Mabeus Walk-Off Bunt Locks up Series Win For Ducks

Saturday, May 16

Eugene, Ore.

3:02 pm

University of Oregon

38-15, 20-10

USC

42-14, 20-10

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
USC	0	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	13	0
Oregon	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	13	1

Photo by: Photo: Deborah Mundorff

Mabeus Walk-Off Bunt Locks up Series Win For Ducks

05/16/26 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score: #16 Oregon 6, #17 USC 5 (14)Photo Gallery

EUGENE, Ore. — Catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus executed a perfect run-scoring bunt with two outs in the bottom of the 14th inning to give No. 16 Oregon a 6-5 win over No. 17 USC, helping the Ducks clinch a Big Ten Conference series win on the last day of the regular season at PK Park on Saturday.

With Brayden Jaksa at third with two outs, Mabeus took the Trojans by surprise dropping the first pitch he saw about a third of the way up the third base line with the ball settling barely in fair territory. Jaksa raced past both the catcher and pitcher as they approached the ball, forcing a wild throw to first that Mabeus beat out for a walk-off RBI single.

Jaksa set up Mabeus' heroics reaching base on a one-out single before swiping second and moving to third on a Naulivou Lauaki Jr. ground out to the shortstop.

With the win, the Ducks' clinched the three-seed in next week's Big Ten Conference Tournament in Omaha, Neb. The Ducks' opponent will be decided on Tuesday and Wednesday when No. 6 seed Ohio State, No. 7 seed Michigan, No. 10 seed Rutgers and No. 11 seed Washington compete in the double-elimination portion of the tournament. Michigan faces Rutgers in the first round, while Ohio State will play Washington. The Ducks will be matched up with whichever team wins its first two games.

How It Happened: For the first time in the series, Oregon (38-15, 20-10 Big Ten) jumped out to a lead to start the game. A Ryan Cooney hit, Angel Laya hit-by-pitch and a pair of wild pitches put runners at second and third with no outs. Cooney came in to score on a Drew Smith ground out to second base before Laya made it 2-0 scoring on a Brayden Jaksa single.

Oregon tacked on two runs in the second inning. Maddox Molony led off the frame with his 11th home run of the season for a three-run lead. Then with two outs, Cooney walked and moved to second on a Laya base hit before scoring on a Smith base hit to right field.

USC (42-14, 20-10 Big Ten) cut the lead to 4-3 with a run in the third and two more in the sixth, but the Ducks answered with a run in their half of the sixth. Jack Brooks walked to lead off the inning before moving to second on a Gabe Miranda sacrifice bunt. The Trojans chose to intentionally walk Cooney and Laya made them pay for it, doubling into right field to score Brooks for a 5-3 lead.

The Trojans tied the game in the seventh inning. After a costly Oregon error kept the inning alive, USC belted a two-out, two-run home run to tie the game at five.

The teams' bullpens battled over the next scoreless seven innings. The Ducks got a two-out double from Molony in the bottom of the seventh but stranded him. Oregon also stranded two runners in the 10th and one in the 11th.

Oregon relievers Devin Bell, Jonah Barkoff and Collin Clarke combined to toss seven scoreless innings setting up Oregon's 14-inning win. A day after picking up a 1.2 inning save on 23 pitches, Bell tossed a season-high four innings and 58 pitches while fanning a season-best seven with no walks. Making just his fifth career appearance, Barkoff struck out three of the seven batters he faced while giving up just one hit in the 12th and 13th innings before giving way to Clarke.

Clarke (6-3) got the win after allowing just one hit with a strikeout in his inning of work.

Box Score Notes: Oregon assistant coach Jack Marder filled in for head coach Mark Wasikowski who missed the game while attending his daughter's graduation from pharmacy school at Purdue … Smith collected his 200th career hit with the second-inning RBI single … Molony's homer was the 36th of his career … Cooney's fourth-inning ground-rule double was his 17th two bagger of the season, moving him into a tie for ninth with Jacob Walsh (2025) and Anthony Hall (2022) on Oregon's single-season list … The game tied for the second longest game in Oregon modern era history, behind only a 17-inning game in 2011 against Wichita State … The Ducks are now 1-2 all-time in 14-inning games … They dropped a 1-0 decision at home against UC Santa Barbara in 2016 after losing to Washington 4-3 in 2011 … Sunday's attendance was 3,846, running the three-game series total to 10,951.

Up next: The Ducks open Big Ten Tournament play Friday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha (7 p.m. PT, B1G Network).

Quotes:

On the emotions through the extra innings…
"It was hard going there for a while. What happens when you have a team that's the way that we are, they're really close, they love it here. They love being here. They're going to try their tail off. This game is like chess; baseball is different than other sports. You got to relax, you have to stay calm, you have to let your body move the right way. When you overtry, it's going to get really difficult, especially when you're facing great arms like we face. I was pumped that our guys kept saying that we were going to find a way to get this thing done, and we did, and with things we don't normally do. We had Brayden Jaksa with a great at-bat, it found a way, and he stole, which was awesome. Then obviously Burke-Lee Mabeus found a way to drag down to win."

On the performance from Devin Bell and Jonah Barkoff…
"Those are Oregon kids and those guys just want the ball. It's a testament to (Matt) Florer and (Dan) Straily for how much they've worked with those guys and what those guys have gone through in the fall to be prepared for those moments. (Devin) Bell basically said, 'I'm coming back today and you're not taking me out'. Jonah (Barkoff), even after his rough outing on Thursday he was a stud. All of our guys I thought, out of the bullpen, was the best pitching performance I have ever been a part of."

On Burke-Lee Mabeus with the bunt to win…
"Yeah, that was definitely not the plan, but Burkes a really good bunter. He has proven that in his work. It's a left-on-left matchup. (Sax) Matson had been dominating us, and he did that. It's a really tough angle for him. I actually thought Burke-Lee was going to find a way no matter what, but in the initial play of it, it's always what's the best chance for us to win? What's the best chance for us to score? The third baseman was playing back and when that opportunity came, I just look at it from a percentage standpoint, like how do we score right here. Worst case scenario, if he shows and it's a ball it puts a little stress on them on the defensive side, it opens up a hole where Burke-Lee is flat and can hit a ball to the backside. I was good with all that and I'm pumped for the kid that he got it done, which is sweet."

Burke-Lee Mabeus

On mentality going into his at bat...
"I like it. We work on bunting every day for moments like that. We're usually doing that in tight games and big games, so I was excited for it. I take pride in my bunting skills. I had a couple bunt hits this year and last year. I saw it and told myself to just go for it with no pressure and I was able to get it down."

On staying in the game both offensively and defensively...
"It's about staying with each pitch. You can get long-winded if you look into the future thinking about how many innings there are left or how much longer I have to catch. The best mentality that I try to tell myself to have is to stay present with each pitch and make sure I can make a difference on each one. As a prime position as catcher I'm able to influence the game so I just try to stay present."

On Devin Bell and Jonah Barkoff's performances...
"Those guys did amazing. Coming in out of the bullpen they set the tone for us as a team. There were a lot of shut-out innings on both sides and for those guys to stay competitive like they did, lead us and keep momentum going when the offensive side wasn't maybe pulling as hard as we usually do was amazing. They kept us in that game for sure and arguably won us the game."

Jonah Barkoff

On coming in out of the bullpen...
"It felt great. The guys in the bullpen do a great job with us in making sure we're ready. It felt good to come into that spot and compete. I competed every pitch and trusted my stuff. I believe that thinking kills confidence so I don't think I just do."

On playing for the University of Oregon...
"It feels great. It's about playing for the university but it's also about playing for the guys around me. You hear other guys talk about it but the team's camaraderie is awesome. To have that trust and faith that we have in each other is great. While we all collectively play for the university we play for each other as well."

On winning back-to-back after a loss to start the series...
"There's no doubt about it that these three games have been extremely competitive and they even got chippy yesterday. After dropping that first game, there were some regrets, but we knew we were going to come out with the same fire, and we carried that momentum from Thursday into these last two games, and they went in our favor."

Devin Bell

On the team wearing the "process" shirts…
"Well, we like to go about the process the right way. Those shirts literally have "process" written across them, and it's a big factor in our culture here. We were just trying to rally something together as we went in there and put those on and I think it worked."

On his highest pitch count since 2024…
"It felt great, it's been a while, but I knew I was getting cool with it. I just took care of business like I should."

On playing for the Oregon Ducks as an Oregon native with Jonah Barkoff…
"I love my Oregon guys. I love this entire team of course, but it is super cool to see two Oregon guys go back-to-back there."

On how he manages to stay calm on the mound…
"I think it's the dugout, absolutely. I just stay calm under pressure and the dugout picks me up with the energy and that's all it is."