Charles Fischer

Attendance at Oregon home baseball games is poor until the last four weeks of the season, and very, very few will travel. Football? Yes, many will, Basketball? Some... But non-revenue sports like Baseball and Track generally have audiences primarily consisting of players' relatives, IMHO. Yep, the background of the Washington game this morning reminded me of the Covid days... Of course I am the least qualified fan to offer an opinion, because I think that conference tournaments in all sports are simply a scam to squeeze more teams into the Playoffs. But now that all the conferences have one--not much value in that. The team that wins the most games over a 30 game conference schedule should be the ONLY champion, and not have their accomplishment diminished by a tournament where another team got hot for a few days...

It will be quite interesting to watch this game, because the Bruins could lose their No. 1 overall seed with a loss. Oregon will want it more, and with the stadium clear of 'Husker fans....UCLA won't have the crowd with them as in LA recently. If the Ducks play like today...

Ducks win 8-0, and a very, very impressive performance by the whole team. Great hitting and pitching, as Nebraska was trailing the whole game. I believe that win secured hosting a Regional... In the ninth...Elijah Cook zipped a grounder through the left infield, and then stole second base. Ryan Cooney walked, and Josh Schleichardt sac-flies to move Cook to 3rd. Then Drew Smith sac-flies to score Cook! Game recap coming at roughly 10:00 PM...

I'm thinking Miles Gosztola, who has pitched really well as the starter on Sundays recently. We have TONS of fresh arms to use, and our guys are going to be fired up!

7-0 Ducks after eight innings! Nothing on offense, and Tanner Bradley was studly putting them down 1-2-3...

7-0 Ducks after seven innings. Gabe Miranda got plinked, and then thrown out at second on a grounder by Ryan Cooney. Angel Laya had a long AB to pull a walk, as Drew Smith hit a liner to the deep CF/RF gap that gives him a triple and scores Cooney and Laya! Then freshman Brayden Jaksa blasts a pitch into the 'Husker bullpen for a two run homer! Tanner Bradley came in and dispensed with the batters, 1-2-3...

3-0 Ducks after six innings. Will Sanford gave up a double, but then generated a line-drive to Maddox Molony, who then threw to second base and Ryan Cooney for a double play! Then after throwing a 96 mph heater--Sanford gets the third strike on the batter with a vicious curve that drops a ton! Nine strikeouts, and Will has 85 pitches through six...will we see him in the seventh?

3-0 Ducks after five innings. Angel Laya crushed a pitch and put it over the RF fense and into the Oregon bullpen! Oregon's Will Sanford got into a jam with runners on 1st and 3rd with only one out...but he got out it!

2-0 Ducks after four innings. Maddox Molony pulverized the first pitch and sent it into the 'Husker bullpen. Will Sanford lost some control, and walked two batters, but got out of it scoreless! The Nebraska crowd is huge, and loud...a great home-field advantage for them.

1-0 Ducks after three innings. We stranded bases-loaded, with one out.... Will Sanford is in a zone, and has six strikeouts in just three innings. Not even a base runner yet...

1-0 Ducks after two innings. Nebraska is a very good hitting team, so great pitching is mandatory to keep them in check. So far, Will Sanford has really delivered, with another 1-2-3...

1-0 Ducks after one inning. Oregon is the lower seed, and thus the visiting team and bats first each inning. We are taking on a Cornhusker pitcher with a 3.81 ERA... Ryan Cooney drilled a liner to the RF-CF gap that was almost caught, but put him on second base. An Angel Laya groundout moved him to third, and a Drew Smith groundout scored him! Will Sanford put the Nebraska batters down...1-2-3.

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2026 BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball Ducks Pitch, Slug Their Way into B1G Semifinals OMAHA, Neb. — No. 14 Oregon slugged a season-high five home runs while Cal Scolari and Toby Twist held Washington scoreless through eight innings in a 9-4 Ducks win in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference Tournament on Saturday morning at Charles Schwab Field. With the win, Oregon advances to the semifinals later today against two-seed Nebraska. Scolari (5-0) dominated from the start, striking out the side in the first inning. The Ducks’ starter finished with 10 strikeouts, one off his career high, in five innings of work. He finished his outing striking out Huskies’ two-hole hitter Braeden Terry to end the fifth with the bases loaded. Cal Scolari Twist took the ball out of the bullpen and proceeded to keep UW scoreless through the next three innings. He left the game with a 9-0 lead after retiring the first batter in the top of the ninth before giving up a base hit and a walk. After Twist departed, UW hit a grand slam to cut the lead to five. All five of Oregon’s home runs were solo shots, with back-to-back bombs in both the fifth and sixth innings. The Ducks scored a pair of runs in four different innings in the win. How It Happened: Oregon (39-15) took the early lead with a pair of runs in the second inning with the help of some free passes. Naulivou Lauaki Jr. led off the frame with a base hit and moved to second on a Jack Brooks hit-by-pitch and third on a Gabe Miranda pinch hit. With the bases loaded, Washington starter Noah Kenney walked Ryan Cooney and Angel Laya to force in Lauaki and Brooks to give UO a 2-0 lead. Oregon pushed the lead to three in the third. Lauaki hit an opposite field solo home run into the Huskies (24-32) bullpen. Naulivou Lauaki blasting his homer... In the fifth, the Ducks went back-to-back with solo home runs to lead off the inning. Drew Smith belted his 15th of the season, while Brayden Jaksa followed with his ninth. In the sixth, the bottom of the order got in on the long-ball parade. Eight-hole hitter Jack Brooks pulled one over the Huskies bullpen in the right-field corner before Miranda followed with one into the Huskies bullpen. Brooks’ homer was his sixth while Miranda belted his fifth. Box Score Notes: The two back-to-back home runs marked the first time in Charles Schwab Field history that one team has had a pair of back-to-back homers in the same game … Smith’s homer moved him into a tie for 10th on the single-season list at Oregon … It was also the 27th of his career, tying Guy Krause (1971-74) for sixth in the career list … Lauaki’s home run was his 11th, all coming since April 8 … The five home runs tied for the fourth most in program history … It was the first time Oregon hit five homers since May 31, 2025, vs. Cal Poly. Up next: Oregon will face Nebraska in the semifinals tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. (PT) on the Big Ten Network.

Ducks win 9-4, as relief pitcher Michael Meckna gave up a grand slam, but finished the inning. A BIG semifinal today against Nebraska on the Big-10 Network at 4:00 PM PST!

9-0 Ducks after eight innings. Toby Twist gave up a hit, but erased it by generating a sweet double-play! Maddox Molony got plinked, and Jack Brooks hit a sharp-angled drive on the RF line and to the side-wall to get a double. Ryan Cooney was intentionally walked, and then Angel Laya nailed a hit up the middle to score Molony. Drew Smith sacrificed-fly to score Brooks! Destroying the Huskies....

7-0 Ducks after seven innings. Toby Twist cruised through the inning with three flyouts, and the difference in being a top-four seed becomes evident. Oregon has strong, rested pitching, while Washington has already played two games and doesn't have as much pitching depth available. Well, that and we hit pretty-darn-good!

7-0 Ducks after six innings. Toby Twist came in with his good 4.01 ERA, and gave up two base runners, but stranded them with two strikeouts. Then Jack Brooks pummelled a pitch into the RF stands for a solo homer, and then Gabe Miranda blasted one to the same in the same area for back-to-back-JACKS! First game this year for Oregon with FIVE home runs, and as JDuck noted above...the last two were off a transfer pitcher who left Eugene to go to Seattle. Figures!

5-0 Ducks after five innings. Cal Scolari got into a bases-loaded jam...and then got out of it with more strikeouts. He has ten KOs for the game! Drew Smith gets things going with a solo homer into the Oregon Bullpen! Then Brayden Jaksa just crushes a pitch and sends it over the same Bullpen, over the seats, and into the concourse! Whew! These three freshmen of Jaksa, Laya and Lauaki have been sensational for Oregon!

3-0 Ducks after four innings. Cal Scolari struck-out the side, and has seven punch-outs in four innings...

3-0 Ducks after three innings. Cal Scolari walked a batter, but then generated a sweet double-play! Naulivou Lauaki was patient, and found his pitch--and drove it into the Husky Bullpen for his 11th home run in his short season. Whew!

2-0 Ducks after two innings. Cal Scolari did well again to give up a hit, but retire the rest. Naulivou Lauaki nailed a base hit up the middle, and Jack Brooks was plinked. Gabe Miranda was pinch-hitting for Jax Gimenez, and drove a liner into RF to load the bases with one out. Ryan Cooney waited out a walk to score Lauaki, and then Angel Laya did the same thing to score Brooks. But Our Beloved Ducks stranded bases-loaded after that!

0-0 after one inning. Oregon is staying with their new rotation, and thus the new Saturday starter, Cal Scolari, is on the hill. He is pitching at a 3.27 ERA, and fanned the first three batters easily. The last one he nailed the inside corner at 95 mph, and so good to see his control there to start. The Bastard Huskies start Noah Kenny with a good 4.40 ERA, so this will be a battle. On offense...Ducks stranded two in scoring position!

Sorry for all the false alarms, but tech issues have to be prepared for and solved before we proceed. We thought we had it done, (A couple of times) but for naught. Now...we are back on schedule for Monday...roughly mid-day with the move from this current web address to discussobd.com Yes! The sale has happened, and they have not shut us down yet on this address yet, but we are being proactive and moving it ourselves today, sometime today...probably tonight. They may not shut things off at this address until Monday, or may do it in five minutes--who knows? But we are getting it done today, so we can also move the article site to the forum also. New Forum Web Address: (URL) discussobd.com My new email, as the other one of 14 years will not work shortly: charlesfobd@gmail.com My phone number remains the same at: 541-915-4541 It will be the same forum, same everything, just at a different web location, so join the fun at the new address later today!

We have been told it will be at 8:03 AM PST, but yet the Big-10 Channel on TV has the game from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM PST? I don't know which it is, but will find out soon...

So today is a double-header! Beat the Bastard-Huskies!