Wednesday, March 12
Eugene, Ore.
4:05 p.m.
University of Oregon
15-3
16
vs
6
Grand Canyon
12-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
0
0
2
2
2
0
0
0
6
9
5
Oregon
5
5
0
2
0
1
2
1
16
16
1
Photo by: Jackson Fisk
Ducks Run Rule Grand Canyon In Impressive Win
03/12/25 | Baseball
EUGENE, Ore. — No. 9 Oregon jumped out to an early lead scoring five runs in both the first and second innings before finishing off Grand Canyon with a 16-6 run-rule win in eight innings in nonconference action at PK Park on Wednesday.
Oregon's seven- and eight-hole hitters, Jeffery Heard and Ryan Cooney, both had four RBI to lead the Ducks (15-3), while Dominic Hellman and Anson Aroz added three runs batted in apiece.
How It Happened: A day after scoring just two runs, Oregon's offense came to life early scoring five runs in the first inning. Mason Neville walked to lead off the inning and moved to third on a Hellman single through the right side. Chase Meggers, making his first start of the season after suffering an injury in the preseason, drove in Neville with a sacrifice fly to left field.
After a back-to-back hits loaded the bases, Aroz picked up an RBI with a base hit scoring Hellman. Heard followed with a two-RBI single scoring Jacob Walsh and Molony, before Cooney capped the scoring in the inning with the Ducks' second sacrifice fly.
The Ducks put another five runs on the board in the second inning. Neville started the rally with a double before scoring for the second time on a Hellman hit. The Ducks' designated hitter moved to second on Meggers' first hit of the year and to third on a Walsh fly out, before scoring on an Aroz sacrifice fly.
Heard picked up his third RBI of the game with a base knock through the left side that scored Meggers, and Cooney added a two-run single to right to make it 10-0.
GCU cut into the lead with a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings, but Oregon answered with two of its own in the fourth. Neville reached with a two-out single and came around to score on Hellman's seventh home run in the last 10 games.
The Antelopes got another two back in the fifth to cut the lead to six, before Oregon tacked on one in the bottom of the sixth with some help from GCU. Cooney reached on a throwing error by the pitcher and then scored on a dropped fly ball by right fielder Carson Ohland on what would have been a Neville sacrifice fly.
The Ducks tacked on two more in the seventh to push the lead to 15-6. Walsh led off the inning with a laser off the center-field wall before scoring on a Heard double. Aroz, who reached on the second dropped fly ball in as many inning by the Antelopes, later scored on Cooney's second sacrifice fly of the game.
The Ducks loaded the bases in the eighth, needing just one run to end the game via run rule. They got that run when Aroz got hit by a pitch allowing pinch runner Jax Gimenez to score and end the game.
Box Score Notes: Julien Hernadez made his first Division I start on the mound after making 48 for Division III Whitman from 2021 to 2024 … Santiago Garcia picked up his second win in the last four games, tossing two scoreless innings out of the pen … Hellman and Neville have combined to hit Oregon's last 10 home runs … The Ducks have scored in double digits seven times this season, including 15-or-more runs six times.
On Deck: The Ducks host their first ever Big Ten Conference series starting Friday when Minnesota comes to PK Park.
Quotes:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
On the approach today...
"Credit to coach (Jack) Marder and the hitting coaches for making the adjustment on what we didn't do well yesterday and what we did do well today. Jack deserves a lot of credit for that and so does (coach) Marcus Hinkle and (coach) Brett Thomas. Those guys, in one day were able to correct some things that weren't proud points of our staff last night and you saw what you described; a lot of opposite field singles, base hits, solid approaches, walks, hit by pitches and sac flies. It was an impressive first inning for sure."
On production from the bottom of the lineup...
"You could probably make a case that those guys have been most of our toughest outs and most productive players offensively and defensively. They've done really well. Ryan Cooney has done well for us this year and he had another outstanding day today. I think the player of the game was probably (Jeffery) Heard or it could have been Cooney or (Santiago) Garcia. (Kellan) Knox through really well at the end, but Anson Aroz had a heck of a day as well. He made the unbelievable catch in the outfield with the bases loaded and two outs to end the inning."
On Chase Meggers coming back and starting today...
"He's just coming back. These are his first couple at bats. He got his first hits and RBI's and he's just a hitter. It's really good to have him back and I think you saw his presence probably carry one of the young guys through his outing today. He went out there and settled him down. He's an old guy and he has a lot of stock in the locker room."
Jeffery Heard
On offensive rebound…
"I mean, as an offense, we kind of wore that one obviously. You know, it's nice to hear a coach say that it's on him but, we also knew that we needed to score more runs. We should've came through in spots we didn't. So, I think we got a good collective of people who are able to take responsibility for that kind of stuff and not point fingers, which is, I think will be a good team going down the line. But I think as an offense, yeah, we need to score more runs, so we should win that game."
On midweek series building confidence…
"I mean, you kind of take it as any other game. Tuesday, Friday night, it's still a baseball game. So, kind of got to show up and go about your routine before the game how you would anyway. So, I don't really think about it. To me, it's still just a game."
Chase Meggers
On returning to the lineup…
"Yeah, I didn't know. I mean, I was super excited to see my name in the lineup, but I've just been waiting patiently, grinding when they were in USC, and all the weeks I've been hurt, I just been grinding, and I was ready."
On building relationships with pitchers…
"Yeah, I mean, our coaches always, you know, they teach us to create a relationship outside of just catching them in baseball, and I try to do that. And I think that I have a pretty good relationship with these guys, so it's pretty natural when I'm out there, but it felt good to, you know, lead them and help them out."
Oregon's seven- and eight-hole hitters, Jeffery Heard and Ryan Cooney, both had four RBI to lead the Ducks (15-3), while Dominic Hellman and Anson Aroz added three runs batted in apiece.
How It Happened: A day after scoring just two runs, Oregon's offense came to life early scoring five runs in the first inning. Mason Neville walked to lead off the inning and moved to third on a Hellman single through the right side. Chase Meggers, making his first start of the season after suffering an injury in the preseason, drove in Neville with a sacrifice fly to left field.
After a back-to-back hits loaded the bases, Aroz picked up an RBI with a base hit scoring Hellman. Heard followed with a two-RBI single scoring Jacob Walsh and Molony, before Cooney capped the scoring in the inning with the Ducks' second sacrifice fly.
The Ducks put another five runs on the board in the second inning. Neville started the rally with a double before scoring for the second time on a Hellman hit. The Ducks' designated hitter moved to second on Meggers' first hit of the year and to third on a Walsh fly out, before scoring on an Aroz sacrifice fly.
Heard picked up his third RBI of the game with a base knock through the left side that scored Meggers, and Cooney added a two-run single to right to make it 10-0.
GCU cut into the lead with a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings, but Oregon answered with two of its own in the fourth. Neville reached with a two-out single and came around to score on Hellman's seventh home run in the last 10 games.
The Antelopes got another two back in the fifth to cut the lead to six, before Oregon tacked on one in the bottom of the sixth with some help from GCU. Cooney reached on a throwing error by the pitcher and then scored on a dropped fly ball by right fielder Carson Ohland on what would have been a Neville sacrifice fly.
The Ducks tacked on two more in the seventh to push the lead to 15-6. Walsh led off the inning with a laser off the center-field wall before scoring on a Heard double. Aroz, who reached on the second dropped fly ball in as many inning by the Antelopes, later scored on Cooney's second sacrifice fly of the game.
The Ducks loaded the bases in the eighth, needing just one run to end the game via run rule. They got that run when Aroz got hit by a pitch allowing pinch runner Jax Gimenez to score and end the game.
Box Score Notes: Julien Hernadez made his first Division I start on the mound after making 48 for Division III Whitman from 2021 to 2024 … Santiago Garcia picked up his second win in the last four games, tossing two scoreless innings out of the pen … Hellman and Neville have combined to hit Oregon's last 10 home runs … The Ducks have scored in double digits seven times this season, including 15-or-more runs six times.
On Deck: The Ducks host their first ever Big Ten Conference series starting Friday when Minnesota comes to PK Park.
Quotes:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
On the approach today...
"Credit to coach (Jack) Marder and the hitting coaches for making the adjustment on what we didn't do well yesterday and what we did do well today. Jack deserves a lot of credit for that and so does (coach) Marcus Hinkle and (coach) Brett Thomas. Those guys, in one day were able to correct some things that weren't proud points of our staff last night and you saw what you described; a lot of opposite field singles, base hits, solid approaches, walks, hit by pitches and sac flies. It was an impressive first inning for sure."
On production from the bottom of the lineup...
"You could probably make a case that those guys have been most of our toughest outs and most productive players offensively and defensively. They've done really well. Ryan Cooney has done well for us this year and he had another outstanding day today. I think the player of the game was probably (Jeffery) Heard or it could have been Cooney or (Santiago) Garcia. (Kellan) Knox through really well at the end, but Anson Aroz had a heck of a day as well. He made the unbelievable catch in the outfield with the bases loaded and two outs to end the inning."
On Chase Meggers coming back and starting today...
"He's just coming back. These are his first couple at bats. He got his first hits and RBI's and he's just a hitter. It's really good to have him back and I think you saw his presence probably carry one of the young guys through his outing today. He went out there and settled him down. He's an old guy and he has a lot of stock in the locker room."
Jeffery Heard
On offensive rebound…
"I mean, as an offense, we kind of wore that one obviously. You know, it's nice to hear a coach say that it's on him but, we also knew that we needed to score more runs. We should've came through in spots we didn't. So, I think we got a good collective of people who are able to take responsibility for that kind of stuff and not point fingers, which is, I think will be a good team going down the line. But I think as an offense, yeah, we need to score more runs, so we should win that game."
On midweek series building confidence…
"I mean, you kind of take it as any other game. Tuesday, Friday night, it's still a baseball game. So, kind of got to show up and go about your routine before the game how you would anyway. So, I don't really think about it. To me, it's still just a game."
Chase Meggers
On returning to the lineup…
"Yeah, I didn't know. I mean, I was super excited to see my name in the lineup, but I've just been waiting patiently, grinding when they were in USC, and all the weeks I've been hurt, I just been grinding, and I was ready."
On building relationships with pitchers…
"Yeah, I mean, our coaches always, you know, they teach us to create a relationship outside of just catching them in baseball, and I try to do that. And I think that I have a pretty good relationship with these guys, so it's pretty natural when I'm out there, but it felt good to, you know, lead them and help them out."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garcia, Santiago (2-0)
L: Collins, Cayden (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Yorke, Zach 1 ; Paton, Eli 1 ; Sanders, Troy 1
RBI: Ohland, Carson 1 ; Yorke, Zach 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 1 ; Diaz, Michael 1 ; Scaldeferri, Billy 1
SF: Ohland, Carson 1 ; Diaz, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ohland, Carson 1 ; Paton, Eli 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 1 ; Scaldeferri, Billy 1 ; Sanders, Troy 2
CS: Wakefield, Josh 1
HBP: Paton, Eli 1
Batting:
2B: Neville, Mason 1 ; Walsh, Jacob 2 ; Heard, Jeffery 1
HR: Hellman, Dominic 1
RBI: Neville, Mason 1 ; Hellman, Dominic 3 ; Meggers, Chase 1 ; Aroz, Anson 3 ; Heard, Jeffery 4 ; Cooney, Ryan 4
SF: Neville, Mason 1 ; Meggers, Chase 1 ; Aroz, Anson 1 ; Cooney, Ryan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Neville, Mason 3 ; Hellman, Dominic 3 ; Meggers, Chase 1 ; Gimenez, Jax 1 ; Walsh, Jacob 2 ; Molony, Maddox 2 ; Aroz, Anson 2 ; Heard, Jeffery 1 ; Cooney, Ryan 1
SB: Neville, Mason 1 ; Aroz, Anson 1 ; Heard, Jeffery 1
HBP: Aroz, Anson 2
Game Leaders
AB
6
R
3
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
1B
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