Nine days ago, Oregon was riding an 11-game win streak and was ranked No. 4 nationally. On Saturday, the Ducks lost their third-straight game, ending their season and becoming the first host team in the 2025 NCAA Tournament to be eliminated.
Five homers from the Ducks weren’t enough to overcome their pitching struggles as they became the only host team to go 0-2 in 2025.
“We ran into a couple teams that outplayed us the last couple of days and now we go home for the season and we have to regroup,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said.
Cal Poly scored early and often. Oregon’s biggest names were nowhere to be found. It was a recipe that ended the Ducks’ 42-16 season.
Oregon found itself in another early hole on Saturday. Dylan Kordic took Grayson Grinsell deep to center field in the bottom of the second, giving Cal Poly a 2-0 lead. It took the Ducks until the third inning to even earn a baserunner off Mustangs starter Josh Volmerding.
Ryan Cooney ripped a ground-rule double in the gap and Carter Garate walked to put a pair of men on with one out for the top of Oregon’s lineup. Dominic Hellman singled Cooney home to pick up his 42nd RBI of the season and put the Ducks on the board.
The Mustangs got the run right back in the bottom of the frame. Dante Vachini led the inning off with a double and came around to score on a Ryan Fenn sac fly as Cal Poly reclaimed its two-run advantage.
Hellman came up again in the fifth with Garate on first and two away. Garate took second on a wild pitch and third on a balk, forcing a mid-at-bat mound meeting. When it concluded, PK Park got rowdy and induced a mistake pitch from Volmerding.
Hellman didn’t miss it.
His 13th homer of the season hit the scoreboard in left, knotted the contest and gave life to a team and stadium that needed it badly.
But, again, Cal Poly had an immediate answer. Fenn picked up his second RBI of the day with a two-out single to right to plate Vachini (2-3, three runs).
Jeffery Heard, who got the start after Anson Aroz was ejected and suspended in Friday’s loss, re-tied the game in the sixth with a solo shot off the batter’s eye. A few hitters later, Cooney left the yard for the sixth time in 2025. His tater plated two, gave Oregon its first lead in nine days and chased Volmerding from the game.
The Mustangs’ lefty allowed six runs on nine hits across 5.2 innings of work. What started as a promising outing turned sour quickly as he relented five runs — all on homers — across his final two frames.
To nobody’s surprise, the Mustangs got right back to work offensively. Casey Murray Jr. (4-4, three RBIS) took the second pitch of the bottom of the sixth out to center field to bring the Mustangs back within a run.
The homer parade carried over into the seventh. Drew Smith sent his third homer of the series into the parking lot in left-center field to give Oregon an insurance run and continue to swing the momentum pendulum. Heard followed it with his second homer of the day (and Oregon’s fifth) to climb ahead by three.
Heard wasn’t expected to start at any point in the Eugene Regional, but filled Aroz’s spot with a tremendous 3-5, two RBI day in the sweetest storyline of the day.
“Personally, it felt good in those two at-bats, hitting those homers,” Heard said. “It’s been an up and down year for me, but I felt God just telling me to stay patient. Obviously, I’m disappointed with the outcome, but looking back on it, we had a great year. Great group of guys, my best friends for life.”
Grinsell’s day after issuing a leadoff walk in the seventh. He was far from his best on Saturday, allowing six runs on seven hits and only fanning two, but he exited to a nice ovation after what may very well have been his last appearance at PK Park.
“Obviously, it wasn’t one of my best,” Grinsell said. “I obviously don’t want to go out on that note, but I still felt like I went out there and gave it everything I had and that’s all you can do.”
Cal Poly loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh and Murray Jr. made the Ducks pay again with a two-RBI single to left field. RBI hits from Cam Hoiland and Kordic put Cal Poly back in front as the four-run inning sucked the life out of the stadium.
Zach Daudet sealed the deal with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth. The Mustangs scored in six of their eight offensive frames and each of their final four. Oregon outhit Cal Poly, but for the third-straight game in the Eugene Regional, the team with fewer hits scored more runs.
A strikeout from Maddox Molony ended the Ducks’ 2025 baseball season.
With the loss, many Oregon athletes played their final game at PK Park and in an Oregon uniform. Grinsell made his final start as a Duck, as did Mason Neville, Jacob Walsh and several others. Aroz ended up getting ejected in his final game of the season and possibly his collegiate career.
“When it comes to our team, I’m thrilled to have the chance to be around Jacob Walsh, Jeffery Heard, the other seniors that we had that are out of eligibility,” Wasikowski said. “Some still have some eligibility left and time will tell with all of that. From our locker room’s standpoint, I love these kids. Fantastic young men and we just came up short today.”
Oregon’s season is over after going 0-2 in the Eugene Regional. Cal Poly will live to play another day. The Mustangs will take on the loser of Saturday’s Arizona/Utah Valley game at 3:00 pm on Sunday.
