The Oregon Ducks baseball team secured a spot in the NCAA Super Regionals after defeating in-state rival Oregon State 4-1 at PK Park on May 31. The No. 11 Ducks delivered a strong performance before a third consecutive sellout crowd, advancing to the next round of postseason play.
Head coach Mark Wasikowski said, “We were really blessed tonight. The blessings are countless. To be around these guys, this team is a very special team. The team that we played tonight is an outstanding program, as we all know, and we have respect for that, and we really embraced the opportunity to be able to take the hardest path. I think they’ve embraced that to go up against a very, very historically strong program and do it here at PK Park, where the fans were just unbelievable.”
More than 25,000 fans attended six games of the NCAA Regional at PK Park featuring Pacific Northwest teams Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State. Sunday night’s matchup was the first-ever postseason meeting between Oregon and Oregon State in a regional final.
A decisive three-run seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie for Oregon and ensured their third Super Regional appearance in four years—and fourth overall in program history. Senior Drew Smith said, “Being a part of this place is really special… This has been the greatest four years of my life, and I don’t plan on it ending anytime soon.” Starting pitcher Miles Gosztola added, “It’s a fantastic feeling to move on… It’s a great feeling to beat the team down the road, along with Washington State… it’s a great feeling to move on and represent Oregon.”
Oregon’s pitching staff held OSU to one run with 14 strikeouts across contributions from Gosztola (who struck out eight), Luke Morgan (who struck out three batters in one inning), Tanner Bradley (two scoreless innings), and Devin Bell (12th save of season). Six Ducks made the All-Tournament Team; Will Sanford was named tournament MVP after his Saturday performance.
The Ducks will face No. 6 seed Texas next weekend in Austin for their chance at reaching their first College World Series appearance.
