Oregon baseball has successful 3-1 East Coast road trip

USA Today

14-04-2025

Oregon baseball has successful 3-1 East Coast road trip
Flying to the East Coast for any team out West is always an iffy proposition. But for the Oregon Ducks baseball team, it wasn't a problem at all.
The Ducks flew to Maryland for their first Big Ten series on the other side of the country and Oregon was able to win the series two games to one. After the Friday game was rained out, the two teams met Saturday afternoon where the Ducks had to rally with two runs in the top of the ninth and hold on for an exciting 5-4 win.
Drew Smith roped a single into right field to score Anson Aroz to tie the game at 4-4. A Smith eventually found himself at third base with one out when Ryan Cooney flew out to deep left for the sacrifice fly and the 5-4 lead. Seth Maddox threw a flawless ninth and earned his first win of the season.
Things didn't go so well for Oregon in the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday as the Terrapins took an easy 12-2 victory. Starting pitcher Collin Clarke just didn't have his good stuff on the mound and Maryland took advantage by scoring four runs in four innings off of Clarke.
Things only got worse when reliever Ryan Featherston came in. He allowed four more runs in an inning and a third as Maryland blew the game wide open with six runs in the sixth.
In the nightcap, it was just the opposite. Everything went right for the Ducks and they took a 13-3 win to take the series. Starter Jason Reitz went seven innings, giving up just two earned runs and striking out 11 for his first win as a Duck. The score was 3-3 in the fifth, but the Ducks scored five runs in that frame to blow the game wide open. Mason Neville and Jacob Walsh each homered in that inning to account for the runs.
Oregon scored four more runs in the ninth inning for good measure.
It was no rest for the weary as Oregon travelled just outside Washington, D.C. to take on Georgetown. Oregon smashed two grand slams, one from Neville and another blast from Carter Garate for the 12-1 win over the Hoyas.
Now, the Ducks come home for a big eight-game homestand, beginning with a three-game series with first-place holder UCLA, who holds a 12-3 league mark and 28-7 overall. Oregon is currently in third place, 1.5 games behind the Bruins at 12-6 in Big Ten action and 25-10 overall. Iowa is between the two West Coast teams at 14-4 in league play.