“This group has unlimited ability,” Oregon third baseman Carter Garate said after the Ducks’ 6-1 win on Sunday.
No. 12 Oregon baseball (3-1) took three games out of the four-contest weekend with the Toledo Rockets (1-3) to kick off the 2025 season. The weekend was an obvious success with many different headlines emerging from PK Park
Freshman Talent
Head coach Mark Wasikowski got his new guys a good amount of playing time during Opening Weekend. With Chase Meggers day-to-day with a hand injury, two different true freshmen made their collegiate debuts behind the dish.
In the second game of the series, Coen Niclai caught Collin Clarke. Niclai was a hard out, going 1-3 with a hard lineout caught in left field by Luke Walton, who had an unbelievable defensive weekend, and may have single-handedly stolen Toledo the win in Game Two.
Burke-Lee Mabeus got the start behind the plate in Game Three and started Sunday’s contest as the Ducks’ designated hitter. On the weekend, Maebus was 2-5 with a sac-fly and even swiped a bag.
“I thought they caught really well,” Wasikowski said of his two new catchers.
On the mound, the Ducks sent out nine new arms — three freshmen and six transfers. Sunday starter Will Sanford dazzled with four innings of two-hit, one-run ball. Freshman Kellan Knox earned Sunday’s win with two 1-2-3 frames. Saint Mary’s transfer Jason Reitz gave three shutout innings in his Saturday start. In the Ducks’ lone loss, freshman Gabe Howard pitched the final three frames while only surrendering one to keep Oregon in it.
Offensive Surge
The Ducks scored 27 runs in just 33 offensive innings. That sort of ratio will take Oregon everywhere it wants to go — and deeper — if it holds.
You’ve heard by now that the Ducks set a new program record with seven homers in Game Three, but that wasn’t the only offensive high from the weekend. In general, the Ducks swung the bats pretty effectively against opposing pitching that Wasikowski praised on more than one occasion.
Even during the lulls, Oregon didn’t go completely cold. They only struck-out seven times in the loss, and twice during a five-inning scoreless stretch on Sunday. While they did strike-out 10 times in the Season-Opener, that was to be expected as hitting often starts the season a bit sluggish. The Ducks put the ball in play — hard — all weekend long, and were rewarded for it for the most part.
Starting Studs
Oregon starting pitchers combined for 17 complete innings and allowed only two runs. One came on a Tre Mariano missile off of Grayson Grinsell in Game One, but that was literally the only mistake pitch Grinsell threw in his five innings of one-hit, one run ball. The other earned run came on a wild pitch from Sanford in Game Four, but surely some jitters can be forgiven in his first collegiate start.
The other two starting wings, Clarke and Reitz went five and three innings respectively without surrendering a run. Oregon starting pitching fanned 25 hitters on the weekend to the eight walks they issued.
Middle Infield Depth
Maddox Molony (.467), Carter Garate (.286), Drew Smith (.250), Jack Brooks (.286) and Ryan Cooney (.125) all got starts over the weekend and all of them produced at a high level. All five of those guys are middle infielders by trade and while Garate and Molony likely have third and short locked up respectively, the other three will likely battle for the second base/designated hitter spots as the season progresses. Wasikowski will have options in his infield with so much talent in the clubhouse.
“I think it just makes each of us better to be honest,” Cooney said of the competition, “All of us have great ability and love each other as teammates.”
Defensively, they were stellar and the Ducks had just one fielding error during the series.
Not Overreacting to a Loss
True, the ranked Ducks lost a game to unranked Toledo. But winning four games against any given team is extremely difficult to do. Oregon wasn’t punished in the rankings, either staying steady or rising in every major poll.
The one loss came as the result of a bad inning from Julian Hernandez, who didn’t record an out while allowing four runs (three earned). One inning does not a team make. Not to mention, without Walton’s defense in that particular contest, the Ducks likely score seven or more runs in what ended up being a 5-3 loss.
Not a big deal. Oregon was so clearly the better team this past weekend.
“You always want to win as many as you can,” Cooney said. “We’d love to [have won] the four, but getting away with a series win is always important and I think we’ll strive for the four whenever it comes.”
Ruth’s Three Stars
First Start: Maddox Molony – SS
Molony had a career weekend, smacking three homers on 7-15 hitting. Of his seven hits, five went for extra bses, earning him an early slugging percentage of 1.200%. He tallied three RBIs and scored six times while also playing a solid short. Molony was easily one of Oregon’s best overall players down the stretch last season, and he’s already gotten 2025 off to a stellar start.
Second Star: Ian Umlandt – LHP
Umlandt came in to relieve Reitz in Game Three and threw six scoreless frames while fanning eight, allowing only two hits and not walking a single batter. He earned the win out of the bullpen while the bats racked up homer after homer.
“He was really effective,” Wasikowski said of Umlandt. “He got out ahead of hitters and made them swing at the pitches that he wanted them to swing at. He really gave us everything we could ask and more.”
Third Star: Mason Neville – CF
The Ducks’ center fielder hit .375 on 6-16 hitting while playing a solid defense. He slashed a pair of homers, two doubles and scored five times on the 3-1 weekend.
From the press box is a new series covering the ins and outs of each series the Ducks will play in 2025. This is the first edition of Brady Ruth’s new long-form coverage.
