
Ducks Are Big Ten Champions
05/17/25 | Baseball
Oregon entered the series at Iowa needing a series sweep and the Ducks got just that doing it in impressive fashion outscoring the Hawkeyes 32-10 in the three games. The Ducks belted 11 home runs in the series.
On Saturday, Oregon scored in every inning except the first, second and seventh with two four-run innings and a two-run inning sprinkled in. The victory was Oregon's 10th straight win and the 14th in the Ducks' last 15 games.
How It Happened: Iowa got out to an early lead with a first inning run, but Oregon bounced back in the top of the third to tie the game. Garate lined his second home run of the series over the right-field wall to get the Ducks on the board.
The Ducks took the lead in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs. Drew Smith led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on an Anson Aroz sacrifice bunt to get in scoring position. After a Chase Meggers walk, Ryan Cooney lined a double into the left-field gap driving in Smith and moving Meggers to third. Garate then laid down a perfect drag bunt that he beat out while Meggers scored.
The Ducks tacked on another run in the top of the fifth but squandered an opportunity to score more when Meggers grounded into a double play to end the inning with the bases loaded.
Dominic Hellman led off the fifth with a walk and moved to third on a Jacob Walsh double that snuck inside the third base line. After a Smith walk loaded the bases, Hellman scored on a high chopper to the first baseman off the bat of Aroz.
Oregon (41-13, 22-8) added four more to the lead in the sixth. Ryan Cooney led off the frame with a solo home run, his second extra-base hit of the day. Garate followed with a walk before Hellman singled on a hit-and-run, setting up Walsh's long three-run home run and an 8-1 lead.
After Iowa cut into a lead with a solo home run in the seventh inning, Hellman joined the home run party with a solo shot to right field in the eighth.
Iowa (32-20, 21-9 Big Ten) tried to make it interesting in the bottom of the eighth scoring a pair of runs, but the Ducks put the game away with four runs in the ninth.
Maddox Molony and Meggers opened the ninth with back-to-back singles with Molony moving to third on the Meggers base hit. Cooney picked up his third RBI of the game with a sacrifice bunt with Molony sliding head first under the tag by the Iowa catcher. Garate then blasted a three-run home run to center field for Oregon's final statement.
Box Score Notes: Oregon ran its season total to 107 home runs, the most in school history … The Ducks' 10-game winning streak matches the fifth longest in school history and is one shy of this season's longest … The five home runs tied for the fourth most in a single game in program history and matches this season's most (vs. Michigan – April 4) … Cooney slashed .556/.692/1.444 with two home runs and two doubles in the series, while Walsh slashed .533/.533/1.133 with two home runs and three doubles against the Hawkeyes … Oregon's last regular-season title came in the Pac-12 Northern Division … The 22 league wins matched the Ducks' 2013 team for the most in program history.
On Deck: The Ducks' open the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at 4 p.m. (PT) against the No.12 seed at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Reitz, Jason (5-0)
L: Ben DeTaeye (0-4)
S: Garcia, Santiago (4)

Batting:
2B: Walsh, Jacob 1 ; Cooney, Ryan 1
HR: Hellman, Dominic 1 ; Walsh, Jacob 1 ; Cooney, Ryan 1 ; Garate, Carter 2
RBI: Hellman, Dominic 1 ; Walsh, Jacob 3 ; Aroz, Anson 1 ; Cooney, Ryan 3 ; Garate, Carter 5
SH: Aroz, Anson 1 ; Cooney, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hellman, Dominic 3 ; Walsh, Jacob 1 ; Smith, Drew 1 ; Molony, Maddox 1 ; Meggers, Chase 1 ; Gimenez, Jax 1 ; Cooney, Ryan 2 ; Garate, Carter 3
SB: Cooney, Ryan 1

Batting:
2B: Jaixen Frost 1 ; Blake Guerin 1 ; Kellen Strohmeyer 1
HR: Andy Nelson 1
RBI: Caleb Wulf 1 ; Mitch Wood 1 ; Andy Nelson 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Reese Moore 1 ; Caleb Wulf 1 ; Jaixen Frost 1 ; Andy Nelson 1
SB: Reese Moore 1
CS: Andy Nelson 1
HBP: Reese Moore 1 ; Miles Risley 1