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.

Go Ducks! Husk the Children Of The Corn!

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 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...

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.

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!

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?

Ducks are lookin good!!

Up a touchdown in the 7th...I like this

7 zip!!! WOOT!!!!

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...

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

Great game. And the announcers were good too.

Who pitches tomorrow?

2 minutes ago, Signoramous said:

Who pitches tomorrow?

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!

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...

Cook was terrific in his role

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2026

BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball

Rinse and Repeat, Ducks Power and Pitch their Way Into Championship Game

 

OMAHA, Neb. — No. 14 Oregon used the same formula to advance to Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament Championship game against No. 1 UCLA that it used earlier in the day to beat Washington. The Ducks’ belted three home runs while getting stellar pitching from three pitchers in an 8-0 win over No. 20 Nebraska on Saturday night at Charles Schwab Field in front of 12,083 mostly Huskers fans.

 

Oregon starter Will Sanford (8-2) followed teammate Cal Scolari’s dominant performance against Washington with maybe a more dominant outing. The Ducks’ right-hander allowed just two hits over 6.0 innings of work while fanning nine.

Will Sanford

 

Sanford retired the first 10 batters he faced, seven on strikeouts before allowing back-to-back walks in the top of the fourth. The Ducks’ sophomore responded, getting the next two batters including a strikeout to end the threat. In the fifth Sanford escaped a runners at the corners with one out situation, getting a pop out on a bunt attempt and a weak ground ball to end the inning.

 

In the sixth, Oregon turned a line drive into a double play after the leadoff batter doubled on a soft seeing-eye hit inside the first-base bag. Sanford wrapped up his night fanning the final hitter he faced.

 

Tanner Bradley came out of the bullpen to toss two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Luke Morgan got the final three outs of the game.

 

How It Happened: Oregon (40-15) drew first blood scoring a run in the top of the first. Ryan Cooney led off the game with a two-bagger before moving to third on an Angel Laya ground out. Drew Smith picked up the RBI with a ground out giving UO a 1-0 lead.

 

The Ducks built the lead to 3-0 with a couple of solo home runs. Maddox Molony hit one into the left-field bullpen in the fourth and Laya followed with one into the right-field bullpen in the fifth.

Angel Laya hits his Home Run

Oregon broke the game open scoring four runs against Nebraska (42-15) in the seventh inning. Cooney reached on a fielder’s choice and moved to second on a Laya walk, where the freshman worked a nine-pitch at-bat that included three foul balls with two strikes. After the walk, Smith ripped a two-run triple into the right-center field gap scoring Cooney and Laya. Freshman Brayden Jaksa made it a four-run inning when he belted his second homer of the day, with the first coming vs. UW in the morning game.

 

The Ducks tacked on a run in the ninth when Elijah Cook scored on a Smith sacrifice fly.

 

Box Score Notes: Cooney’s leadoff double moved him into sole possession of seventh on Oregon’s single-season doubles list with 19 … Naulivou Lauaki Jr. lined a ball of the fence in the second inning with an exit velocity of 118 miles per hour … Oregon’s hardest hit ball coming into the game was 115 miles per hour … Will Sanford recorded his 100th strikeout of the season in the second inning, becoming just the sixth Duck to have a 100-strikeout season … He joined David Peterson (2017), Tyler Anderson (2011, 2010), Ryne Nelson (2019) and Grayson Grinsell (2025) … Sanford ended the game with 105 career Ks, which ties Anderson (2010) for the third most in school history.

 

Up next: Oregon will face UCLA in the championship game at 12 p.m. (PT) on Sunday (Big Ten Network) at Charles Schwab Field.

That should do it I think to hosting a regional. A very impressive showing today in both games.