Tag: Pac-12

Oregon Baseball falls to USC in the Pac-12 tournament

The Oregon Ducks baseball team lost to the USC Trojans 4-2 in the quarterfinal of the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday evening.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team lost to the USC Trojans 4-2 in the quarterfinal of the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday evening, eliminating the Ducks from the tournament.

Oregon finished Thursday’s contest with nine hits — two fewer than the Trojans’ 11. The game was locked at zeros until the top of the sixth inning when USC put three runs on the board on three separate RBI at-bats. In the next two half-innings, each team scored another run, and Oregon scored again in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome USC.

The Ducks had a chance to send the game to extras in the bottom of the ninth, with Jacob Walsh — Oregon’s home run leader — coming to the plate after a two-out Mason Neville double. But, Walsh’s ended his at-bat like his other four ABs in the game: walking back to the dugout.

Although Oregon finished the regular season with a better record than the Trojans, it’s important to note how USC had been playing leading up to Thursday’s game. Before playing the Ducks, the Trojans had won their last seven games, and they made Oregon their eighth.

A major reason for the Trojans picking up the win was the premier pitching of William Watson, USC’s starter for the day. Watson went six full innings and threw 100 pitches, allowing seven hits, two walks, and one earned run — all while striking out seven batters and keeping Oregon off the scoreboard for five innings.

Oregon is out of the Pac-12 tournament, but this likely isn’t the end of their season. On Monday, selection for the NCAA baseball tournament will take place, for which the Ducks will most likely qualify.

Will Stein says Bo Nix will go down as one of the best ever at Oregon

In a docuseries that focused on Bo Nix’s time during the combine leading up to the NFL draft, Will Stein says Nix left quite the legacy.

Oregon needed an experienced quarterback to lead the team as the Ducks were transitioning from Mario Cristobal to Dan Lanning.

But they most likely didn’t think Nix would be one of the best in the program’s history.

According to offensive coordinator Will Stein, who had Nix for just one short season, he will definitely go down among the greats like Marcus Mariota, Joey Harrington, Akili Smith and a whole host of incredible signal callers to call Eugene home.

In the docuseries from Bolt TV called Grit and Glory, Stein says Nix’s name will be synonymous with those other great Duck quarterbacks.

“He’ll go down as one of the greatest. There’s a lot of unreal, unworldly, talented guys that have played quarterback here and I think Bo will be up there with all of them,” Stein said. “His year this year, statistically, is one of the best in the history of Oregon football. The legacy that he left, what he’s done for this program, being Coach Lanning’s first quarterback here, he’s special.”

While at Oregon, Nix guided the Ducks to a 22-5 record with wins in the Holiday and Fiesta Bowl. In 2023, he completed 77.4 percent of his passes with 45 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

Nix was drafted by the Denver Broncos and they hope their new signal caller can be similar to John Elway and Payton Manning. Those are huge shoes to fill, but Oregon quickly found out Nix will be up to the task.

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Despite the NCAA’s best efforts, USC won the most games in the Pac-12 since 2001

USC leads Oregon in Pac-12 football wins despite NCAA sanctions.

Stop for a moment and think about Pac-12 college football win leaders in the 21st century. USC has rarely been relevant since the NCAA brought about the end of the Pete Carroll era nearly 15 years ago. USC had a lot of rough and difficult seasons. Oregon has made multiple national title game appearances since then, and the Ducks have been more successful than USC over the past decade. Surely Oregon has moved ahead of USC in Pac-12 wins in the full 21st century, right? Wrong.

Despite USC holding a significant lead in the overall standings, Mark noted that in the 21st century, the Trojans had only secured two more wins than Oregon. Yet, it’s actually amazing that USC does still have the overall wins lead. Remember that for over a decade, the Trojans have faced challenges, and other Pac-12 teams have filled the void in USC’s absence. Notably, however, Oregon did not have to deal with the erroneous investigation and severe sanctions imposed on USC (circa 2010), which were second only to the “death penalty” given to SMU in the 1980s. Despite these obstacles, USC has maintained its dominance in the Pac-12, leading the conference in victories for almost the last quarter century.

For more in-depth discussions and analysis of the impact of Oregon, Utah, Stanford and various other teams in the Pac-12 Conference rankings, check out the complete show available through the provided link:

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USC is the elite Pac-12 football program, but who is second?

Washington or UCLA — which Pac-12 football program is second-best after USC?

Each Monday, I appear on the weekly Trojan Conquest USC live show at The Voice of College Football with Mark Rogers and Trojans Wire editor Matt Zemek. This week, we dove into all-time Pac-12 football rankings.

The rankings, based on several metrics such as all-time winning percentage, bowl victories, conference championships, and national championships, were heavily skewed in our favor at USC, as one might expect.

After discussing USC’s dominance, we shifted our focus to the battle between Washington and UCLA for the second spot. It’s close!

Matt Zemek highlighted UCLA’s dominant teams under legendary Bruin coach Red Sanders. Sanders’ Bruin teams were some of the most successful in UCLA football history, winning three Pacific Coast Conference titles, a couple Rose Bowl games, and a national championship in 1954. His overall record of 66–19–1 (.773) and a winning record against the Trojans (6-3) give Sanders a lofty spot among all Bruin coaches across all sports, most likely second to the immortal John Wooden. 

Another notable coach was Tommy Prothro, who led the Bruins from 1965 to 1970. During his tenure, the Bruins achieved a remarkable 41-18-3 record, including a miraculous comeback victory against the No. 1-ranked Michigan State Spartans in the 1966 Rose Bowl. This victory earned the Bruins the nickname “Gutty Little Bruins” due to their underdog status and smaller size compared to their opponents.

Terry Donahue’s long tenure as UCLA coach from 1976 to 1995 also contributed significantly to the Bruins’ success. Under Donahue’s leadership, the Bruins won seven consecutive bowl games and began an eight-game winning streak against the Trojans, which lasted throughout the 1990s. He retired with a winning record against the Men of Troy (10-9-1). Donahue’s tenure also intensified the Crosstown Rivalry, with both teams fiercely competing for the Victory Bell, making it one of the most competitive periods in the rivalry’s history. His 151 victories are by far the most for a Bruin football coach.

Throughout history, the Washington Huskies have enjoyed remarkable success under the leadership of legendary coaches such as Gil Dobie, Don James, and Chris Petersen. Coach Dobie achieved an incredible feat, remaining undefeated in his nine seasons with the Huskies, boasting a record of 58-0-3. The Huskies later surpassed this achievement by extending their unbeaten streak to an astonishing 64 games, scoring 1,930 points while allowing only 118 to their opponents. 

Decades later, Don James, also known as the “Dawgfather,” led the Huskies to their only national championship in 1991 with one of the most formidable defenses in Pac-10 history. More recently, Chris Petersen and Kalen Deboer guided Washington into the College Football Playoffs in 2016 and 2023, respectively.

Here’s the link to the show below:

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Trojans Wire talks to UCLA Wire about Pac-12 past and Big Ten future

Looking back at the Pac-12, looking ahead to the Big Ten. We talked to UCLA Wire about our new existence.

The USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins will continue to compete against each other this year, but they will do so in the Big Ten and not the Pac-12. It’s a new era, and so we wanted to talk to UCLA Wire and former Trojans Wire staff writer Matt Wadleigh — now UCLA Wire editor — about a lot of USC-UCLA joint storylines.

One point of commonality between USC and UCLA: Both teams face LSU in college football in 2024.

UCLA Wire has more on that story:

“The UCLA Bruins football program debuting in the Big Ten Conference could be a home run or a disaster in DeShaun Foster’s first year as head coach.

“Cody Nagel of 247Sports mentioned the toughest non-conference game for each Big Ten Conference team for the upcoming 2024 season. And, there is no surprise which game UCLA had: It’s against Brian Kelly.”

The LSU game is arguably USC’s most important football game of 2024, strictly in terms of setting the table for the College Football Playoff. Naturally, the Notre Dame and UCLA games mean the most in terms of bragging rights and rivalry supremacy.

Here is our USC-UCLA Big Ten podcast with Matt Wadleigh. It’s weird to say, but this is the new reality we live in:

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Oregon shortstop Maddox Molony named to First Team All-Pac-12

Oregon shortstop Maddox Molony becomes just the second Duck freshman to be named as a First Team All-Pac-12 player.

For the last time, the Pac-12 has announced its regular season awards and Oregon shortstop Maddox Molony leads a group of Ducks to be honored.

Molony becomes the second Duck freshman to be named to the All-Pac-12 First Team, following Kenyon Yovan in 2017. Molony has set a program record for most home runs by a freshman (10) while leading the team in hitting with a .368 batting average. He also has 12 multiple-hit and nine multiple-RBI games in his 32 starts.

Also honored by the conference to the All-Defensive Team was center fielder Bryce Boettcher and first baseman Jacob Walsh.

Boettcher was also named honorable mention all-league. The two-sport athlete leads Oregon in stolen bases (12), runs scored (42) and outfield assists (6) while batting .290 with 11 home runs, 33 runs batted in and seven doubles.

Walsh is Oregon’s leader in both home runs (17) and RBI (55), while batting .281 with 13 doubles and 37 runs scored. Already the program’s career home run leader with 39, he needs just one home run at the Pac-12 Tournament to tie the single-season home run record set last season by Sabin Ceballos.

Oregon had several other players named as an honorable mention such as starting pitcher RJ Gordon, starter Grayson Grinsell, catcher Chase Meggers, closer Logan Mercado, reliever Bradley Mullan and outfielder Mason Neville.

Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana was the Player of the Year and Arizona’s Chip Hale was the Coach of the Year.

Oregon baseball ends regular season ranked in Top 25

D1Baseball.com includes Oregon in their last Top 25 ranking of the regular season after sweeping WSU last weekend.

As a team heads into the post-season, it wants to be playing their best.

After a five-game winning streak, including a weekend sweep over Washington State, Oregon Ducks baseball is doing just that and their getting their recognition.

D1baseball.com ranks the Ducks as the No. 23 team in the nation as they prepare for the Pac-12 tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. where Utah awaits as Oregon’s opening opponent.

The Ducks go into the conference tournament as the 3-seed.

But Oregon (37-16) is far from the only Pac-12 ranked in the Top 25. The Beavers enter the rankings as the No. 6 team although they lost the regular-season title to Arizona on a walk-off double.

Speaking of the Wildcats, Arizona is the No. 18 team in the country and will have the top seed in the Pac-12 tourney. They are hoping for a better result this year after Oregon defeated the Cats in the 2023 tournament.

Tournament games begin on Tuesday with the Ducks opening with the Utes at 2:30 pm on Wednesday.

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Ducks sweep Cougars to end baseball regular season

Oregon has a shot at the 2-seed in the Pac-12 tournament with a three-game sweep over WSU at PK Park.

Every college baseball team wants to be peaking around post-season time and like last season, Oregon Ducks baseball seems to be doing just that.

The Ducks ended the regular season on a high not as they swept Washington State in a three-game weekend series at PK Park. In the finale, Mason Neville crushed two home runs to lead Oregon to the 10-4 victory.

Starting pitcher Kevin Seitter threw 5 1/3 innings, and allowed four earned runs and six hits while striking out four. The bullpen consisting of Ryan Featherston and Bradley Mullan went the rest of the way.

Oregon broke through in the third inning on Neville’s big fly to right field to make it 2-0. But the Cougars took the lead right back in the top of the fourth with three runs to take a brief 3-2 lead.

It was brief because the Duck struck back right away in the bottom half of the fame on Maddox Molony’s home run to left and it was 4-3. Oregon wouldn’t relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

The Ducks added two in the fifth, one in the sixth and two more in the eighth to end the scoring.

Home runs was the name of the game for the entire series. Neville hot two  bombs in the first game to lead the Ducks to a 9-2 win and in Game 2, Bryce Boettcher’s three-run homer ended a seven-run eighth inning to rally the Ducks past WSU 8-4.

Now Oregon will prepare to go down to Scottsdale, Ariz. to play in the Pac-12 tournament where it will be the defending champs. The Ducks will be the 2-seed if Oregon State defeats Arizona Saturday night. But if the Wildcats beat the Beavers, the Ducks will be the 3-seed.

The nine-team tourney begins on Tuesday, May 21.

Kenjon Barner recalls reaction to Oregon Ducks Hall of Fame announcement

Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens gave Kenyon Barner some news he never expected to receive.

Kenjon Barner’s career with the Oregon Ducks is interesting since his time spent in Eugene was mostly alongside legendary RB LaMichael James. When many fans think about the leading rusher on those Chip Kelly-era Duck teams, most think of No. 21 running the ball, though No. 24’s stats where right up there on the same level.

Although he was RB2 most of the time, Barner’s accomplishments and statistics don’t resemble anything of an RB2. He was one of the best running backs in Oregon history, sitting at No. 3 on Oregon’s all-time leading rusher’s list. This past year, Barner was duly recognized for those accolades by being inducted into the Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame.

It was a phone call that Barner wasn’t expecting, and won’t soon forget.

“I never gave it any thought. It was never on my mind that ‘I want to make the Oregon Hall of Fame,'” Barner said this week on the “Sco-ing Long Podcast” with Zachary Neel and Oregon legend Jonathan Stewart. “It just didn’t ever come to mind, for whatever reason. I didn’t play the game for an accolade like that to come. I just played the game because I loved it. There was no other reason. It wasn’t for the awards, I just loved playing the game.”

When Barner did get that call from Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens, he says that he couldn’t stop the emotions from coming out.

“I was on the freeway driving and I saw Rob (Mullens)’s number pop up on my phone, and I was like ‘why is the AD calling me, what did I do?'” Barner explained. “So I answered the phone, and when he said it, it was immediate tears. When I got that call, I broke down, I cried like a baby.”

Barner made plenty of opposing defensive coordinators cry in their car when trying to prepare for him and the Ducks’ explosive offense, so perhaps the setting was fitting. But the former Oregon tailback wasn’t thinking of himself when the news hit.

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“It wasn’t just for me. It was the fact that everything that my mother, everything that my father, everything that my sister, everything that they financially sacrificed for me to be in the space that I was in at Oregon and thereafter, it was more for them, and that everything that they had done for me wasn’t done in vane,” Barner said.

After explaining that his dad never missed a college game of his, home or away, it’s clear how much the familial support helped him along his journey. While a lot of athletes who grew up in a troubled background claim that they are a rose that grew from concrete, Barner rather says that he is a rose that grew from a loving village.

“It’s an indescribable feeling,” Barner said. “And it’s something that I’m humbled by, something that I’m grateful for. And it’s something that I’ll be able to share with my family, my kids, and everybody else from here on after.”

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Ducks make it a nice Mother’s Day with series win over Washington

Kevin Seitter pitches into the seventh inning and the Duck offense does just enough to down the Dawgs 5-3 in series finale.

Every Oregon Duck baseball player would have wanted to be home with their mothers on this Mother’s Day, but winning a weekend series at Washington wasn’t a bad consolation prize.

Oregon’s Kevin Seitter pitched into the seven inning and the Duck offense did just enough to defeat the Huskies 5-3 and take the weekend series two game to one on Sunday afternoon in Seattle.

Seitter went 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs in the second, on six hits and striking out nine to earn his sixth victory of the season.

After the Ducks took a 2-0 lead in the second, Washington grabbed the lead back with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. Fortunately for Seitter and the Ducks, that would be the only runs the Dawgs could muster. It gave the Oregon offense plenty of time to overtake the home team.

They tied the game quickly in the third on Bennett Thompson’s single to center that scored Mason Neville. The game remained knotted at three apiece until the fifth when Justin Cassella singled home Neville to take the 4-3 lead.

Oregon added a much-needed insurance run in the seventh on Jacob Walsh’s sacrifice fly to center that scored Ryan Cooney.

Seitter and the bullpen took it from there.

Bradley Mullan finished off the seventh and the eighth and then closer Logan Mercado pitched a scoreless ninth to earn save No. 8 on the season.

Oregon will now come back to PK Park for the last three regular season games, a weekend set with Washington State beginning on Friday night.