Ducks Open Supers at Texas on Saturday

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon pitcher Will Sanford's teammates will tell you that the sophomore right-hander is just as emotional on the mound for a fall scrimmage in an empty PK Park as he is in big moments like his 14-strikeout NCAA Regional win over Washington State on Saturday.

And Sanford will admit as much, too. But he much prefers performing for a crowd, like the packed PK Park this past weekend, or the 12,083 red-clad fans in Omaha who watched Sanford beat Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

"I honestly just think it's really fun to play in those big environments," Sanford said Tuesday, following the Ducks' day off Monday in the wake of their NCAA Regional sweep over the weekend. "Even the one in Nebraska, I thought it was great even though there's (close to) 13,000 fans against you. I think it just makes it more fun, and you should enjoy it."

That's easier said than done, of course. But experience helps. And the Ducks have plenty of big-game experience at this point, having handed top-ranked UCLA its first Big Ten loss of the season, and beaten the 'Huskers in Omaha, and toppled rival Oregon State at home Sunday.

That experience will need to come in handy this week, when the Ducks play an NCAA Super Regional at Texas.

"You either have 'it' or you don't," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "And what we're finding through all of these pressure-type moments is the players that we've got, a lot of them right now on our roster seem like they can handle the environments."

The Ducks and Longhorns open their Super Regional in Austin at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Saturday (5 p.m., ESPN). They'll meet again Sunday (6 p.m., ESPN), with a possible rubber match in the best-of-three series to take place Monday if necessary.

Oregon is playing in Super Regionals for the third time in the last four years. The Ducks last advanced this far in 2024, when they lost twice at Texas A&M. Among the contributors for Oregon that year were some of the 2026 team's best leaders, including infielders Drew Smith, Maddox Molony and Ryan Cooney.

"Looking back on that, in the moment it felt a little bigger than just another game," Molony said. "But looking back on it years later, you realize it is just another game, and you still play nine innings, 27 outs, and that's all it really is, no matter where it's played. … I think me being able to take that approach into it is gonna make this a more successful run."

The Ducks who experienced that Super Regional will have to demonstrate some growth to have a better outcome this time around. But that would be in keeping with a season-long trend for this team.

"I just see development and growth in this team, where at the beginning of the year they wouldn't have been able to handle some things that we've been able to handle late in the year," Wasikowski said. "One of my asks has been to keep the jersey on, just to where we can continue to improve, because I don't think we've reached our peak yet inside that locker room. … I don't think they've reached their ceilings yet, and they're really a hungry group."

For as well as the Ducks are trending of late, they're about to face a team in Texas that has been ranked in the top five nationally since early March, and which also swept its NCAA Regional.

The Longhorns have power and speed on offense, Wasikowski said. And their pitching staff has put up what he termed "video-game numbers" — the staff leads the SEC in ERA at 3.71, led by sophomore lefty Dylan Volantis (9-1, 1.94).

"It's just a balanced team, right?" Wasikowski said. "And that's what you'd expect out of the University of Texas. …

"They've got excellent talent on that roster. They're a beatable team, but still, you've got to play your best to beat them."

Texas earned the right to host this weekend by taking a No. 6 national seed into the NCAA Tournament and then sweeping its regional.

The No. 11 Ducks also swept regionals, a rare thing; multiple national seeds were eliminated at home, and the quadrant of the 64-team bracket containing Oregon and Texas was the only one of four to have all four No. 1 seeds and host teams advance through regionals.

Nearly half the remaining field — seven of the 16 Super Regional participants — advanced through regionals in upset fashion.

"Those games, if they were played on a piece of paper, they would have a different name on those lines of the brackets, right?" Wasikowski said. "And right now, those lines on the bracket have some pretty interesting names on those lines. …

"That's the beauty of the tournament — it's not played on a piece of paper, it's played on the field. And the team that plays the best is going to win the games, and it's not necessarily the most talented rosters that are there."

This is the first time Oregon and Texas will meet in baseball. But there will be some familiar elements for the Ducks this week.

For one, they're about to make their second straight NCAA Super Regional appearance against a team coached by Jim Schlossnagle, who was at Texas A&M when the Aggies swept Oregon in 2024. He joined the Longhorns after that season.

"Jim's a winner," Wasikowski said. "There's a reason why he's the highest-paid coach in college baseball."

And, the Ducks are headed back to the Lone Star State for the second time in three years. Back in 2024, the heat and humidity may have been a factor as Oregon took early leads in both games at Texas A&M before fading. That's something the veterans of that series will keep in mind this week.

"Just taking pride in hydration the whole week, I think that's important," Molony said. "Obviously, packing the right clothes, packing the right stuff to wear during the game, pregame, that's big too, to make sure that we're fresh for the game. But yeah, little things like that, I feel like, is all the preparation that's needed for the heat."