It should be a good day for baseball--cloudy and not to hot, but not cold either. Indiana is applying a little strategy to their pitchers lined up for the three day series. They are starting pitchers with good ERAs on Saturday and Sunday, as those ERAs are very close to the Oregon starting pitchers.

I think they looked at Will Sanford film (3-0) and his ERA at an incredible 0.92 and decided to put their worst against him and save their better pitchers for days with a better chance of winning. Our Beloved Ducks will face Reagan Rivera, (0-2) who has an ERA of 13.50 and thus why I think they decided to play him today instead of Sunday.

I did not notice this during the game, but you gotta love it!

1-0 Indiana after one inning. Will Sanford got two outs, then gave up a double and scored him with two wild pitches. Not a good start...

Dominic Hellman was left stranded on second...

1-0 Indiana after two innings. Will Sanford does not have his usual control today, but he got through the inning and kept them scoreless.

The Hoosier pitcher has a terrible ERA, but that came over a couple of games, while another couple games he kept the opposing team scoreless for his innings. So I guess we see the good side of him today...

1-0 Hoosiers after three innings. Will Sanford has got it going with retiring the side 1-2-3, but so does the Indiana pitcher.

Let's go Ducks!

2-0 Hoosiers after four innings. Will Sanford gave up two hits, and two wild pitches that resulted in another run.

Ducks stymied on offense...

2-1 Hoosiers after five innings. Will Sanford retired the side...even faster this time!

Drew Smith walked and Nav. Lauiki got plinked. Then Ryan Cooney hit Smith in. Ducks stranded two in scoring position.

2-2 after six innings. Oregon's Will Sanford pitched wonderfully, but he finished with 96 pitches, so his day is done--after he completed the scoreless inning.

Maddox Molony mashed a moonball over the LF wall to tie it up!

3-2 Ducks after seven innings. Will Sanford returned to create two outs and left with 112 pitches. Then Tanner Bradley comes in and easily gets the third out. Sanford going that long could enable Oregon to go the eighth inning, and Devin Bell in the ninth? That would allow both pitchers to return for another game, so that extra inning by Sanford is big.

Burke-Lee Mabeus hits a big double off the CF wall, and Josh Schleichardt does a sac-grounder to move Mabeus to third. With one out Ryan Cooney hits a sacrifice fly to score Mabeus. Ducks are ahead for the first time this game!

3-2 Ducks after eight innings. Tanner Bradley got it done again with his sideways movement on his pitches.

Three more outs needed...do you return the proven Bradley, or save him for another game and bring in Bell? (Who has three saves)

Ducks win 3-2 as Devin Bell has his fourth save. He gave up a hit which got moved to second on a groundout, but Bell created two more groundouts to finish the game.

Oregon had 13 strikeouts today between Sanford (10) and Bradley (3) and the relief pitcher for Indiana had a 0.00 ERA with extensive innings pitched thus far this year, and the Ducks got three runs off him. Tough, scratching-from-behind win, as the Hoosiers had some great pitching Our Beloved Ducks struggled with, but ultimately prevailed.

Fantastic pitching by Oregon today...whew!

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2026

BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball

Ducks Open Indiana Series with a Come-from-Behind Win

 

EUGENE, Ore. — Will Sanford, Tanner Bradley and Devin Bell combined on a five-hitter with 13 strikeouts while Oregon’s offense scored three late runs to rally from an early deficit in a 3-2 win over Indiana in a Big Ten Conference game at PK Park on Friday.

 

Sanford struck out a career-high 10 over a career-best 6.2 innings of work before giving way to the relievers. Bradley (1-0) picked up the win after retiring the final batter in the seventh inning, before striking out the side after allowing a leadoff single in the eighth. Bell got his fourth save getting the final three outs in the ninth.

How It Happened: After Indiana (7-10, 1-3 B1G) built a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and fourth innings, the Ducks (15-3, 3-1 B1G) cut the lead in half with a run in the fifth. Drew Smith led off the inning with a walk and moved to second when pinch-hitter Naulivou Lauaki was hit by a pitch. Ryan Cooney legged out an RBI double on a ball that glanced off the glove of the diving second baseman, scoring Smith from second.

 

Maddox Molony tied it with a 436-foot solo shot over the left-field wall in the bottom of the sixth before Oregon scored again in the seventh to take the lead. Burke-Lee Mabeus led off the inning with a double off the center fielder’s glove, moved to third on a Josh Schleichardt sacrifice bunt and scored on a Cooney sacrifice fly.

Box Score Notes: Molony’s home run was the 29th of his career, moving him one behind Tom Dodd (1977-79) for fourth all-time at Oregon … Dominic Hellman extended his reached base streak to 18 games with a first-inning double … Smith extended his reached base streak to 18 games with a fifth-inning base on balls … Indiana stranded eight runners, while Oregon left six on base.

 

On Deck: The Ducks and Hoosiers meet in game two of the series on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.  (B1G+).

 

Quotes:

 

Head Coach Mark Wasikowski

 

On the bullpen guys closing out the game…

“They pitch very well. Tanner Bradley came in and did his job. Will Sanford had a tremendous start. He did a really nice job. Then, Devin Bell to close the game. The boys played good defense and executed when they needed to. We got the timely hit. That was just a really good Friday night win. Indiana’s starter was out there throwing 94-97 miles an hour. They're back end closer guy is lighting it up at 94-95 miles an hour with a nasty slider and a really good feel for a change-up, too. That was a really good college baseball game and a good one to win.”

 

On how Will Sanford can manage his wild pitches…

“If he is throwing into the seventh inning every start, I like our chances. I’m not going to be too critical of Will. When you go six and two-thirds and strike out 10, I thought he pitched exceptionally well. Sometimes when your stuff is really nasty, you’re going to have a couple of wild pitches. That comes with the territory. Not only was his stuff good tonight, but it improved as the game went on. That tells me that Will is invested in the strength and conditioning program that Darrell Hunter is in charge of here. That’s why the guys are so strong and why Will was able to improve his velocity as the outing went on. I’m impressed with that.”

 

On the pitching balance and Tanner Bradley’s performance…

“He had a couple of strikeouts on his off-speed pitches, but his velocity was up, too. He was at 92-94 miles an hour on some. I think all of those guys have really good arms. We’re blessed right now. Coach Florer has done a nice job getting those guys to believe and developing good stuff.”

Maddox Molony after his blast... 

Maddox Molony

 

On his 436-foot home run…

“That is probably the farthest one I’ve hit in my life. It’s pretty cool. I was looking for a fastball, and that is what he gave me.”

 

On the team’s energy today, such as Gimenez diving to first with no one on base…

“It’s awesome. It’s a lot of energy. That was a gritty win. It was a close game, and everyone was fighting. It wasn’t the biggest hit, but that fires the team up. That’s awesome.”

 

On how it feels to have his pitchers throw so well as an infield player…

“It’s awesome. Our job is to be back there and back them up. Our pitchers make our job easy, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

 

On managing the base traffic and keeping Indiana to two runs…

“That’s part of the game. Things happen, and sometimes it doesn’t go your way. It’s our job to stay calm and not try to do too much.”

 

On what he liked about the weather and the crowd at home…

“Yeah, it was nice. The rain tried to creep in a little bit. The Duck was here, the fans were here, and they were getting excited for the little things, like Jax diving to first. It was awesome and felt like a great home environment.”

 

Ryan Cooney

On how he was able to find grass…

“I just try to put the ball in play, especially the one that has two strikes and runners in position. Good things happen when the ball is in play. On the other one, the sac fly, I did my job, guy on third. That was a big run we needed. I was glad I was in that spot for the guys and able to pick it up.”

 

On how it feels as an infielder to see the pitching staff do well…

“It’s awesome. It makes my job really easy. Obviously, I made an error out there today, but I know the guys are out there to pick me up, and I’m there to pick them up, too. It allows me to have the confidence to go for everything and do my job. It’s awesome to see Will, Tanner, and Devin do what they did. They’re special.”

 

On the team’s energy…

“I think it’s awesome. I think we want to be in these close games and have a challenge. I think it’s really important for us. I have to say this was a really big game for us, just as a culture, when it goes ugly, still being able to win. I think it’s important for us to go through that adversity now in the season against a good team and go back at it tomorrow.”

 

On how the team was able to notch runs against Indiana’s pitchers…

“They were doing a good job at mixing us early on. What we were really focusing on throughout the game was being able to adapt and change our approach. We found something that was working and ran with it.”

Tanner Bradley

Will Sanford

 

On throwing a career-high 10 strikeouts...

“I thought I was mixing well. Landing off-speed and hitters' counts and keeping them off balance, that's how I got the fastball on them.”

 

On bouncing back after errors early in the game...

“I think it's a big growth thing for me. We talked about it in our meeting last year; I would've crumbled in those spots, and it just shows that the work I put in with (Dan) Straily and (Matt) Florer, all that mental work, has been paying off. I have full belief in myself; those innings will happen, but it's how I bounce back.

 

On Tanner Bradley coming in for the win...

“I told him he's going to get me out of this. I trust that dude with anything; I trust all those guys. We have a really good pen. There are going to be multiple guys that come into those situations, and they're going to win for us, so I have full confidence.”