Oregon native Ryan Cooney stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. He was technically at home, in the second game of the Ducks’ Super Regional Game 2 matchup with the Texas Longhorns, but it didn’t sound like it. The “away” fans were on their feet, cheering as the final out of the game loomed.

Cooney sent the first pitch into foul ground. Strike two flew past him on the outside part of the zone. A swing and a miss ended Oregon baseball’s season and punched Texas’s ticket to the College World Series in Omaha.

In a game that spanned four hours, the Ducks’ season ended in the blink of an eye.

A rough start for Will Sanford (3.2 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 7 K) hindered a late-game comeback for the Ducks in their win-or-go-home Super Regional Game 2 matchup against the Longhorns. The revival, which came on the back of strong hitting from Brayden Jaksa (1-3, 2 RBI, BB), Drew Smith (2-3, 2 2B, 1 RBI) and Cooney. (2-5, 2 R), was cut short as the final three batters went down in order to draw the curtain on Oregon’s season.

Sanford kicked off the first inning pounding the zone with his fastball, but the aggressive approach proved detrimental after right fielder Aiden Robbin and catcher Carson Tinney hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning. Left fielder Anthony Pack Jr. drew a full count walk following the bombs, but Sanford bounced back with two strikeouts, and Pack was caught stealing by Burke-Lee Mabeus on the second strikeout. 

The Ducks’ offense continued to look morose after a three-up, three-down inning in the bottom of the first, seemingly carrying over poor hitting from Game 1 despite Texas starter Ruger Riojas throwing mostly strikes with 11 in 17 pitches.

First baseman Ashton Larson singled to center field with one out in the top of the second before advancing to second on a wild pitch following a strikeout. After walking Dariyan Pendergrass, Sanford threw a second wild pitch, which advanced both base runners before a third wild pitch plated a run. Tinney sent a ball past Drew Smith at third for an RBI single to put the Longhorns up 4-0 before Sanford flipped the inning on a strikeout.

After letting an RBI single get by him at the top of the frame, Smith hit a leadoff double on the first pitch. After two strikeouts had the Ducks on the brink of retaking the field, Naulivou Lauaki Jr. slashed an RBI single past second base to put Oregon on the board heading into the top of the third. 

Sanford struck out the lead-off batter in the top of the third, and Jax Gimenez made a jumping catch on a foul ball in the left field corner but hit the top of the wall with his ribs. He was on the ground for a couple of minutes, but got up on his own accord and stayed in the game. Following a single, Sanford picked up his second strikeout of the inning to secure his first scoreless frame of the game.

Smith hit his second double of the day in the bottom of the third, this time scoring Cooney, who reached on a fielder’s choice earlier in the inning. Brayden Jaksa kept the runs coming after sending Smith home on an RBI single through the right side of the infield to slash the lead down to one. 

After a rough start to the game, Sanford looked like he was really finding his stride with seven strikeouts in the game following a leadoff K to start the fourth. With two outs, Texas loaded the bases following two walks and a single from Tinney, which prompted Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski to bring out Tanner Bradley to relieve Sanford. 

Bradley started off shaky against second baseman Temo Becerra, throwing three straight balls, but managed to recover and strike him out to escape the jam.

After a scoreless top half of the fifth, Angel Laya and Cooney hit back-to-back singles to start the Ducks’ side of the frame. Smith moved both runners over on a sacrifice bunt before Jaksa drew a full-count walk to load the bases. Mabeus sent Laya home on a groundout to second to tie the game at four.

The Ducks continued to lock down the Longhorns after Bradley struck out two in the top half of the sixth. The offense slowed down just as the defense picked up, but in the bottom of the seventh, Cooney hit a ball off the left field wall for a lead-off double. He took third on a wild pitch to put the go-ahead run in prime scoring position. 

Smith got in a 1-2 count against Ethan Walker before the wild pitch, but the Longhorns decided to move to Thomas Burns mid at-bat to catch Smith off guard. The change paid off with a swing and a miss, but they couldn’t prevent Oregon from taking the lead with Cooney scoring on a groundout from Jaksa.

Toby Twist took the mound in the eighth and made a quick heads-up play to start the inning by fielding a bunt and making the throw to first to start the frame. After walking Tinney with two outs, Twist’s day on the mound ended, and Devin Bell’s began. 

Bell hit Pack Jr. in the foot with a runaway pitch before Becerra hit a blooper to the left of the mound to load the bases with two outs. Rodriguez hit a two-run double down the left field line to retake the lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.

Sam Cozart took over for Burns in the bottom of the eighth and decimated the Ducks by striking out two before Brooks grounded out. Oregon needed a miracle in the ninth, and after Texas went straight up and down, all eyes were on the top of the Ducks’ order.

Gimenez grounded out to third to put the Ducks in a tough spot early in the frame before Laya struck out on three pitches. It all came down to Cooney.

After fouling the first pitch off and seeing strike two fly by, a swing and a miss ended the inning and Oregon’s season. Texas escaped with a 6-5 win.

Texas advances to the Men’s College World Series, while Oregon’s season is officially over.