Oregon suffers season-ending loss to Oral Roberts, falls one win short of College World Series

Oregon’s magical postseason run fell one win shy of a long-awaited return to Omaha.

After trading walk-off thrillers with Oral Roberts during the first two games of the Eugene Super Regional, the Ducks’ season ended on a far less profound note Sunday with an 11-6 loss to the Golden Eagles at PK Park.

Oregon ends the year 41-22, while Oral Roberts has clinched its first trip to the College World Series since 1978.

“What this group created with the fans — the fans, we have to thank — this group brought interest to an Oregon baseball program that has never had this level of interest,” Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski said while referencing the Ducks’ seniors. “The community, the fans, the student section, the environment that we got to experience, it was directly related to this senior class and draft class. Not saying these guys are all going out the door. But these guys are warriors.

“You saw their hearts and souls on the field. You saw how much they care about this university.”

Oregon nearly captured the Eugene Super Regional Saturday evening, but the Golden Eagles forced a decisive Game 3 after Justin Quinn smashed a walk-off two-run double in the bottom of the ninth.

On Sunday, the Ducks arrived at PK Park with a pitching staff that was running on fumes.

Late in the afternoon, with the game still in the balance, they finally ran out of gas.

Freshman Jackson Pace got the starting nod for Oregon despite having not pitched in a game since May 13. The right-hander gave the Ducks 3.0 innings and surrendered four earned runs, and was helped by a three-run homer from outfielder Tanner Smith in the bottom of the first that provided Oregon with some much-needed momentum.

“It’s not normal, right? Was obviously a little bit unorthodox with how they ran their pitchers out there and that’s tough,” Oral Roberts head coach Ryan Folmar said. “It’s extremely difficult because you can’t just prepare for one guy. We knew we were gonna face multiple guys. …You try to gameplan and go through what your approach is going to be, what your plan is going to be. It makes it tough.”

In the fourth, Pace gave way to junior righty Logan Mercado, who held ORU to one run over 3.0 innings in one of his brightest outings of the season.

Oregon entered the top of the seventh trailing 5-4 and with plenty of reason to believe it could orchestrate a late-game rally. Freshman lefty Grayson Grinsell replaced right-hander Mercado on the mound after Mercado had thrown 44 pitches over 3.0 strong innings.

Grinsell walked Matt Hogan, the first batter he faced, and then threw a wild pitch to Mac McCroskey that allowed Hogan to advance to second. Grinsell walked McCroskey on five pitches and appeared to be in pain after the final pitch of the at-bat.

Pitching coach Jake Angier and an Oregon trainer came out to check on Grisnell, and he ultimately exited the game. Senior righty Matt Dallas replaced Grinsell and allowed Hogan to score on a wild pitch to make it 6-4.

After a walk, a strikeout, and another walk, ORU leadoff man Jake McMurray stepped to the plate and crushed a line drive that hit Dallas directly in the head.

Dallas stayed down after the incident and received care from Oregon’s trainers, but opted to stay in the game.

“It got my full-on in the side of the head, no glove. I talked to (second baseman Gavin Grant) afterward and he said it would have come right to him if it didn’t hit me,” Dallas said. “But no, no there was (no doubt that he would stay in the game) at all.”

Dallas got Quinn to fly out to end the inning, and Oregon cut the ORU lead to 8-5 in the bottom of the seventh with a sac fly from Sabin Ceballos. But the Ducks left the bases loaded when Golden Eagles’ reliever Dalton Patton got Drew Smith to fly out to center and escape a jam.

After a scoreless eighth inning, disaster struck for the Ducks.

Ian Umlandt replaced Josh Mollerus on the hill to start the inning and sandwiched a walk between a fly out and a ground out.

Ducks’ pitching coach Jake Angier then turned to freshman righty Dylan McShane to try and get the third out of the inning. McShane hit Blaze Brothers with the first pitch he threw, then walked McMurray on five pitches to load the bases.

“We needed to get as much as we possibly could out of (Pace) today for the obvious reason that the bullpen was taxed and tired,” Wasikwoski said. “Obviously the exact same reason why Ian came in. Everybody was assigned their roles and their jobs. It wasn’t going to be a deal where a lot of guys could throw a whole bunch of pitches. We need to try to figure out a way to mix and match it.”

Angier hooked McShane for freshman Logan Olson, who prior to Sunday, had not pitched in a game since May 18. Oral Roberts pushed its lead to 11-5 without needing to put the ball in play as Olson issued two straight walks and then hit a batter with a pitch.

Oregon got one run back on an RBI single from Smith. But it was too little, too late for another Ducks’ comeback.

During the final postgame interview of his college career, Smith, a five-year starter who set multiple program records during the 2023 season, was asked what this year’s iteration of the Ducks has meant to him.

“It’s something special. This is a group unlike any other,” Smith said. “This is a group that has dealt with adversity in ways that nobody else in the country has faced. To be able to rally together and fight for one another and really play team baseball, there’s no better way to leave this place.”