Friday, March 14
Eugene, Ore.
4:05 p.m.
University of Oregon
16-3, 4-0
5
vs
2
Minnesota
7-9, 1-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Minnesota
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
10
1
Oregon
0
4
1
0
0
0
0
0
X
5
8
0
Photo by: Jackson Fisk
Ducks Open Minnesota Series With A Win
03/14/25 | Baseball
EUGENE, Ore. — No. 9 Oregon scored five early runs and then held off Minnesota 5-2 in Big Ten Conference action on Friday night at PK Park.
The Ducks (16-3, 4-0 Big Ten) got a strong start from Grayson Grinsell (3-1) and strong relief outings from Jason Reitz and Cole Stokes in the win.
Grinsell tossed five scoreless innings while striking out seven and walking just one. Reitz allowed a pair of seventh inning runs, but struck out three in three innings of work. Stokes came out of the pen with the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth and proceeded to retired three of the four batters he faced, who via strikeout, to pick up his second save.
How It Happened: Oregon took the early lead scoring four runs in the second inning. Jacob Walsh led off the inning with a walk before moving to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on an Anson Aroz double off the right-center field wall. Two hit-by-pitches loaded the bases and then Oregon added its second run on an error by Minnesota (7-3, 1-3 Big Ten) second baseman Easton Richter. Dominic Hellman drew a bases loaded walk to make it 3-0, before Chase Meggers delivered an RBI infield single.
Maddox Molony made it a five-run game with a solo home run in the third, his sixth of the season and first since hitting two homers in game on of a doubleheader against Columbia on March 1.
Box Score Notes: Molony's third-inning home run snapped a streak of 10 consecutive home runs by either Neville or Hellman dating back to an Aroz home run in game two of the Columbia doubleheader on March 1 … Grinsell's seven strikeouts brings his career total to 199 … Maddox, Aroz and Cooney all finished with two hits.
On Deck: Oregon and Minnesota will meet in game two of the series with an 11:05 a.m. first pitch at PK Park. The game time has been moved up three hours to avoid forecasted rain showers in the afternoon.
Quotes:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
On Grinsell and Reitz pitching on Fridays…
"We started the year with four straight weeks of four-game sets. Jason was a starter at that time, and he is really good. We view it by throwing two starters on a Friday night. With Jason coming out of the pen today, I thought the conditions got really tough out there. That probably took its toll a little bit more than it normally would on a dry day."
On Aroz's improvement at the plate…
"Recently, Coach Marder and Aroz have been spending a lot of time together, so I would give Marder a lot of the credit for Aroz's effort. They get along great, and they've been putting in a lot of time together at practice to be able to get himself right. Nobody knows a swing better than Coach Marder, and they've been grinding it out in the cage. That's probably what you're starting to see click a little bit, so credit to both of those guys."
On Cooney proving himself…
"It just seems like he plays really good defense, and he gives you really competitive at-bats. He doesn't hit as many home runs as some of the other guys, but you can argue that his productivity at the plate is equally as good, if not even better than anybody. He's played well, and he is just a different type of player than some of the other kids. Dom Hellman brings his strengths to the table, and Mason Neville brings his; everybody has a bit of their own game. Ryan's game is a solid, complete game. He's a good baseball player, and he is one of our clubhouse leaders."
Grayson Grinsell
On Pitching in the rain…
"I mean, both teams, obviously we're both playing the same weather, so it's not going to affect either of us any differently. So, just kind of go out there and treat it like I would if it was 75 and sunny."
On Impact of a four-run inning…
"Not much. You know, just same as if we scored one, just go out there and try to give the guys behind me a shutdown and keeping the momentum on our side of the field."
Anson Aroz
On impact of starting the day 2-for-2…
"I mean, you just walk in the box feeling pretty good. The goal is to feel that way every time. I think if you asked any of our hitters, they'd say the same thing. But, you know, naturally, when you've had success. It kind of continues to keep rolling."
On steps towards becoming an everyday left fielder…
"I think it's just mentality. I mean, the guys before me set the tone, you know, playing with a guy like Boettcher last year, seeing the way that he played the outfield, how aggressive he was to every ball that went into the air, and learning from a guy like that. And, you know, having Coach Waz work with us every day, and EDDs, you know, a guy with a fungo like that can give you tough balls to catch, and you go get them, and you kind of work on that kind of thing. And just the standard that the pitchers expect, you know, early in the fall, we kind of make a promise to them that anything with an arm's reach at the park is caught. So, you know, that's the goal."
The Ducks (16-3, 4-0 Big Ten) got a strong start from Grayson Grinsell (3-1) and strong relief outings from Jason Reitz and Cole Stokes in the win.
Grinsell tossed five scoreless innings while striking out seven and walking just one. Reitz allowed a pair of seventh inning runs, but struck out three in three innings of work. Stokes came out of the pen with the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth and proceeded to retired three of the four batters he faced, who via strikeout, to pick up his second save.
How It Happened: Oregon took the early lead scoring four runs in the second inning. Jacob Walsh led off the inning with a walk before moving to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on an Anson Aroz double off the right-center field wall. Two hit-by-pitches loaded the bases and then Oregon added its second run on an error by Minnesota (7-3, 1-3 Big Ten) second baseman Easton Richter. Dominic Hellman drew a bases loaded walk to make it 3-0, before Chase Meggers delivered an RBI infield single.
Maddox Molony made it a five-run game with a solo home run in the third, his sixth of the season and first since hitting two homers in game on of a doubleheader against Columbia on March 1.
Box Score Notes: Molony's third-inning home run snapped a streak of 10 consecutive home runs by either Neville or Hellman dating back to an Aroz home run in game two of the Columbia doubleheader on March 1 … Grinsell's seven strikeouts brings his career total to 199 … Maddox, Aroz and Cooney all finished with two hits.
On Deck: Oregon and Minnesota will meet in game two of the series with an 11:05 a.m. first pitch at PK Park. The game time has been moved up three hours to avoid forecasted rain showers in the afternoon.
Quotes:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
On Grinsell and Reitz pitching on Fridays…
"We started the year with four straight weeks of four-game sets. Jason was a starter at that time, and he is really good. We view it by throwing two starters on a Friday night. With Jason coming out of the pen today, I thought the conditions got really tough out there. That probably took its toll a little bit more than it normally would on a dry day."
On Aroz's improvement at the plate…
"Recently, Coach Marder and Aroz have been spending a lot of time together, so I would give Marder a lot of the credit for Aroz's effort. They get along great, and they've been putting in a lot of time together at practice to be able to get himself right. Nobody knows a swing better than Coach Marder, and they've been grinding it out in the cage. That's probably what you're starting to see click a little bit, so credit to both of those guys."
On Cooney proving himself…
"It just seems like he plays really good defense, and he gives you really competitive at-bats. He doesn't hit as many home runs as some of the other guys, but you can argue that his productivity at the plate is equally as good, if not even better than anybody. He's played well, and he is just a different type of player than some of the other kids. Dom Hellman brings his strengths to the table, and Mason Neville brings his; everybody has a bit of their own game. Ryan's game is a solid, complete game. He's a good baseball player, and he is one of our clubhouse leaders."
Grayson Grinsell
On Pitching in the rain…
"I mean, both teams, obviously we're both playing the same weather, so it's not going to affect either of us any differently. So, just kind of go out there and treat it like I would if it was 75 and sunny."
On Impact of a four-run inning…
"Not much. You know, just same as if we scored one, just go out there and try to give the guys behind me a shutdown and keeping the momentum on our side of the field."
Anson Aroz
On impact of starting the day 2-for-2…
"I mean, you just walk in the box feeling pretty good. The goal is to feel that way every time. I think if you asked any of our hitters, they'd say the same thing. But, you know, naturally, when you've had success. It kind of continues to keep rolling."
On steps towards becoming an everyday left fielder…
"I think it's just mentality. I mean, the guys before me set the tone, you know, playing with a guy like Boettcher last year, seeing the way that he played the outfield, how aggressive he was to every ball that went into the air, and learning from a guy like that. And, you know, having Coach Waz work with us every day, and EDDs, you know, a guy with a fungo like that can give you tough balls to catch, and you go get them, and you kind of work on that kind of thing. And just the standard that the pitchers expect, you know, early in the fall, we kind of make a promise to them that anything with an arm's reach at the park is caught. So, you know, that's the goal."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grinsell, Grayson (3-1)
L: Cole Selvig (1-2)
S: Stokes, Cole (2)
Batting:
2B: Jack Spanier 1 ; Easton Richter 1 ; Brayden Hellum 1 ; Jake Elbeery 1
RBI: Jack Spanier 1 ; Easton Richter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jack Spanier 1 ; Jake Elbeery 1
CS: Parker Knoll 1
Batting:
2B: Aroz, Anson 1
HR: Molony, Maddox 1
RBI: Hellman, Dominic 1 ; Meggers, Chase 1 ; Molony, Maddox 1 ; Aroz, Anson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walsh, Jacob 1 ; Molony, Maddox 1 ; Aroz, Anson 1 ; Heard, Jeffery 1 ; Garate, Carter 1
SB: Molony, Maddox 1
CS: Neville, Mason 1 ; Brooks, Jack 1
HBP: Heard, Jeffery 1 ; Garate, Carter 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
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LHP
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INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
1B
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