JON CHRISTONFor Mid-Valley Media
Oregon advanced to the NCAA super regionals for the second consecutive year, and— once again— it was pitching that ended the Ducks’ season one step short of the Men's College World Series.
Oregon lost a best-of-three Bryan-College Station Super Regional series to Texas A&M over the weekend, falling 10-6 in the opener Saturday and 15-9 in the second game Sunday.
It was a familiar story for the Ducks, who ended their 2023 campaign by giving up 19 total runs to Oral Roberts in two close-out super regional games.
Like last season, Oregon took early leads in each contest before its pitching faltered. The Ducks were outscored 19-2 beyond the third inning in College Station, Texas, with a nine-run seventh inning by the Aggies in the elimination game the icing on the cake.
Oregon’s bullpen walked five Texas A&M batters and hit one before giving up a grand slam that all but ended the Ducks’ season.
People are also reading…
Reliever Brock Moore was responsible for the bulk of the damage. After Moore pitched two scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth, coach Mark Wasikowski left the senior in for the seventhand Moore remained in the game until the seventh Aggie reached base in the inning.
On Saturday, Wasikowski was burned by his top starter. RJ Gordon, Oregon’s Friday night starter all season, was on the mound for the eventual game-winning run in the fourth inning after allowing seven runs, six earned, in 3⅓ innings pitched. It was his shortest outing of the season and the most runs allowed by an Oregon starter since April 21.
“The guys that pitched and pitched the majority of the innings this weekend, we wouldn’t be here without those guys,” Wasikowski said. “Those were our go-to guys, and we stuck with our go-to guys because they earned the trust from our coaching staff. Sometimes it doesn’t work out.”
It was a disappointing end to a generally successful season on the mound, and a stark contrast from just a weekend before for Wasikowski’s “go-to guys.”
Oregon was coming off a shutdown Santa Barbara Regional in which it allowed five runs total in three games. Gordon allowed three earned runs in seven innings in the opening game versus San Diego, while starters Grayson Grinsell and Kevin Seitter turned in scoreless outings in seven and nine innings, respectively, against UC Santa Barbara.
That trio helped Oregon overachieve on the mound despite losing eight pitchers to injury before or during the season. Of the five Ducks’ pitchers to start at least 10 games last year, none made a start in 2024.
Still, Oregon ranked fifth in the Pac-12 with a sub-5.00 ERA as a team with Gordon, Grinsell and Seitter starting 46 of the team’s 60 games.
Unfortunately for Wasikowski, his pitching staff couldn’t register the same success in Texas.
“Where it worked out so many times in the past it didn't work out for us tonight (Sunday),” Wasikowski said.
Oregon’s offense, meanwhile, stepped up with 15 total runs in two games. But as the Aggies’ bats heated up late, the Ducks’ cooled considerably.
Anson Aroz and Chase Meggers helped the Ducks build early advantages. Aroz put Oregon up 2-0 with a home run as the second batter of the game Saturday, while Meggers drove in two with a double to make it 6-3 in the second.
The offense stalled from there, recording just one hit after Texas A&M took a 7-6 lead in the fourth inning.
History repeated itself Sunday. The Ducks similarly led 7-2 after three innings thanks in part to home runs from Aroz and Meggers, but failed to tack on insurance runs before the fateful seventh inning.
In the fourth, Oregon had the bases loaded with nobody out and did not score.
Action on the basepaths in the sixth netted just a single run.
“We came up a tick short,” Wasikowski said.
It was a commendable effort for an Oregon offense that ranked among the Pac-12’s best despite losing six of the team’s seven everyday players from a year ago.
Jacob Walsh was the one returnee from that group, building on a solid 2023 campaign to lead the Ducks with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in 60 games in 2024. He homered in the deciding regional game against UC Santa Barbara but was held hitless versus Texas A&M.
Outside of Walsh, Oregon— which ranked third in the conference in runs scored— relied on a number of players stepping into starting roles for the first time in their respective careers.
One such player is outfielder Mason Neville. The Arkansas transfer broke out with a team-leading 1.033 OPS and ranked second on the team with 16 home runs and 43 RBIs despite not becoming a consistent starter until April.
Others, like Aroz and Meggers, were key contributors after appearing largely in bench roles last season with the Ducks.
These new pieces helped the team make a second-straight super regional for the first time in program history.
In the end, though, even a different roster couldn’t help the Ducks escape the same fate as last year: a pitching letdown just short of Omaha.
0 Comments
'); var s = document.createElement('script'); s.setAttribute('src', 'https://assets.revcontent.com/master/delivery.js'); document.body.appendChild(s); window.removeEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); __tnt.log('Load Rev Content'); } } }, 100); window.addEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); }
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
