Friday, May 29
Eugene, Ore.
5:00 PM
University of Oregon
41-16
14
vs
2
Yale
31-14-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| Oregon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | X | 14 | 18 | 1 |
Dominant Win Sets Up Saturday Showdown With Cougars
05/29/26 | Baseball
EUGENE, Ore. — One of the most highly-anticipated weekends in PK Park history lived up to the billing on Friday to kick off the 2026 NCAA Eugene Regional. After former Pac-12 foe Washington State defeated in-state rival Oregon State in game one, the Oregon baseball team took care of business in the nightcap with a dominant 14-2 win over Yale.
Â
The No. 11 seed Ducks (41-16) had an energetic PK Park crowd of 4,278 on their feet for much of the night, racking up 14 runs on 18 hits while the UO pitching staff stranded 13 runners on base. Oregon jumped out to a 6-0 lead through five innings and then put the game out of reach with eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Â
"I'm really pleased with the effort," head coach Mark Wasikowski said. "I was impressed with the fact that our guys were able to pull away in the game there late, I thought that was really important. Then just to be able to get the lead early, I thought that was a really big key, especially with how they run their offense. So, just happy to be 1-0, and it's one game, but 1-0 in a regional, and that's a good start."
Â
The win puts Oregon in the 1-0 game against Washington State on Saturday at 6Â p.m., following an elimination game between Oregon State and Yale at 1Â p.m. A year after going 0-2 at home in the NCAA Regional round, the Ducks knew the value of opening the weekend with a win, but also the importance of taking the weekend one game at a time.
Â
"We want to have a clean slate," Wasikowski said. "Tomorrow is a new day. 1-0, doesn't matter what the score was at the end of the day, one run or five runs or 10 runs doesn't make any difference. 1-0 was the goal today, and we accomplished the goal. So, just going to start fresh tomorrow and nail it. Tomorrow starts tonight."
Â
How it Happened: Both starting pitchers were around the 30-pitch mark in the first inning, but with very different results. Oregon starter Cal Scolari needed just three pitches to get two quick outs before walking the next three batters to load the bases, but he escaped the jam with a strikeout.
Â
The Ducks then jumped on Yale starter Jack Ohman (5-3) for three runs in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back singles by Angel Laya and Drew Smith set the table for an RBI double by Brayden Jaksa, and another run came in after Burke-Lee Mabeus walked and Naulivou Lauaki Jr. was hit by a pitch. Maddox Molony followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0.
Â
Scolari worked around traffic in each of the next three innings. Mabeus threw out a runner trying to steal in the second, and Scolari erased a leadoff double in the third with a pickoff at second base before leaving two runners on with a strikeout. Yale threatened again in the fourth after a single and a walk, but another strikeout by Scolari stranded a runner in scoring position for the third time in four frames.
Â
The Ducks extended their lead with two runs in the fourth. Jack Brooks beat out an infield single and scored on an RBI double by Ryan Cooney, and Smith made it 5-0 with an RBI single.
Â
Yale (31-14-1) put pressure on Scolari again in the fifth, getting runners on the corners with one out after a double, a wild pitch and hit batter. Sophomore Luke Morgan came on in relief and, after a wild pitch put two Bulldogs in scoring position, ended the threat with a strikeout and a lineout.
Â
Laya had the at-bat of the game in the bottom of the fifth, fouling off nine total pitches and five with two strikes before hammering the 14th pitch off the wall in right field for a loud RBI single. That extended UO's lead to 6-0 lead and chased Ohman from the game after 118 pitches.
Â
"I want to give credit to (Ohman)," Laya said. "He was incredible. He had command of every pitch he had in his arsenal. The atmosphere was amazing, and I was just trying to catch my breath and put the ball in play."
Â
Yale cut the deficit to 6-2 with a two-run home run in the sixth and threatened for more, putting two runners on with no outs. Junior lefty Toby Twist struck out the next two batters before a walk loaded the bases, and a pop fly in foul territory got Oregon out of yet another jam.
Â
Twist put together the Ducks' first clean inning of the night with a 1-2-3 seventh and then struck out two and worked around a two-out error in a scoreless eighth inning. Twist (4-0) earned the win after throwing three scoreless innings of relief, striking out five while allowing just one hit and a walk.
Â
"I was just trying to spark something up, just get our guys going again," Twist said. "I wanted to do my job of filling up the zone. I think they're an excellent team, very old, just taking very old at-bats. I just thought it was really good, just executing pitches."
Â
Oregon broke the game open with eight runs in the eighth, started by an RBI double by Jaksa and an RBI single from Mabeus. Lauaki then cranked a three-run homer to left-center field – his 13th homer in his last 25 games – Cooney drove in two more with a two-run double, and Laya brought in a run with his fourth hit of the game and second double of the inning. Oregon sent 12 batters to the plate in the eighth while pushing across eight runs on eight hits.Â
Â
Leo Uelmen slammed the door in the top of the ninth, striking out the side to seal the win.
Â
Who Stood Out: Oregon's 2-3-4 hitters combined to go 11-for-14 as Laya went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, Smith finished 4-for-5 with an RBI and Jaksa was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Cooney was 2-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs in the leadoff spot, and Lauaki's three-run homer gave him a team-high four RBIs on the night. Scolari battled through 4.1 scoreless innings, striking out five while working around five hits, five walks and a hit batter.
Â
Notable: Laya, Smith and Jaksa all matched their career highs for hits … Laya and Jaksa each had their career games with multiple doubles, while Cooney notched his third … Nine different Ducks recorded a hit and scored a run and seven players drove in at least one run … Friday night's crowd of 4,278 tied for the sixth-highest in PK Park history, followed closely by the 4,186 on hand for game one between Oregon State and Washington State … UO scored 10-plus runs for the 16th time this season … Oregon has now hit a home run in nine straight games.
Â
On Deck: Oregon State and Yale will play Saturday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game, followed by Oregon vs. Washington State at 6Â p.m. TV details for both games are still to be determined.
Â
The No. 11 seed Ducks (41-16) had an energetic PK Park crowd of 4,278 on their feet for much of the night, racking up 14 runs on 18 hits while the UO pitching staff stranded 13 runners on base. Oregon jumped out to a 6-0 lead through five innings and then put the game out of reach with eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Â
"I'm really pleased with the effort," head coach Mark Wasikowski said. "I was impressed with the fact that our guys were able to pull away in the game there late, I thought that was really important. Then just to be able to get the lead early, I thought that was a really big key, especially with how they run their offense. So, just happy to be 1-0, and it's one game, but 1-0 in a regional, and that's a good start."
Â
The win puts Oregon in the 1-0 game against Washington State on Saturday at 6Â p.m., following an elimination game between Oregon State and Yale at 1Â p.m. A year after going 0-2 at home in the NCAA Regional round, the Ducks knew the value of opening the weekend with a win, but also the importance of taking the weekend one game at a time.
Â
"We want to have a clean slate," Wasikowski said. "Tomorrow is a new day. 1-0, doesn't matter what the score was at the end of the day, one run or five runs or 10 runs doesn't make any difference. 1-0 was the goal today, and we accomplished the goal. So, just going to start fresh tomorrow and nail it. Tomorrow starts tonight."
Â
How it Happened: Both starting pitchers were around the 30-pitch mark in the first inning, but with very different results. Oregon starter Cal Scolari needed just three pitches to get two quick outs before walking the next three batters to load the bases, but he escaped the jam with a strikeout.
Â
The Ducks then jumped on Yale starter Jack Ohman (5-3) for three runs in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back singles by Angel Laya and Drew Smith set the table for an RBI double by Brayden Jaksa, and another run came in after Burke-Lee Mabeus walked and Naulivou Lauaki Jr. was hit by a pitch. Maddox Molony followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0.
Â
Scolari worked around traffic in each of the next three innings. Mabeus threw out a runner trying to steal in the second, and Scolari erased a leadoff double in the third with a pickoff at second base before leaving two runners on with a strikeout. Yale threatened again in the fourth after a single and a walk, but another strikeout by Scolari stranded a runner in scoring position for the third time in four frames.
Â
The Ducks extended their lead with two runs in the fourth. Jack Brooks beat out an infield single and scored on an RBI double by Ryan Cooney, and Smith made it 5-0 with an RBI single.
Â
Yale (31-14-1) put pressure on Scolari again in the fifth, getting runners on the corners with one out after a double, a wild pitch and hit batter. Sophomore Luke Morgan came on in relief and, after a wild pitch put two Bulldogs in scoring position, ended the threat with a strikeout and a lineout.
Â
Laya had the at-bat of the game in the bottom of the fifth, fouling off nine total pitches and five with two strikes before hammering the 14th pitch off the wall in right field for a loud RBI single. That extended UO's lead to 6-0 lead and chased Ohman from the game after 118 pitches.
Â
"I want to give credit to (Ohman)," Laya said. "He was incredible. He had command of every pitch he had in his arsenal. The atmosphere was amazing, and I was just trying to catch my breath and put the ball in play."
Â
Yale cut the deficit to 6-2 with a two-run home run in the sixth and threatened for more, putting two runners on with no outs. Junior lefty Toby Twist struck out the next two batters before a walk loaded the bases, and a pop fly in foul territory got Oregon out of yet another jam.
Â
Twist put together the Ducks' first clean inning of the night with a 1-2-3 seventh and then struck out two and worked around a two-out error in a scoreless eighth inning. Twist (4-0) earned the win after throwing three scoreless innings of relief, striking out five while allowing just one hit and a walk.
Â
"I was just trying to spark something up, just get our guys going again," Twist said. "I wanted to do my job of filling up the zone. I think they're an excellent team, very old, just taking very old at-bats. I just thought it was really good, just executing pitches."
Â
Oregon broke the game open with eight runs in the eighth, started by an RBI double by Jaksa and an RBI single from Mabeus. Lauaki then cranked a three-run homer to left-center field – his 13th homer in his last 25 games – Cooney drove in two more with a two-run double, and Laya brought in a run with his fourth hit of the game and second double of the inning. Oregon sent 12 batters to the plate in the eighth while pushing across eight runs on eight hits.Â
Â
Leo Uelmen slammed the door in the top of the ninth, striking out the side to seal the win.
Â
Who Stood Out: Oregon's 2-3-4 hitters combined to go 11-for-14 as Laya went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, Smith finished 4-for-5 with an RBI and Jaksa was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Cooney was 2-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs in the leadoff spot, and Lauaki's three-run homer gave him a team-high four RBIs on the night. Scolari battled through 4.1 scoreless innings, striking out five while working around five hits, five walks and a hit batter.
Â
Notable: Laya, Smith and Jaksa all matched their career highs for hits … Laya and Jaksa each had their career games with multiple doubles, while Cooney notched his third … Nine different Ducks recorded a hit and scored a run and seven players drove in at least one run … Friday night's crowd of 4,278 tied for the sixth-highest in PK Park history, followed closely by the 4,186 on hand for game one between Oregon State and Washington State … UO scored 10-plus runs for the 16th time this season … Oregon has now hit a home run in nine straight games.
Â
On Deck: Oregon State and Yale will play Saturday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game, followed by Oregon vs. Washington State at 6Â p.m. TV details for both games are still to be determined.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Twist, Toby (4-0)
L: Jack Ohman (5-3)
Batting:
2B: Kaiden Dossa 1 ; Garrett Larsen 1
HR: Brady Ruiz-Weiss 1
RBI: Brady Ruiz-Weiss 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Owen Turner 1 ; Brady Ruiz-Weiss 1
CS: Brady Ruiz-Weiss 1
HBP: Chris DiPrima 1 ; Jackson Hays 1
PO: Kaiden Dossa 1
Batting:
2B: Cooney, Ryan 2 ; Laya, Angel 2 ; Jaksa, Brayden 2
HR: Lauaki Jr., Naulivou 1
RBI: Cooney, Ryan 3 ; Laya, Angel 2 ; Smith, Drew 1 ; Jaksa, Brayden 2 ; Mabeus, Burke-Lee 1 ; Lauaki Jr., Naulivou 4 ; Molony, Maddox 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cooney, Ryan 2 ; Laya, Angel 2 ; Smith, Drew 2 ; Jaksa, Brayden 2 ; Mabeus, Burke-Lee 1 ; Lauaki Jr., Naulivou 1 ; Gimenez, Jax 1 ; Cook, Elijah 1 ; Brooks, Jack 2
SB: Cook, Elijah 1
HBP: Lauaki Jr., Naulivou 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
UTL
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOregon Baseball | Postgame vs. Yale | Eugene Regional
Saturday, May 30
Make the Noise | Oregon Baseball Postseason Trailer - Narrated by Spencer Steer
Friday, May 29
Drew Smith | 2026 NCAA Baseball Selection Show
Monday, May 25
Will Sanford | 2026 NCAA Baseball Selection Show
Monday, May 25
