Once again, Oregon baseball will not be heading to the College World Series after another lackluster Super Regional performance.

No. 11 Oregon baseball dropped Game 2 of the Austin Super Regional 6-5 against No. 6 University of Texas on Sunday, and it marks the fifth time the Ducks have failed to make the CWS after reaching the Super Regional stage.

“When it comes to the team that I represent, I couldn’t be more proud of the efforts, especially the senior class, [that they] have made,” Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski said following the loss on Sunday. “We are a by-and-large home-grown product, we are not a transfer portal school. Their blood, sweat and tears have been in this program.”

The Ducks battled to get to the Supers, but it seems that fight wasn’t enough to move on to Omaha for the first time since 1954. The Daily Emerald breaks down the three biggest takeaways from Oregon baseball’s trip to Austin:

Pitching fell off a cliff

In almost every sport, a strong defense is the best offense, and that is definitely the case when it comes to pitching in baseball. After a dominant three games at PK Park in the Regional stage, the Ducks’ pitching staff looked stronger than ever after only allowing three runs through the weekend. In the Super Regionals, however, that was not the case as Oregon allowed 17 runs over a two-game series in Austin. 

The starters were the main issue, at least the players who have been starters for most of the season. In Game 1, Cal Scolari started the game with typical starter Collin Clarke coming in as a relief pitcher later in the game. The pair gave up nine out of the 11 runs scored, and both gave up home runs. This type of performance is typical of Clarke, who gave up 13 home runs this season, but Scolari has excelled at preventing runs all season. Scolari only allowed two runs in May,  so to see him give up five in only 3.2 innings of work was shocking to say the least. 

Game 2 was an even more shocking showing, with Eugene Regional MVP Will Sanford allowing back-to-back home runs to start the game. Sanford struck out 14 batters against Washington State in the Regionals, only to give up four runs in the first two innings, which shows just how poorly this team prepared to handle pressure in big moments. That isn’t to say it was a horrendous performance for the whole game; in fact, he turned it around in the third inning and started to show glimpses of the pitcher who earned the MVP award in the Regional, striking out three and allowing only two hits through the third and fourth innings. 

Abandoned Ducks on the pond

The most glaring issue offensively for Oregon was its inability to score runs in this series. In Game 1, the Ducks set the table multiple times with 16 base runners, only to forget to pick up the silverware and leave their plates untouched. Looking back on some of Oregon’s losses throughout the season, the only other big games where there were 10 or more runners stranded were the Big Ten Championship vs UCLA, Game 1 of the USC series and Game 2 of the Nebraska series.

That frustration was obvious.

“I thought we kinda shot ourselves in the foot tonight,” Wasikowski said following Game 1.

“We didn’t execute well enough with runners in scoring position,” Jax Gimenez said. “They had a competitor on the mound, and it was clean in moments tonight, but we know it can be better.”

“I think we did a good job setting the table, and the moment got too big a couple of times,” Maddox Molony said. “We gotta do a better job staying within ourselves and trusting our abilities.”

Game 2 was an improvement, scoring five runs with only seven runners stranded, but that’s still seven runs that Oregon could have scored. A long-term issue that returned in full force was strikeouts, particularly from Naulivou Lauaki Jr. (three strikeouts) and Jack Brooks (two strikeouts). The pair rank second and third on the team in strikeouts with 59 and 56, respectively. 

Lauaki’s numbers are even more alarming, considering he only had 134 at-bats this season, the lowest of anyone in the starting lineup. He routinely finds himself swinging at the first two pitches and getting stuck in 0-2 counts, which is essentially handing the pitcher control in nearly every at-bat. Lauaki has been one of the best hitters on the team with a batting average of .321, but striking out with runners in scoring position is much worse than putting a ball in play that could potentially score a run.

Brooks hasn’t been a top-tier contributor offensively with only a .236 batting average, but he’s been one of the team’s best when it comes to getting on base. He ranks third in walks and drew the go-ahead walk with bases loaded against Oregon State in the Eugene Regional championship. Brooks is clearly no stranger to high-pressure scenarios, so to see him struggle so much against Texas was surprising after rising to the occasion in the Regional.

Bright future ahead

Despite all of the problems this team had in Austin, it’s important to remember how young this team is. Lauaki, Brayden Jaksa and Angel Laya are all freshmen with plenty of time to develop, as well as sophomores Burke-Lee Mabeus, Sanford, Gimenez, Tanner Bradley, Scolari and Michael Meckna who have also shown they have what it takes to take a team deep into the postseason. 

One reason why Texas did so well is its experience. They had mostly junior and senior pitchers on the mound against Oregon and were led by juniors Aiden Robbins and Carson Tinney, who have much more experience in these high-pressure situations.

If there’s really one thing to take away from this Super Regional loss, it’s that Oregon has an opportunity that most other programs don’t have: the ability to build off their mistakes with a young core that has postseason experience. In an era of NIL and transfer portal moves, Wasikowski is building a team of experienced and dedicated players who are true homegrown products.