Brennan Milone – Syndication Server

Milone, Kasevich and Somers named to All-Conference baseball team

Brennan Milone, Josh Kasevich and Kolby Somers were all honored by the Pac-12 Conference with post-season awards.

The Pac-12 Conference announced its 35-player all-conference selections and the Oregon Ducks were able to have three names on the list.

Designed hitter/first baseman Brennan Milone, shortstop Josh Kasevich an closer Kolby Somers were all recognized for their efforts that helped the Ducks finish fourth with an 18-12 record and 35-21 overall.

Oregon is among the top 8 Pac-12 teams that will head down to Scottsdale, Ariz. to battle for the automatic NCAA tournament berth with the first annual conference tourney.

Milone, a transfer from South Carolina, showed early on his for being on the highlight film. He showed power right away and that the new dimensions for PK Park might be a plus for the Oregon program. Milone’s 10 homers contributed to the Ducks’ season record-breaking 71 dingers.

Kasevich isn’t the prototypical No. 5 hitter except that he usually gets that big hit in big situations. He also played a solid shortstop, committing just five errors at the most demanding defensive position on the diamond. Overall, Kasevich hit .311 with seven homers and 40 RBIs. He was also named to the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team thanks to that .979 fielding percentage.

Somers came into the season as one of the best closers in the conference and he showed it over and over in 2022. He finished the regular season with nine saves to go with a 5-3 record and a 2.97 earned run average.

Another Duck who could have easily been named an All-Conference performer, but instead was given an honorable mention was outfielder Anthony Hall with his .326 average, 13 homers and 47 RBIs. He also had 12 doubles and five triples.

If there was one “snub” it would be Tanner Smith, who wasn’t named to any list despite hitting .320 with 11 home runs, 11 doubles, 35 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.

Oregon baseball makes history down in the desert

For the first time since coming back in 2009, Oregon baseball went down to Tempe and took a weekend series from ASU.

This is the 13th season since Oregon brought back its baseball program and there are still milestones to be made.

For the first time since the resurrection of the sport, the Ducks went down and took a weekend series at Arizona State. Oregon clinched the series with a 15-5 pounding of the Sun Devils in 100-plus degree heat.

But it’s a dry heat.

The temperature wasn’t the only thing that was hot as the Duck bats were scorching as Oregon scored 15 runs on 18 hits. With the win, the Ducks improved to 31-21 overall and 15-12 overall. They have one none-conference game with Gonzaga before hosting Arizona to end the regular season.

Drew Cowley led the way going 3-for-6 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Colby Shade drove in three runs and Anthony Hall smacked two doubles. Jacob Walsh broke out of his slump with a monster home run.

ASU actually led 1-0 after an inning, but the Ducks broke loose with four runs in the third and five more in the fourth. Oregon was helped out a bit by some shoddy fielding from the Sun Devils.

The highlight of the inning was when Brennan Milone hit a double down the right field line and the throw coming back into the infield got away and Milone advanced to third. But then that throw to third also escaped the third baseman and Milone scored on the “Little League home run.”

Starting pitcher Jace Stoffal pitched well, but he was unable to get through the fifth and didn’t qualify for the win. He went 4 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on seven hit. Logan Mercado was credited with the win, his sixth on the season. He went 2 1/3 innings in relief, giving up two runs on five hits.

Now the Ducks will come back home to face Gonzaga, a team they beat 9-5 in Spokane earlier this year. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at PK Park on Tuesday.

Oregon snaps losing streak with 15-6 blowout of UC-San Diego

The Ducks baseball team was able to snap their six-game losing skid with a big 15-6 win over UC-San Diego at PK Park.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team needed a victory in the worst possible way and they finally got it this afternoon at PK Park.

Oregon ended its six-game losing streak, which included 18 scoreless innings, with a 15-6 blowout win over UC-San Diego. With the win, the Ducks moved to 29-20 overall and they will now head to the desert to face Arizona State for a weekend three-game series.

The Tritons were able to hold Oregon to just one hit on Tuesday, but the Duck bats got off the deck in a big way with five runs in the second inning and five more in the third to grab a 10-1 lead.

Josh Kasevich ended the scoreless streak that eventually reached 19 innings with a home run to left. Later in the inning, Sam Novitske belted a two-run homer to left-center and the Ducks were off and running.

In the third, the long ball wasn’t necessary. Oregon scored five runs on six hits. Up with a comfortable nine-run lead, the Ducks could relax and it showed on both ends of the diamond. Oregon scored three more in the fifth on Brennan Milone’s three-run double to make it 14-5.

Hopefully the Ducks are out of their slump and can focus on the rest of the season that has just seven more regular season games left. They go down to Tempe to take on a Sun Devil team that is 24-25 overall and 12-12 in conference action.

Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, May 13 with a 7 p.m. first pitch.

Ducks and Cardinals split mid-series doubleheader at PK Park

The Ducks avoid being swept today with a 10-4 win over Ball State in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team would have obviously preferred to sweep this afternoon’s doubleheader with Ball State, but given the alternative, the Ducks will happily take the split.

Ball State rallied late to take Game 1 and in the nightcap, the Oregon team we’ve all got used to seeing showed up and defeated the Cardinals 10-4.

With the win, Oregon earns its 20th win of the season with 11 losses. Ball State fell to 18-11 overall.

Brennan Milone and Anthony Hall each homered. It was Hall’s fourth home run in his last five games and he now has seven for the season. Milone also drove in four.

Ball State jumped on the Ducks with three runs in the first, but Oregon answered quickly with three runs of its own in the second. Smith’s two-run single tied the game.

The Cardinals briefly took the lead in the fifth with a run, but Milone’s home run to deep right-center field gave the Ducks the lead for good. Oregon added two in the sixth, one in the seventh, and two more in the eighth.

Logan Mercado earned his fourth victory of the year by throwing four innings and allowing just one run on four hits and striking out five.

The Ducks will now go for the series win when they face Ball State at 12 p.m. at PK Park.

Game 1
Oregon has been able to rally in the late innings many times this season, but in the opening game of today’s doubleheader with Ball State, the Ducks couldn’t muster up a rally and the Cardinals took Game 1 by the score of 3-2.

Tanner Smith opened the game up with a lead-off homer, his eighth of the season, to give Oregon the early 1-0 lead. That advantage held up until the seventh inning when Trenton Quartermaine’s run-scoring single off of Kolby Somers tied it at 1-1.

Oregon was able to take the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Smith scored and Oregon briefly led 2-1.

But Ball State tied it 2-2 on a wild pitch and Zach Cole hit a go-ahead home run to right-center for the 3-2 lead.

Oregon threatened when Jacob Walsh doubled to left. But he was stranded on second and that would be the Ducks’ last chance as the Cardinals’ Sam Klein went 2 1/3 innings, including throwing a perfect ninth to earn the win.

Starting pitcher Isaac Ayon deserved a better fate as he probably had his best game of the season going 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run and seven hits, striking out five, and walking none.

Oregon uses a 10-run first inning to cruise past San Francisco

Oregon exploded for 10 runs in the first innings and went on to win 15-5 over San Francisco.

Oregon Ducks baseball coach Mark Wasikowski’s arm might have been tired of waving runners home in the first inning.

A total of 10 Ducks scored in that initial frame as Oregon went on to cruise past San Francisco 15-5 in the first game of a brief two-game midweek series with the Dons.

With the win, Oregon moves to 17-7 overall, while USF out of the West Coast Conference fell to 14-13.

In the previous series with USC, the Ducks fell victim to a lot of hard-hit outs. But in baseball, things tend to even themselves out a bit. Oregon didn’t exactly pound the ball off of USF starting pitcher Weston Lombard. The Ducks had eight hits, all singles, in the first inning.

Brennan Milone had two hits and drove in four in the first where Oregon led 10-1. But unfortunately, Duck starting pitcher Jacob Hughes couldn’t stand the prosperity as he gave up three runs in the second and was pulled from the game.

The bullpen restored some order and the combination of Stone Churby, RJ Gordon, Christian Ciuffetelli and Rio Britton allowed just one run in their 7 2/3 innings.

Meanwhile, Josh Kasevich belted his third home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third to make it 12-4. Oregon scored three more in the fourth with the big blow coming from Sam Novitske’s double into the left-center field gap.

These two teams will finish out the series Wednesday afternoon with a 1 p.m. scheduled first pitch at PK Park. Neither Oregon nor USF has announced a starting pitcher.

Oregon baseball holds off USC 9-7 for its fifth straight win to maintain first place in Pac-12

Oregon scores early, take a big lead and then holds off a late USC rally to take Game 1 over the Trojans 9-7 at PK Park.

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USC pitcher Jaden Agassi isn’t the first Friday night starter the Oregon Duck offense has hit hard and he won’t be the last.

But that fact probably doesn’t make the Trojan hurler feel any better as he was knocked out in the fourth inning. Agassi gave up nine runs, six earned, and 10 hits before the Ducks held off a late USC rally to win it 9-7 at PK Park.

Oregon (15-6, 6-1) has now won four straight conference games and five straight overall. USC fell to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in Pac-12 action.

As usual, the Ducks used the long ball to take the lead on two separate occasions. Josh Kasevich put Oregon on the scoreboard in the first with a three-run homer to left-center that bounced off the top of the wall before going over.

After the Trojans Johnny Olmstead tied the game with a three-run homer of his own in the second, USC took a brief 4-3 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly. But as per usual, the Duck offense immediately answered with Brennan Milone’s two-run bomb to left to give Oregon the lead for good at 5-4.

The Ducks added two more runs in that four-run third and two more insurance runs for a commanding 9-4 advantage.

It was a commanding advantage for long, however.

The Trojans scored one in the fourth and put two runners on base off of Oregon starter RJ Gordon. Oregon went to the bullpen, but USC managed to put two runs across in the sixth to make it 9-7.

It turned into the battle of the bullpens where both teams’ relievers did yeoman’s work. Oregon’s relievers threw four scoreless innings and USC’s bullpen shut down the conference’s most potent offense for five innings.

Kolby Somers pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the season.

Jacob Walsh went 3-for-5 with a double and Kasevich drove in four runs for the Ducks. Olmstead also drove in four runs for the Trojans.

These two teams will get together for Game 2 of the weekend series with a first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Isaac Ayon (2-0, 5.33 ERA) will start on the mound for the Ducks and he will face USC’s Tyler Stromsborg (1-1, 2.88 ERA). The contest will be streamed on goducks.com.

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Around the horn: Duck bats stay hot with easy win over Utah in series opener

The Oregon Ducks baseball team is still looking for a reliable Friday night starter. But what has been more than reliable has been the bats and those aluminum sticks didn’t let Oregon down tonight.

Powered by three home runs, the Ducks overcame an early 3-0 deficit and defeated Utah 11-4 at PK Park in the opener of a three-game weekend series.

Brennan Milone, Anthony Hall and Gavin Grant all crushed homers. Milone’s third-inning clout would have easily left the yard before the renovations of Oregon’s home stadium. It also erased Utah’s lead.

While the bats stayed hot, Oregon is still looking for a pitcher to put on the mound on a regular basis on Fridays. RJ Gordon got the start this time around and unfortunately, he didn’t make it out of the fourth inning.

The Ducks bullpen backed Gordon up, however. The combination of Dylan Sabia, Logan Mercado, Jacob Hughes and Scott Ellis went 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run and just one hit.

Around the horn: Early inning offense carries Ducks past Red Storm

Oregon jumped on St. John’s early and often to cruise to a win, the Ducks’ third straight.

In the last two games, the Oregon Ducks baseball team has exploded in the eighth inning for double-digit runs.

They didn’t wait so long today.

Oregon scored five in the first and six more in the second and that was more than enough as the Ducks downed St. John’s 16-3 for their third straight win.

Brennan Milone and Colby Shade each homered in the initial frame and then Milone continued his big day with a two-run single in the second.

With that kind of run support, Oregon starting pitcher Andrew Mosiello could settle in and pitch his game. The sophomore went five innings, allowing just one run on three hits and three strikeouts. The only blemish on Mosiello’s day was that he walked five Red Storm batters.

Now at 3-3, the Ducks’ three-game losing streak to begin the season seems like a while ago. Oregon has scored an incredible 60 runs in the last three contests.

Around the horn: Ducks tie program record for runs scored in rout of St. John’s

The Ducks tied a school record for runs scored as they crushed St. John’s 23-5 in the 2022 home opener.

Everyone was wondering how the newly renovated PK Park would play as compared to previous seasons.

In the home opener, the Oregon Ducks showed the 13-year old stadium might be a hitter’s park now.

It’s only one game, but Oregon tied a program record of 23 runs in a massive 23-5 rout over St. John’s. It’s the Ducks second consecutive game of scoring 20 or more and are now 2-3 on the early season.

Brennan Milone and Drew Cowley each homered and Colby Shade went 2-for-5 with three runs driven in.

Meanwhile, on the mound, starter Adam Maier had a nice rebound game after a rough season opener. Maier went 5.1 innings, giving up four runs and six hits while striking out five.

These two teams will meet up again Saturday afternoon for Game 2 of the four-game series.

Around the horn: Ducks drop third straight in San Diego

Oregon baseball battled right up until the end, but an eighth-inning run gave San Diego a 5-4 win.

This wasn’t how Mark Wasikowski envisioned his baseball team starting the season. Oregon is on the verge of being swept out of San Diego as the Toreros took Game 3 by the score of 5-4.

It’s the Ducks’ third straight loss to open the season and if they want to come back home with one win in their pocket, they’ll have to rely on freshman Tommy Brandenberg to get the job done on the hill.

Unlike in the first two games, Oregon managed to score first in the initial inning, but San Diego answered with two in the third and two in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.

But to the Ducks’ credit, the visitors scratched out runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth to knot the game at 4-4. The Toreros took the lead for good in the bottom half of the eighth on a Kolby Somers bases-loaded walk. The Ducks got a runner on in the ninth but couldn’t score.