitcher, Will Sanford, who has an ERA of 0.00 after two starting appearances. Pretty darn good! I assume he will start because I don't think the coaches want to change the rest days schedule for the pitchers.

The number of Oregon fans watching online will be sparse; the stream is through D1 Baseball, and they charge $30.00 for four tournaments...of which three I have no interest in. So I am paying through the nose for my devotion to Our Beloved Diamond Ducks, and will report to you the action, but...

The bastards who run this streaming do NOT have a fast-forward feature. They have a ten second rewind, (good) but not a fast-forward. This is important because in between innings I would go write up the last inning and come back way behind on the stream. But I would catch up as I would hit the ten-second fast forward between pitches, mound conferences, etc. and get caught up.

This means I HAVE to watch it live and not leave it. I can post scores after innings from my cell phone, but no game-action and descriptions this weekend. After the games--I will put up the press release about the games with more information. Let's Go Ducks!

Previewing Oregon Ducks' Las Vegas College Baseball Classic Matchups

The Oregon Ducks are off to a strong start to the season with an 8-0 overall record heading into the 2026 Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. Here is a preview of Oregon's three matchups in the classic.

Oregon Ducks On SI

Previewing Oregon Ducks' Las Vegas College Baseball Class...

The Oregon baseball team is off to a hot start to the season. Following series sweeps over the George Mason Patriots and the Youngstown State Penguins, the Oreg

The first game went long...so Oregon's game does not begin until 6:40, and will be a touch later I assume. Cool. So on a Friday night I get to bask in Our Beloved Diamond Ducks...what could be better?

1-0 Ducks after one inning. Jax Gimenez got his first home run of the year over the RF fence!

Will Sanford gave up a hit and a walk, but struck out two, and kept the Wildcats scoreless. He threw most in the 94 mph range.

4-0 Ducks after two innings. Will Sanford is getting into a groove, and has four strikeouts in just two innings.

Drew Smith hit a MONSTER off the wall in the gap, and flew to third SO FAST! Burke-Lee Mabeus got a hit in the SS-2nd gap to score Smith!

Ryan Cooney hit a homer that cleared the fence by 15 feet…and brought in Mabeus too! A two run dinger!

4-0 Ducks after three innings. Sanford has six KOs in just three innings.

4-2 Ducks after four innings. Sanford lost control and a Gimenez fielding error gave up two runs. Tanner Bradley takes over on the hill gets the third out by strikeout, and leaves two stranded for Arizona.

Oregon has bases loaded...and left them stranded.

7-2 Ducks after five innings. Tanner Bradley has three KOs in just one and a third innings, and kept UA scoreless this inning.

You won't believe this...but my cell phone is malfunctioning trying to make posts--so I'm running to the Desktop whenever I get a chance. Pitcher changes helps!

Maddox Molony singles down the 3rd baseline, and Burke-Lee Mabeus hits a double with Molony on third. Holy Toledo...Angel Laya SKIES over the fence with his sweet swing for a 3-Run Homer!

7-2 Ducks after six innings. Tanner Bradley threw 93 mph with nasty-action. Whew! Kept them scoreless with creating a ground ball that turns into a DOUBLE PLAY!

7-2 Ducks after seven innings. Good-gosh Tanner Bradley throws a filthy ball...he's up to six KOs and holding the Wildcats down!

7-2 Ducks after eight innings. Wow...Tanner Bradley had NINE strikeouts in four and a third innings. He is a new relieving STAR who came from nowhere on the roster after hardly playing last year. Talk about player development!

I enjoyed one comment by the Sportscaster as he was marveling about the size of Oregon players...."this is what an Omaha team looks like."

Ducks win 7-2, as Ryan Featherston came in and went 1-2-3 with all strikeouts!

Oregon pitchers got 19...NINETEEN strikeouts tonight. My Duck-Buddies...THAT is pitching!

(P.S. I've installed a couple of highlight videos in the posts above!)

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2026

BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball

Ducks Dominate Arizona in Las Vegas

 

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Oregon belted three home runs and three Ducks’ pitchers combined to strike out 19 hitters in a 7-2 win over Arizona in the first day of the Live Like Lou College Baseball Classic at Las Vegas Ballpark on Friday night.

 

Jax Gimenez, Ryan Cooney and Angel Laya all slugged home runs, while starter Will Sanford and relievers Tanner Bradley and Ryan Featherston were dominant against the Wildcats (1-8).

 

Sanford matched a career-high with seven strikeouts in just 3.2 innings before being relieved after a dropped fly ball allowed a pair of runners to score with the bases loaded in the fourth inning.

 

Bradley (1-0) came out of the bullpen to get the final out of the inning, the first of his career-high nine strikeouts in a career-high 4.1 innings of work. Bradley struck out the first three batters he faced before finishing his outing striking out nine of the 17 batters he faced.

 

Featherston polished off the Wildcats striking out the side in the ninth inning on just 13 pitches.

 

How It Happened: Oregon (9-0) wasted little time taking control of the game. Gimenez hit a solo homer on Owen Kramkowski’s fourth pitch of the game for a 1-0 lead.

 

The Ducks tacked on three more in the bottom of the second. Drew Smith led off the inning with a triple before scoring on a Burke-Lee Mabeus RBI single. Cooney then pulled a 1-1 pitch 390 feet over the left-field wall for a two-run home run and a 4-0 lead.

 

Arizona cut the lead to two with a pair of runs in the fourth. The Wildcats loaded the bases with two walks sandwiched around a base hit. It looked like Sanford would get out of the inning unscathed when he enticed a pop fly into shallow left field with two outs, but Gimenez dropped the ball allowing two unearned runs.

 

Laya continued his impressive start to the season allowing Oregon to regain control in the fifth. After Maddox Molony singled and moved to third on a Mabeus two-bagger, Laya lifted a ball into the bullpen beyond the right-field wall to push the lead to five.

 

Box Score Notes: Oregon’s nine wins to start the season is the second longest stretch in program history … The 1963 won its first 12 games … The 19 strikeouts were the most by an Oregon pitching staff since the Ducks fanned 20 vs. New Mexico State on April 3, 2021 ... Bradley entered the game with 10 career strikeouts before fanning nine on Friday night … The win was the first of his career … He also gave up his first career hit after tossing 11.0 innings of hitless ball between his freshman and sophomore campaigns … Gimenez’s homer was the first of his career … Sanford has yet to surrender an earned run through 14.2 innings of work … Featherston has not allowed a run in 9.0 innings this season while fanning 12 and walking none with just two hits allowed … His batting average against is .071.

 

On Deck: Oregon faces UC Irvine on Saturday with a noon PST first pitch.