For such an individual sport, baseball really is all about the team. 

Active offense fueled easy runs. An early advantage made life easier for the pitching staff. Multiple unique arms threw strikes while generating soft contact to keep their defense engaged. Sometimes, the sport is really simple. 

Oregon baseball (5-0) certainly made it look that way in a wire-to-wire 18-1 win over Youngstown State (0-4).
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“Good win,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “Happy the guys played well, pitched well… really good overall.” 

A four-hit, four-run first inning, keyed by RBI knocks from Maddox Maloney, Drew Smith and Burke-Lee Mabeus, opened things up for starting pitcher Toby Twist to throw five relatively stress-free innings.

“It was great,” Twist said of the run support. “But we try not to be complacent and get after guys.”
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Twist was tagged for a solo homer in the second by YSU left fielder Brady Shannon before finding his groove and facing the minimum over the next two frames.
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The third-inning onslaught began quickly when Gabe Miranda walked and Maloney doubled him in on a down-and-away slider.

The Ducks jumped all over Penguins’ pitcher Tyler Heflin after that.

Burke-Lee Mabeus reached on an RBI fielder’s choice. Then, an error, a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with two outs for Oregon to cash in more. A Jax Gimenez walk, followed by RBI singles from Hellman and Miranda, helped put the game way out of reach for Oregon in the third.

From there, Twist’s job was easy — fill up the strike zone, limit damage and pitch as deep as possible. He executed in a start that included two hits, one walk and few legitimate threats from the overmatched Penguins.

“It felt great,” Twist said. “Just trying to put my team in the best position to win… stay present, stay with the next pitch, nothing more than that.” 

After Twist, freshman Cooper Markham (one inning pitched) and Josh Hollis (three innings) threw four hitless innings in relief. 

Wasikowski talked in the preseason about how his team featured a more balanced look than years past, which were more home run-focused. Although this team has a good deal of power, it’s worth noting that the Ducks scored ten runs without leaving the ballpark, instead utilizing aggressive baserunning and hard contact to put pressure on the defense.

The Ducks were benefactors of an overall sloppy game from the Penguins. All four first inning runs from Oregon were unearned, a stat only made worse when Youngstown State’s Ryan Schummer ran his team out of the second inning after being doubled up on a flyball to center.
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YSU finished with four errors and aside from limiting walks, helped the Ducks out in every way imaginable.

There were plenty of other proponents visible on Thursday that will benefit Oregon the rest of this series and beyond. YSU used four pitchers at length, likely shortening their bullpen for the rest of this series.
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Ten different Ducks tallied hits, the biggest of which came from Maloney’s solo homer in the sixth, which rang off the foul-pole.

“The game has ups and downs, ebbs and flows,” Maloney said. “As long as you can stay steady, stuff like this happens.”
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But Twist’s strong outing was the biggest positive on a day full of them. The lefty got his first career  win in his first lengthy outing since missing time the past two years due to injury.
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“Those guys that come back from arm injuries, it usually takes them a little bit,” Wasikowski said. “What you saw today is what we saw in our scrimmages.”:
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First pitch for tomorrow’s contest is set for 2:05 p.m.