Normally Oregon is facing pitchers with ERAs close to ours or even better from the opposing starters. But this weekend is the biggest spread yet this season...by a mile.

For example we open up tonight with Will Sanford, who sports a 3.24 ERA and he goes up against a Nittany Lion in Colin Fitzgerald who has a 6.98 ERA. The starters on Saturday and Sunday have even worse ERAs, so on paper--Oregon has a decided advantage.

But we know how that goes, as it all depends upon the day. If our guy has an off-day, and their pitcher is on fire that day...ERAs mean nothing. Looking at the pitching roster...it gets worse quickly for Penn State, with the best relievers a touch below 5.00 at best, with much higher numbers the norm.

In terms of hitting...Penn State has four players hitting over .300 while the Ducks have five with another quite close. The 'Lions can keep it close with good pitching, but the potential is there for the some run-rule games too.

They are 12-26, with only five wins in Big-10 play. (Oregon is 29-11) Their most notable wins are taking one game out of a three-game series from Iowa, Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State and Rutgers. They did lose two close games to Nebraska, so the potential to mess us up is there.

PSU is only 3-14 on the road, and it is projected to be sunny and warm this weekend, which is perfect for our home-run hitters. This should be the easiest series left, but you know Baseball! Get it done, Ducks!

Lots of Homer-Huddles, Please!

0-0 after two innings. Will Sanford has given a little up, but kept them scoreless. He's good tonight thus far, but not his best--yet.

On offense? The Ducks have stranded four runners in two innings already.

2-1 Ducks after four innings. In the third inning, we committed two throwing errors in one play to score a runner from second who got a double off Will Sanford.

In the fourth--Sanford put them down 1-2-3.

Angel Laya got a hit up the middle, and then Burke-Lee Mabeus hit opposite field to LF over the wall for a 2-run homer!

3-2 Ducks after five innings. Will Sanford lost some control this inning, as he gave up some hits and then his wild pitch gave Penn State another run.

Jax Gimenez walks, and then steals second easily. Braden Jaksa gets a hit up the middle, and then Ryan Cooney hits a deep sacrifice-fly to score Gimenez!

3-2 Ducks after six innings. Will Sanford gave up two base runners, but got it done with a scoreless inning.

Oregon loads the bases with one out, and strands them....again.

4-4 after seven innings. Luke Morgan comes in for relief....and gives up a 2-run homer.

Brayden Jaksa nails a pitch to the RF corner for a double, while Angel Laya walks. Jaksa moves to third on a wild pitch, and Maddox Molony hits just past the first baseman to score Jaksa.

Then Oregon stranded bases-loaded for a third time.

5-4 Ducks after eight innings. Tanner Bradley came in and disposed of the 'Lions 1-2-3...

Jack Brooks beats out a soft bouncer to 3rd base area, and then steals second. Brayden Jaksa walks, and then both do a double-steal! Ryan Cooney is intentionally walked. Drew Smith hit a bouncer to 3rd, and the throw to home was just a little wide which pulled the catcher's foot off the plate so Brooks scored!

Then we left bases loaded stranded for the FOURTH time tonight...

Ducks win 5-4 as Tanner Bradley was on fire and impossible to hit. They went down 1-2-3 again....

Forget the ERAs, as Penn State pitchers tonight were every bit as tough as other Big-10 opponents we faced....although some timely hitting by Oregon with bases loaded (four times) could have really changed the game.

Whew!

I love our Pinstripe uniforms!

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2026

BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball

Ducks Rally Late for Win over Penn State

 

EUGENE, Ore. — No. 19 Oregon rallied with a pair of late inning runs to overcome a one-run deficit and pick up a 5-4 win over Penn State in Big Ten Conference action on Friday at PK Park in game one of the series.

 

The Ducks, who entered the weekend in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference with four weeks to play, gained ground on both second-place Nebraska, who lost at Illinois earlier in the day, and third-place Purdue, who lost at USC. The Ducks are now a half game behind the Boilermakers and two games behind Nebraska.

 

Freshman Brayden Jaksa paced Oregon offensively, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored. Fellow freshman Angel Laya reached base four times (2-for-3, BB, HBP) and scored a run, while junior Maddox Molony went 2-for-5 with a huge RBI. Sophomore Burke-Lee Mabeus drove in a pair of runs on a two-run home run.

Burke-Lee Mabeus and Tanner Bradley

Tanner Bradley moved to 4-0, picking up the win after retiring all six of the batters he faced including five on strikeouts. He fanned the first and third batters he faced in the eighth inning while getting a weak comebacker for the second out. He struck out the side in the ninth to wrap up the win.

 

Oregon starter Will Sanford left after six with the lead. He gave up two runs on four hits in 6.0 innings of work with eight strikeouts and two walks. Sanford and Bradley combined for 13 strikeouts.

 

How It Happened: The Ducks (30-11, 13-6 Big Ten) fell behind in the top of the seventh inning when Penn State (12-27, 5-14 Big Ten) second baseman Bryce Molinaro belted a two-run go-ahead home run with two outs to put the Nittany Lions on top 4-3.

 

Oregon responded immediately by tying the game in the bottom half of the inning. Jaksa led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a passed ball on ball four to Laya to put runners at the corners with two outs. Molony picked up the RBI with a single through the right side.

 

The Ducks took the lead in the eighth inning, scoring an unearned run. UO loaded the bases with one out on a Jack Brooks infield single and a pair of walks. Drew Smith hit a chopper to third baseman Spencer Barnett who went to cut Brooks down at home to keep the game tied, but the throw was barely off target forcing catcher Joey DeMucci to pull his foot briefly allowing Brooks to touch the plate before DeMucci could get his foot back on the plate.  Penn State challenged but the call stood.

 

Jack Brooks was SAFE at Home!

Oregon rallied from a pair of deficits before winning the game. Penn State took the lead with a run in the top of the third, but Oregon countered with two runs in the fourth. After Laya reached on a base hit up the middle, Mabeus belted a two-out, two-run home run to give the Ducks the lead.

 

PSU tied it in the fourth scoring on a wild pitch, but Oregon responded with a run in its half of the inning. Jax Gimenez walked and stole second before moving to third on a Jaksa single and scoring on a Ryan Cooney sacrifice fly.

 

Box Score Notes: Oregon reached the 30-win mark for the sixth consecutive season … Gimenez extended his reached base streak to 31 games on a fifth inning base on balls, matching the second longest streak in the modern era of Oregon baseball … Mabeus’ home run was his fifth of the season and seventh of his career … Jaksa matched his career high with three hits … It was his 10th multiple-hit game including his seventh in the last nine games.

 

On Deck: The Ducks will look for a series win when the teams meet in game two on Saturday (B1G+). First pitch is at 4:05 p.m. after the Oregon football spring game.

 

Head Coach Mark Wasikowski

 

On Tanner Bradley’s ability to close out games...

“He’s been really good. Credit to him, his work ethic, his parents for raising him the right way. Hes tough as nails. And then the work that those guys are doing with him down there with Florer and Straily, it’s pretty remarkable.”

 

On what he liked and didn’t like from the offensive side...

“I didn't think we played super well. To be honest with you, I think the Fitzgerald kid had it going, didn't he? He was throwing 94 to 95, 96 miles an hour with a hammer tonight, and he had command of it and a good feel for more than two pitches. Actually, I thought he was on his game. And to come out with a Friday night win when a guy's pitching as well as he was really good.”

 

On the game-deciding call at home plate...

“There's one close call at home plate that I'll never forget at PK Park, that I still have a strong opinion on.”

 

On his thoughts heading forward into the series...

“We're 1-0 on the weekend, and we're looking forward to playing tomorrow. Hopefully 1-0 again tomorrow, and that would give us two on the weekend. That's our goal tomorrow.”

 

Tanner Bradley

 

On his thoughts about closing out the game…

“I maintain my routine no matter what it is. I like coming into games neutral. They are a very good team. I stay in myself and what I can control.”

 

On what pitches he used to strike out the side in the 9^th…

“All of them. I utilized all my pitches.”

 

On how the team bounced back after the Oregon State game…

“We came into the game pretty well. We weren’t too high after the Oregon State game, or too low. It's a Friday night game. It's going to be the best pitcher against the best pitcher, and you just have to go compete it out and see who wins.”

 

Maddox Molony

 

On his initial thoughts on this back-and-forth win tonight…

“It was a good game. It was a hard-fought game. It wasn't a clean game, but it's a Friday night win, and that's what matters. That's what's important.”

 

On his game-tying hit…

“I just wanted to get out there and do what I've done hundreds of times before.”

 

On his confidence level in this team to get wins that are not so clean…

“We're a gritty team, and you can see that through our lineup. It doesn't always matter if we’re doing good or bad. We're going to compete, and I expect us to win, messy like that."

 

Brayden Jaksa

 

On his thoughts about the game…

“We came in here confident, coming out of Corvallis, and just ready to compete. We've been sticking to our approach when it comes to hitting. The pitchers are really trying to dial it in and really just compete out there and give us the best chance to win. Just as a team, really proud of how we fought today, and just came out with the win. We’ll try tomorrow to come out and win again.”

 

On Lauaki and him in the lineup for the last nine games…

“I feel like Junior and I just go out there every single day ready to compete and do what's best for the team. Ever since I've been putting the two-hole, I've just really tried to get as many pluses as I can at the plate, get on base, and start rallies. I want to bring the energy. We just stick to our plan, as I've said in the past, and that's been working."

 

On coach’s message after the game…

“We want to stick to our approach. You know, the game's always going to be hard. It's going to test us at points like it did today. We can come out and compete and win those games as a whole unit. He wanted us to keep the energy in the dugout high, keep the energy on the field. We want to back each other up and really just come out here and do what we know how to do and keep winning ball games.”