The scene after Oregon catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus hit a pinch-hit go-ahead home run in the seventh inning looked more like a Friday night conference game than a midweek against Big East opponent Xavier University.

Musketeers pitcher Owen Poole exchanged words with the home dugout, while a circle of teammates gathered to keep him on the left side of the mound, and his head coach pleaded his case to the umpires. Ducks left fielder Josh Schleichardt then showed that their ability to stir the pot is already in mid-season form, wandering from the on-deck circle toward the right-handed batters’ box to add to Poole’s frustration. Oregon eventually loaded the bases once the game resumed, allowing senior Dominic Hellman to break the game open with a three-run double.

“That honestly fired me up a little bit,” Hellman said. “It’s about us having camaraderie, and it’s funny to see how a team (that we’re playing) can miss that sometimes — that they think that we’re talking about them, but really it’s just us getting rowdy.”

The rowdiness propelled Oregon (14-3) to a 6-3 win and a sweep of Xavier (5-13) in the midweek series. Strong infield defense guided the Ducks through a bullpen day, while Gabe Miranda (2-3, RBI 2B) headlined an unproductive day for the lineup.

Redshirt freshman Naulivou Lauaki put the Ducks on the board in the bottom of the second, driving a 3-0 fastball into center field to score Gabe Miranda.

“That’s a brother to me for sure. He helped me out, and I helped him out a lot, and it’s the guy that came in last year that I wanted to take under my wing and he’s a great guy,” Hellman said of Lauaki. “What makes him great with these opportunities is that he is an even better teammate.”

Oregon redshirt sophomore Leo Uelmen made his first start since 2023, picking up four strikeouts over 2.2 innings with a strong fastball-slider mix, but allowing three hits and one run. After taking over in the third, Oregon sophomore Michael Mechna allowed Uelmen’s leadoff walk to score on a single, and loaded the bases with a walk, but bounced back to record an inning-ending strikeout.

Freshman Josh Hollis took over from Mechna in the fifth inning, and gave Oregon 2.2 clean innings while striking out four batters. The Ducks’ lineup needed the strong performance, as Xavier starter Evan Vasiliou settled in after the second inning to keep the game tied 1-1 through the fifth.

Jax Gimenez’s leadoff single over the shortstop’s head finally ended Vasiliou’s excellent start. The lefty struck out three Ducks while working around four hits and two walks in his first start of the season.

The Musketeers gave Oregon a different look, following Vasiliou with Poole, a right-hander who throws from a sidearm slot. Poole drew two pop-outs in foul territory and a routine flyout to right field, stranding Gimenez at first.

After Poole drew two more flyouts, Mabeus entered the game as a pinch hitter and got just enough of a 1-0 fastball to send it over the right field wall and give Oregon a 2-1 lead. 

“I wanted to pull something through for the team there,” Mabeus said. “One thing that we talk a lot about, and take pride in, is not letting the results of the inning dictate the energy or confidence we have going into the box.”

The game resumed after Oregon’s celebration prompted a lengthy conversation between the umpires, and Poole couldn’t recapture his success. Schleichardt reached on a hit-by-pitch in a 1-1 count, Cooney singled and Gimenez ended Poole’s day with a four-pitch walk.

Oregon’s lineup got back to work after Xavier’s usual closer, Garrett Helsel, replaced Poole. Oregon’s lineup got back to work, with Hellman driving a three-run double off the left field wall and Miranda extending the lead to 6-1 with a double of his own. 

“Their closer is really good,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “We were able to get to him, which was really huge. Dom got that swing off of him,
Gabe got a swing off of him, so we were able to tack on some runs right there, which was the difference in the ballgame.”

Oregon reliever Ryan Featherston returned from his long break, and recovered from a leadoff single to work an eight-pitch strikeout. Xavier freshman Josh Stonehouse answered Oregon’s big inning by crushing his team-leading seventh home run high up the roof of the player development area beyond the right field wall, cutting Oregon’s lead to 6-3. Featherston limited the damage with a strikeout and an inning-ending groundout.

After Helsel sent the Ducks down in order, Oregon lefty Miles Gosztola opened the ninth with the task of getting the Musketeers’ left-handed leadoff hitter out and turning the save opportunity over to senior Devin Bell. Gosztola allowed an eight-pitch walk, but Bell erased the runner by drawing a clean double-play ball to shortstop Maddox Molony in a 2-2 count.

The Musketeers quickly put Bell in a two-out jam when a chopper off home plate bounced out of third baseman Drew Smith’s reach for a hit, and a hard-hit ground ball down the third-base line placed runners on second and third. Bell bounced back to secure the save with a six-pitch strikeout.

“I grew up watching the Ducks, and I wanted to represent the state, and I know what Coach Was is about,” Bell, a La Grande native and Western Oregon University transfer, said. “(Eugene) is home to me now, and we’ve built a culture in the locker room — the team’s amazing, so I just love it.”

Oregon hosts its first Big Ten home series against Indiana this weekend, starting with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch on Friday.