Sunday, March 15
Eugene, Ore.
12:35 p.m.
University of Oregon
17-3, 5-1
7
vs
6
Indiana
7-12, 1-5
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Indiana
2
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
8
0
Oregon
0
1
0
0
0
4
0
1
1
7
11
2
Photo by: David Hammel
Laya Delivers Walk-Off to Clinch Series Sweep
03/15/26 | Baseball
EUGENE, Ore. — Freshman Angel Laya delivered a one-out walk-off single to score Maddox Molony in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete a come-from-behind 7-6 win over Indiana in Big Ten Conference action on Sunday at PK Park. The win completed a series sweep for the Ducks.
The Ducks trailed 6-1 before rallying for six runs over the final four innings. Molony started the ninth inning rally with a leadoff base on balls before Smith doubled inside the third-base bag to put runners at second and third. Indiana (7-12, 1-5 Big Ten) elected to pitch to Laya with first base open and the Ducks' seven-hole hitter made the Hoosiers pay lacing a hard-hit ball between first and second scoring Molony with the winning run.
How It Happened: Indiana touched up Oregon fill-in starter Josh Hollis for four runs in 1.1 innings to start the game. Tanner Bradley relieved Hollis with the bases loaded and one out while trailing 3-0. Bradley only allowed one of the inherited runners to score before getting out of the jam.
The Ducks (17-3, 5-1 Big Ten) nearly got all four back in the bottom of the second. The Ducks loaded the bases with no outs but a near grand slam turned into a single scoring one run with a second runner thrown out at the plate. Burke-Lee Mabeus lined a shot off the top of the wall that immediately ricocheted to the right fielder who hit the first baseman for a relay throw that got Smith out trying to score from second.
Indiana added two more runs in the third thanks to a pair of Oregon throwing errors on the same play. Bradley fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt and threw wild to first allowing the first run to score. Ryan Cooney tracked down the ball and then also threw wildly to first trying to get the batter who rounded the bag widely allowing the second run to score.
After stranding a pair of runners in the third and fifth innings, Oregon finally got much-needed hits with runners in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth. Cooney lined a bases-clearing double into the right-field gap to score three and cut the lead to two. One out later, Dominic Hellman doubled to center field to score Cooney and make it a one-run game.
Oregon tied it with a run in the bottom of the eighth. Josh Schleichardt started the rally with a five-pitch walk before being replaced by pinch runner Jack Brooks. Cooney moved Brooks to second with a base hit through the left side. Hellman followed with a clutch two-out chopper through the middle scoring Brooks from second.
Box Score Notes: Cal Scolari, Oregon's normal Sunday starter on the mound, missed the game with the flu … Smith extended his reached base streak to 20 games this season and 22 games dating back to 2025 … Oregon's last walk-off to win a game came on March 21, 2025, when Parker Stinson delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly.
On Deck: The Ducks host Northwestern on Friday to open a three-game series. First pitch is at 4:05 p.m. on B1G+.
Quotes:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
On Angel Layas performance as a freshman…
"He doesn't act like a freshman. He's a goliath, acted like an old guy. He looks like a pro, and it looks like if he continues his development he will be a really good pro. It's a little early still on all that but he's played very well and he went for it at the end. Lots of times a young guy might doubt himself or back down, he wasn't scared at all."
On Drew Smith leading the team in RBI and home runs…
"He's a complete player. The bullpen was obviously a real story for us; the other real story was Drew Smith. You know there were offensive heroes. Dominic Hellman overcoming stuff to be able to have two really good at-bats, that's mental toughness. He wasn't having a great stretch, and yet when we needed him, he came through twice in the end. That's leadership. Ryan Cooney, clutch, basis loaded, doubling the gap, that's leadership. His best three at-bats were the last three at-bats. Drew Smith though, I think it was the third inning where he struck out in a big at-bat, and I think he got run up on a 3-2 count. The only thing that happened next was the next eight hitters came up to the plate for them, five of them shot rockets or balls right to Drews direction. He made every one of those plays, turned a double play, put-out on a double play, which was a rocket ship. Then, he made all the other challenging plays that were hit at him after his most negative part of the game. That's mental toughness and leadership. That's something I'm really lucky to be a part of, and I credit Drew Smith and the assistant coaches for helping him get to that mental state, that was special. That was one of the more mentally tough and special performances I've ever seen in my coaching career."
Toby Twists and overall team performance…
"I thought Toby was really good. I thought Tanner (Bradley) limited the damage when he got in there, and he did a nice job. I thought the entire bullpen did a nice job. Tanner comes in and limits the damage and he extends it a bit, holds it. That was the mound visit that we took, and I don't take very many mound visits, but when we're stinking it up at home and we are trying to sweep somebody, and we didn't get a quality start. We go out there and we are throwing the ball around the yard, it looks like a really bad, Bad News Bears game. The next thing you know, we had to reign guys in and go, hey let's get over ourselves. We can't do anything about how bad we've been so far, but if we shut them down from here on out, I think we are going to win this game. And sure enough, the guys believed it and as we went, you saw the productive at-bats and solid defensive plays. Without those defensive plays it could've gotten really loose. I've been a part of a lot of games where that thing gets really away from us because everybody's quit already. That didn't happen for us, and I was really happy with the guys to be able to do that."
Dominic Hellman
On having mature at-bats...
"It was sweet. It was people setting the table before me that helped turn the lineup around. We had dudes all throughout the lineup that we can plug and play anywhere. That's the neat thing about our team. There's also a maturity part. Being in a regional and a super-regional, we've been there done that. I felt the place rocking today like it was a typical home regional which was sweet."
On Coach Wasikowski's mid-game talk with the team...
"He's a temperature gauge for sure. He helps us calm down, and he's a huge part of our success on and off the field whether that is baseball related or things off the field related. He a huge temp gauge for us in the sense that 'Hey you guys got this and you guys are a good team. What happened, just flip it and get it done'."
On his double with two outs and two strikes...
"The whole weekend they were spinning me and bluffing with heaters. I was reflecting and they weren't landing their heaters that much, so I thought they were going to go to their go-to and try to get me out. As long as I saw it up, it was fine. I was nice and relaxed and just relaxed to it."
On a tide-changing moment in the game...
"After Ryan Cooney's double, I was like 'we got this'. That moment solidified it. Even before we were getting momentum on our side by our relief pitchers coming in. They were being dominant and putting up zeros for us and holding them to that six for us to keep scoring."
Angel Laya
On his walk-off win...
"It means a lot. I've been preparing for that moment my whole life and I'm glad I was able to do it and do it for the team."
On his confidence at-bats...
"I know I have good bat-to-ball skills. I was swinging at almost every pitch, and I got a good pitch today."
On close-game experiences...
"It builds confidence. When you're down six-to-one it's all about not giving up and keeping our foot on the gas to keep moving."
Toby Twist
On his thoughts of his performance...
"I felt good from the start. I was trying to stay warmed up, ready to go, and trying to put my team in the best situation to win that game and I thought we did a good job."
On Drew Smith's defensive performance...
"He's great. You don't have to worry about anything because you have those guys behind you."
On Cal Scolari's scratch and a good performance from the bullpen...
"I think the bullpen was ready for today. Once we got the talk that Cal wasn't going to start we got prepared for whatever was thrown at us."
The Ducks trailed 6-1 before rallying for six runs over the final four innings. Molony started the ninth inning rally with a leadoff base on balls before Smith doubled inside the third-base bag to put runners at second and third. Indiana (7-12, 1-5 Big Ten) elected to pitch to Laya with first base open and the Ducks' seven-hole hitter made the Hoosiers pay lacing a hard-hit ball between first and second scoring Molony with the winning run.
How It Happened: Indiana touched up Oregon fill-in starter Josh Hollis for four runs in 1.1 innings to start the game. Tanner Bradley relieved Hollis with the bases loaded and one out while trailing 3-0. Bradley only allowed one of the inherited runners to score before getting out of the jam.
The Ducks (17-3, 5-1 Big Ten) nearly got all four back in the bottom of the second. The Ducks loaded the bases with no outs but a near grand slam turned into a single scoring one run with a second runner thrown out at the plate. Burke-Lee Mabeus lined a shot off the top of the wall that immediately ricocheted to the right fielder who hit the first baseman for a relay throw that got Smith out trying to score from second.
Indiana added two more runs in the third thanks to a pair of Oregon throwing errors on the same play. Bradley fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt and threw wild to first allowing the first run to score. Ryan Cooney tracked down the ball and then also threw wildly to first trying to get the batter who rounded the bag widely allowing the second run to score.
After stranding a pair of runners in the third and fifth innings, Oregon finally got much-needed hits with runners in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth. Cooney lined a bases-clearing double into the right-field gap to score three and cut the lead to two. One out later, Dominic Hellman doubled to center field to score Cooney and make it a one-run game.
Oregon tied it with a run in the bottom of the eighth. Josh Schleichardt started the rally with a five-pitch walk before being replaced by pinch runner Jack Brooks. Cooney moved Brooks to second with a base hit through the left side. Hellman followed with a clutch two-out chopper through the middle scoring Brooks from second.
Box Score Notes: Cal Scolari, Oregon's normal Sunday starter on the mound, missed the game with the flu … Smith extended his reached base streak to 20 games this season and 22 games dating back to 2025 … Oregon's last walk-off to win a game came on March 21, 2025, when Parker Stinson delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly.
On Deck: The Ducks host Northwestern on Friday to open a three-game series. First pitch is at 4:05 p.m. on B1G+.
Quotes:
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski
On Angel Layas performance as a freshman…
"He doesn't act like a freshman. He's a goliath, acted like an old guy. He looks like a pro, and it looks like if he continues his development he will be a really good pro. It's a little early still on all that but he's played very well and he went for it at the end. Lots of times a young guy might doubt himself or back down, he wasn't scared at all."
On Drew Smith leading the team in RBI and home runs…
"He's a complete player. The bullpen was obviously a real story for us; the other real story was Drew Smith. You know there were offensive heroes. Dominic Hellman overcoming stuff to be able to have two really good at-bats, that's mental toughness. He wasn't having a great stretch, and yet when we needed him, he came through twice in the end. That's leadership. Ryan Cooney, clutch, basis loaded, doubling the gap, that's leadership. His best three at-bats were the last three at-bats. Drew Smith though, I think it was the third inning where he struck out in a big at-bat, and I think he got run up on a 3-2 count. The only thing that happened next was the next eight hitters came up to the plate for them, five of them shot rockets or balls right to Drews direction. He made every one of those plays, turned a double play, put-out on a double play, which was a rocket ship. Then, he made all the other challenging plays that were hit at him after his most negative part of the game. That's mental toughness and leadership. That's something I'm really lucky to be a part of, and I credit Drew Smith and the assistant coaches for helping him get to that mental state, that was special. That was one of the more mentally tough and special performances I've ever seen in my coaching career."
Toby Twists and overall team performance…
"I thought Toby was really good. I thought Tanner (Bradley) limited the damage when he got in there, and he did a nice job. I thought the entire bullpen did a nice job. Tanner comes in and limits the damage and he extends it a bit, holds it. That was the mound visit that we took, and I don't take very many mound visits, but when we're stinking it up at home and we are trying to sweep somebody, and we didn't get a quality start. We go out there and we are throwing the ball around the yard, it looks like a really bad, Bad News Bears game. The next thing you know, we had to reign guys in and go, hey let's get over ourselves. We can't do anything about how bad we've been so far, but if we shut them down from here on out, I think we are going to win this game. And sure enough, the guys believed it and as we went, you saw the productive at-bats and solid defensive plays. Without those defensive plays it could've gotten really loose. I've been a part of a lot of games where that thing gets really away from us because everybody's quit already. That didn't happen for us, and I was really happy with the guys to be able to do that."
Dominic Hellman
On having mature at-bats...
"It was sweet. It was people setting the table before me that helped turn the lineup around. We had dudes all throughout the lineup that we can plug and play anywhere. That's the neat thing about our team. There's also a maturity part. Being in a regional and a super-regional, we've been there done that. I felt the place rocking today like it was a typical home regional which was sweet."
On Coach Wasikowski's mid-game talk with the team...
"He's a temperature gauge for sure. He helps us calm down, and he's a huge part of our success on and off the field whether that is baseball related or things off the field related. He a huge temp gauge for us in the sense that 'Hey you guys got this and you guys are a good team. What happened, just flip it and get it done'."
On his double with two outs and two strikes...
"The whole weekend they were spinning me and bluffing with heaters. I was reflecting and they weren't landing their heaters that much, so I thought they were going to go to their go-to and try to get me out. As long as I saw it up, it was fine. I was nice and relaxed and just relaxed to it."
On a tide-changing moment in the game...
"After Ryan Cooney's double, I was like 'we got this'. That moment solidified it. Even before we were getting momentum on our side by our relief pitchers coming in. They were being dominant and putting up zeros for us and holding them to that six for us to keep scoring."
Angel Laya
On his walk-off win...
"It means a lot. I've been preparing for that moment my whole life and I'm glad I was able to do it and do it for the team."
On his confidence at-bats...
"I know I have good bat-to-ball skills. I was swinging at almost every pitch, and I got a good pitch today."
On close-game experiences...
"It builds confidence. When you're down six-to-one it's all about not giving up and keeping our foot on the gas to keep moving."
Toby Twist
On his thoughts of his performance...
"I felt good from the start. I was trying to stay warmed up, ready to go, and trying to put my team in the best situation to win that game and I thought we did a good job."
On Drew Smith's defensive performance...
"He's great. You don't have to worry about anything because you have those guys behind you."
On Cal Scolari's scratch and a good performance from the bullpen...
"I think the bullpen was ready for today. Once we got the talk that Cal wasn't going to start we got prepared for whatever was thrown at us."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bell, Devin (1-1)
L: Yarberry, Jackson (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Denny, Hogan 1 ; Koskie, Caleb 1
RBI: Denny, Hogan 1 ; Ricketts, Brayden 1 ; Malamazian, Cooper 1 ; Schuyler, T.J. 1
SH: Koskie, Caleb 1 ; Decker, Cole 1
SF: Denny, Hogan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Moore, Will 1 ; Denny, Hogan 1 ; Hanley, Jake 1 ; Malamazian, Cooper 1 ; Koskie, Caleb 1 ; Fry, Landen 1
CS: Malamazian, Cooper 1
HBP: Malamazian, Cooper 1
Batting:
2B: Cooney, Ryan 1 ; Gimenez, Jax 1 ; Hellman, Dominic 1 ; Molony, Maddox 1 ; Smith, Drew 1
RBI: Cooney, Ryan 3 ; Hellman, Dominic 2 ; Laya, Angel 1 ; Mabeus, Burke-Lee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cooney, Ryan 1 ; Molony, Maddox 2 ; Smith, Drew 1 ; Laya, Angel 1 ; Schleichardt, Josh 1 ; Brooks, Jack 1
SB: Cooney, Ryan 2
HBP: Cooney, Ryan 1 ; Gimenez, Jax 2 ; Molony, Maddox 1 ; Laya, Angel 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
cf/lf
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
UTL
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballDominic Hellman | Postgame vs. Indiana (Game 3)
Sunday, March 15
Angel Laya | Postgame vs. Indiana (Game 3)
Sunday, March 15
Toby Twist | Postgame vs. Indiana (Game 3)
Sunday, March 15
Mark Wasikowski | Postgame vs. Indiana (Game 3)
Sunday, March 15
