What at times looked like it could be a disastrous weekend for No. 15 Oregon baseball ended up resulting in a series win over the Maryland Terrapins. The Ducks were in danger of losing the first game and suffered a humiliating run-rule loss in Sunday’s first contest, but responded in a big way Sunday afternoon to salvage the series win.
After Friday’s contest was postponed to Sunday due to rain in Maryland, the Ducks won Saturday’s game 5-4, lost Sunday’s first match 12-2, but responded with a 13-3 win in the afternoon. Series, Ducks.
No. 15 Oregon (24-10, 12-6 Big Ten) had a good series at home last weekend against Michigan to get its series on track, but looked to keep the momentum going on the road against the lowly Terrapins (16-21, 4-11 Big Ten). The Ducks have struggled against the lower teams in the Big Ten, having already lost a road series to the last-place Buckeyes, and they almost let Maryland get the best of them this weekend. Instead, a comeback victory sparked by an unlikely hero on Friday and a dominant pitching performance on Sunday will keep the Ducks toward the top of the conference standings.
Drew Smith made his first start since late February and made a crucial impact in his return to the lineup. He singled home the tying run in the top of the ninth inning, stole third and eventually scored on a Ryan Cooney sacrifice fly to become the game-winning run. Smith also homered in the fourth to put Oregon ahead for the time being, but three solo shots from Maryland in three-straight innings put the Terrapins ahead in the eighth to prompt Smith’s heroics in the ninth.
The Ducks took a crucial series-opening win from the jaws of defeat. A couple of runs could’ve been the difference between a series win and a disastrous weekend that would’ve severely dampened Oregon’s hopes of hosting an NCAA Regional at the end of the season.
The Ducks had a game to forget in the first contest of Sunday’s doubleheader. Six Oregon pitchers combined for 10 walks, 11 hits and 12 earned runs allowed while the offense stranded 10 runners and recorded only five hits. Oregon hit .143 with runners on base and .125 with men in scoring position.
Maryland took advantage of Oregon’s poor pitching to snatch just its fourth conference win of 2025. Suddenly, the Ducks needed to find a way to shake off their first run-rule loss of the season and play again just an hour later.
Fortunately for Oregon, the Ducks responded with a resounding 13-3 victory in the series finally. They found a way to win a game by three runs despite leaving 15 runners on base.
Maryland got the scoring started and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Ducks were able to not only tie the contest, but take a 3-2 advantage on just one hit through three innings. Terrapin pitchers issued 12 free passes in the third game of the weekend. A huge five-run fifth inning featured homers from both Mason Neville and Jacob Walsh put Oregon ahead for good.
A huge part of the series-clinching win was Jason Reitz’s performance. Making his second start of conference play and his first start in a series finale, Reitz toed the rubber with his Ducks in need of a solid outing. He gave them a great one.
He allowed only two earned runs (three overall) on five hits across his career-high seven innings of work. He only walked one while collecting a career-high 11 strikeouts. He made a huge statement about his worth in Oregon’s starting rotation and it’ll be interesting to see how Wasikowski aligns his lineup next week.
Oregon now sits 6-4 on the road this season. The Ducks will face Georgetown on Monday for one game before returning home to face UCLA next weekend in what will be a crucial Big Ten series for both squads.
