Oregon buries Washington under barrage of home runs in Big Ten Tournament win

After waiting around on Friday, weather forced the Oregon Baseball team to wait until Saturday Morning to kick off their run in the Big Ten Tournament. As the Ducks played in Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska it gave the team a chance to play where they'll hope to return in a few weeks as a team with the potential to go on a run to the College World Series.

On a day when the Ducks hoped to play a pair of games, Mark Wasikowski sent ace Cal Scolari to the mound, hoping to keep a streaking Washington team quiet. In his first postseason start of the year for Scolari, the only thing he could've given the Ducks more of was length, as he was stellar over 5 innings, shutting out the Huskies' offense while striking out 10.

Oregon's barrage of home runs ends Washington's season

The Washington Huskies came into the Big Ten Tournament as a far more desperate team needing to win the Big Ten Tournament in order to make the NCAA Tournament. The Oregon Ducks looked across the field and decided that the Huskies' season would end by way of a barrage of solo home runs.

Oregon's scoring started in the second inning with a ton of help from the Huskies as Washington issued a pair of bases loaded walks to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead. The free passes were great, but it was only a matter of time before the Ducks' offense applied some pressure of their own.

Junior Lauaki started the home run party for the Ducks with an opposite field laser to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead.

In the 5th inning, Drew Smith extended the lead with a home run of his own launching a solo shot into the opposite bullpen from Lauaki's blast.

It felt as if just as Drew Smith's home run was falling, Brayden Jaksa sent one of his own into orbit stretching the lead to 5.

After seeing Drew Smith and Brayden Jaksa hit back-to-back home runs, Jack Brooks and Gabe Miranda appeared to be jealous as they accomplished the same feat in the 6th inning.

For good measure, the Ducks added another run on a bases loaded single by Angel Laya to make it 8-0 Ducks and Drew Smith hit a sac-fly to make it 9-0 Ducks, allowing the bullpen to close out the game.

All the extra insurance runs proved to be key in the 9th inning as Toby Twist got himself in some trouble and Michael Meckna allowed a grand slam in relief making it 9-4 Ducks.

This game was the perfect example of why Oregon can be such a deadly team when the NCAA Tournament kicks off. The offense isn't carried by a single star player, but instead, every batter has a chance to hurt you, and in this win, just about everyone contributed to the win. Oregon won't always hit this many home runs, but having the capability to launch the long ball from anywhere in the order is a rare strength.

The opener for the Ducks getting pushed to Saturday will force a quick turnaround for the team as they'll face Nebraska at 6:00 PM CT for those in Omaha or 4:00 PM PT for the fans back at home. Considering how hot the Ducks bats are, Mark Wasikowski would likely prefer they just roll right into the next game.

Coming into the weekend, Oregon was a projected regional host, but the Ducks still needed to help bolster their resume. Beating Washington helps, but if Oregon is really going to head into the bracket reveal with little to no stress, it'll take beating Nebraska and advancing to the Big Ten Tournament Championship.

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