Ducks Open B1G Tournament Play Friday vs. Washington

20-20 Vision

For the first time in program history, Oregon has put together back-to-back seasons with 20-plus wins in conference play.
Oregon won 20 games this season after winning 22 in 2025.
The 20 league wins are tied for the third most in program history. The 2013 team won 22 games while the 2021 team won 20 games.

First Teamers

Oregon had eight players earn all-conference honors with two of those earning first-team accolades.
SR 3B Drew Smith earned his spot hitting .327 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI.
SO RP Tanner Bradley was dominant out of the bullpen going 5-1 with a 1.83 ERA, 69 Ks in 44.1 IP with a .140 batting average against.

Best Backstop In The Business

Oregon SO C Burke-Lee Mabeus is one of 16 semifinalists for the Buster Posey Award.
The Ducks' backstop is slashing .313/.411/.556 with a .967 OPS with 20 extra-base hits.
Defensively, he leads all B1G catchers (min. 30 games played) in caught stealing average, strikes looking above average, and fielding runs above average.

Eight Ducks earn All-B1G honors

Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, eight Oregon players have garnered all-league recognition including two first-team selections.
The eight all-league picks rank second among Big Ten teams, trailing only UCLA's 11.
Oregon's two first-team selections matched Nebraska and USC for the second most behind UCLA (7).
The Ducks' six combined first, second and third-team picks tied Nebraska for the second most behind UCLA (8).
SR 3B Drew Smith and SO RP Tanner Bradley both claimed first team honors, with Smith also representing the Ducks on the all-defensive team.
Three Ducks were named second-team all-conference while one claimed third-team honors.
SP SO Will Sanford, SR closer Devin Bell and JR 2B Ryan Cooney were the second-team picks while FR DH Naulivou Lauaki Jr. was named third team.
Last season, Cooney was a first-team all-conference selection.
Lauaki was one of three Ducks freshmen to earn spots on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
The three all-freshman team selections matched Maryland for the most while both Illinois and Nebraska had two.
The redshirt freshman was joined by true FR OF Angel Laya and true FR C/1B/LF Brayden Jaksa.
JR CF Jack Brooks was honored with the Ducks' sportsmanship award, with one member of each team having a representative.

Success in all three phases of the game

The Ducks head into this week ranked in the top 25 in the nation in nine different statistical categories, including four top 10 rankings and two that rank in the top five.
On the mound, Oregon is second in the nation in shutouts (7) and fourth in hits allowed per nine innings (7.21), while ranking ninth in WHIP (1.24) 10th in strikeouts per nine innings (11.0), 16th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.80) and 21st in ERA (4.26).
Offensively, UO ranks 16th in home runs per game (1.74) and 20th in home runs (92), while defensively ranking 16th in fielding percentage (.980).

Going, Going, Gone

For the fourth time in five years, Oregon set a new program record for home runs in 2025.
The Ducks' top six home run seasons have all come since the 2021 season.
The Ducks have increased the home run record by 67 long balls in the Mark Wasikowski era.
Heading into his first season at the helm in 2020, the Oregon team record for home runs in a season was 48.
Oregon has hit 92 home runs (1.74 per game) in its first 53 games of the 2026 season.

Records are made to be broken

During head coach Mark Wasikowski's tenure at Oregon, the Ducks have rewritten the program's record book on offense.
The Ducks continued that assault in 2025 breaking three records that the Ducks had previously broke during the Wasikowski era.
Oregon belted 115 homers topping the 101 set in 2023, drove in 438 runs, breaking the RBI record set in 2022 and scoring 465 runs breaking the record set in 2022.
The 2022 season ended with the Ducks setting records in eight major statistical categories: batting average, hits, runs, home runs, RBI, doubles, total bases and at-bats.
Of the eight records, three broke school records set in 2021 when the team broke long-time records for runs (376 in 2010), home runs (48 in 1974) and RBI (332 in 2010).
In 2023, Oregon re-set four of the records with 101 HR, 142 doubles, 1,057 total bases and 2,167 at-bats.
While increasing the home run record by 59 during the Wasikowski era, the Ducks have increased the runs scored record by 89 and the RBI record by 106.

Smith added to Golden Spikes midseason watch list

In his fourth season at Oregon, SR 3B Drew Smith has put together a strong season while ranking among the Big Ten leaders in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, RBI and home runs.
A versatile player who has made starts at four different positions plus DH, Smith heads into the B1G Tournament with a .326/.419/.520 career slash line.
He has reached base at least once in 149 of his 164 career starts.
Excelling in big moments, Smith has been named to the all-tournament team in Oregon's last two postseason appearances.
He earned a spot on the Santa Barbara all-tournament team in 2024 at second base, before being named to the 2025 Eugene Regional all-tournament team as an outfielder.
As a true freshman, he earned ABCA/Rawlings second-team All-West Region honors after reaching base in all 26 games with a plate appearance and setting Oregon's modern-era program record with a 20-game hitting streak.

Cooney claims third career B1G Player of the Week, 8th in nation in hits

2B Ryan Cooney ended the 2025 season as one of Oregon's top players and he has done nothing to change that outlook in 2026.
In 2026, Cooney has continued to be one of Oregon's best hitters slashing .340/.423/.544 with a .967 OPS while batting leadoff in 38 games and hitting third in 14 games.
He heads into the tournament 10th in the Big Ten in hits (73).
He is also tied for second in the league in doubles while ranking 17th in the Big Ten in batting average.
The Portland native had a ridiculous series at Illinois slashing .692/.750/1.308 with a 2.058 OPS while reaching base in 12 of his 16 plate appearances including a 5-for-5 game on Friday and a two-home run game on Sunday.
The Ducks' second baseman was named the B1G Player of the Week for the third time during his career.
He is the first Ducks' position player ever to be named conference player of the week three times.

Molony heating up

SS Maddox Molony put together a superb series at Illinois homering in all three games while slashing .462/.563/1.231 with a 1.794 OPS with a team-high eight RBI.
The junior opened the series by driving in four runs in a 16-6 win while going 2-for-5 with the home run.
In game two, he reached base four times (2-for-4, BB, HBP) with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored.
In the series-clinching win on Sunday, Molony drove in two more runs while reaching base three times (2-for-4, HBP) with the home run and two RBI.
It marked the second time during his career that Molony has belted home runs in all three games of a series (Ohio State - 2025).
He added his seventh career two-run home run game at Washington.

Fab frosh named to B1G All-Freshman Team

Oregon has three freshmen -- Naulivou Lauaki Jr., Brayden Jaksa and Angel Laya -- who have been key contributors to the Ducks' success this season.
RF Laya made the biggest contribution early, being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice (Week 1, Week 4) as well as the Perfect Game National Freshman of the Week once (Week 1).
In the Nebraska series-clinching win, Laya belted two home runs to set Oregon's freshman record for home runs in a season (11 / he added No. 12 vs. Gonzaga and No. 13 at Washington).
Both Laya and Jaksa were named to the Perfect Game Midseason Freshman All-America Teams with Laya earning a spot on the first team and Jaksa claiming a spot on the second team.
After splitting time at catcher with Burke-Lee Mabeus to begin the season, Jaksa has become a full-time starter over the last 21 games playing mostly first base while Lauaki, who was named third-team All-B1G, has started at designated hitter during that time.
During those 21 games, the three freshmen have combined to hit 19 home runs with Lauaki leading the way with 10 homers while both Jaksa has added five and Laya has hit four.
Over the last 21 games, Lauaki is slashing .325/.374/.747, while Jaksa is at .341/.423/.538 and Laya has a .295/.409/.513 slash line.
After the Nebraska series, Lauaki was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
For the season, the three freshmen have combined to go 134-for-433 (.309) with 51 extra-base hits (31 HR, 18 2B, 2 3B) and 96 RBI.

Mabeus excelling as full-time backstop

Since Oregon made the move to add FR Brayden Jaksa into the everyday lineup at either first or in left field, SO C Burke-Lee Mabeus has flourished behind the plate with 19 starts in those 21 games.
For the season, Mabeus is slashing .313/.411/.556 with a .967 OPS with those numbers increasing to .348/.482/.621 with a 1.103 OPS over the last 21 games.
The Ducks' catcher has delivered 11 (7 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR) of his 20 (12 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR) extra-base hits during that stretch,
In the last 21 games, Mabeus has delivered six of his 11 multi-hit games, including his only 3-hit game, and three of his six multi-RBI games.
Defensively, Mabeus has thrown out 10 of 23 runners attempting to swipe a bag during the season.
Among catchers in the Big Ten Conference who have played in at least 30 games, Mabeus leads the league in caught stealing average (48 percent), strikes looking above average (48.36 strikes added) and fielding runs above average (2.17).

Ducks lead nation in a pair of pitching categories

Heading into the B1G Tournament, Oregon ranks in the top five in the nation in two pitching categories and is in the top 10 in two more, while boasting two more top 25 rankings.
The Ducks have a national-second best seven shutouts, while holding opponents to 7.21 hits per nine innings which is fourth in the nation.
The Ducks also boast a 1.24 WHIP which is ninth best in the country, while ranking 10th in Ks-per-9 innings (11.0), 16th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.80) and 21st in ERA (4.26).

Ducks post three shutouts in five-game California road trip

Oregon's pitchers stepped up in a big way on the Ducks' five-game California road trip shutting out UC San Diego in the first game of the trip before blanking UC Santa Barbara in games one and three of the series.
The two shutouts in a three-game series has only happened three times in program history with the 2013 team doing it twice -- games two and three vs. both Washington and at Ohio State -- and the 2021 squad doing it once -- games one and two at Oregon State.
The three shutouts in five games was the first for Oregon since the 1974 season when the Ducks had three shutouts in five games from March 30 to April 12 (the 1963 and 1964 teams also did it).

Back-to-back shutouts a rarity in program history

In a four-game series against Youngstown State, Oregon's pitching staff put together back-to-back shutouts beating the Penguins 3-0 on Friday and 7-0 on Saturday.
It marked just the seventh time in the modern era that Oregon has put together consecutive shutouts.
Since 1963, there have only been 12 back-to-back shutouts in program history with the first two making up the only three-game shutout streak.
Two seasons -- 1963 and 2013 -- had a pair of consecutive shutouts.

Doing it right on Friday night

When he took the mound on opening day, RHP Will Sanford joined some impressive names as opening-day starter at Oregon.
The previous names of pitchers who have taken the mound on opening day are impressive with future Major League Baseball pitchers, two MLB all-stars, an eventual Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and high MLB draft picks who have toed the rubber as series game-one starters.
Twelve of the 14 previous opening day starters have been drafted with four of them playing in the big leagues.
Four of the starters (Tyler Anderson, Alex Keudell, David Peterson, Grayson Grinsell) earned All-America honors the season they served as the "Friday Night" guy.
Of the 16 seasons played since the return of baseball at Oregon, the Ducks' opening day starter has earned first-team all-conference recognition seven times (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2025).
The 14 pitchers who have served as opening-day starters have a combined 11 first-team all-conference selections on the mound during their careers.