Big Ten baseball race enters final weekend, Ducks needing a sweep
Oregon travels to first-place Iowa Thursday, 2 1/2 games back with three games to play. A game ahead of the Ducks, UCLA hosts Northwestern in a three-game series.
All three games from Duane Banks Field in Iowa City will be televised. Thursday's opener is on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 4:05 p.m. PDT. Friday and Saturday's games can be found on the Big Ten Network. 4:02 p.m. and 10:02 a.m. respectively.
The Ducks' scheduled pitchers are Grayson Grimsley, Collin Clarke and Jason Reitz. Mason Neville (26 home runs,) Jacob Walsh (17), Anson Aroz (15) and Maddox Molony (13) supply home run power.
Big Ten baseball standings
Iowa 21-6
UCLA 20-7
Oregon 19-8
Confusing changes to NCAA NIL rules explained
In an article for "Mike Farrell Sports," Brett Daniels outlines the new structure for NCAA schools and athletes set forth by the House Settlement, named after Arizona State swimmer Grant House, one of the athletes that brought the suit.
The House settlement will establish a loose “salary cap” for each team and allow institutions to directly pay players as part of a revenue sharing agreement. NIL agreements will be reviewed by an NCAA clearinghouse and either approved or disapproved based on the scope and terms of the deal. For a deal to be approved it must satisfy the requirements of using NIL for a legitimate business promoting goods and services at fair market value and cannot include any quid pro quo tied to athlete performance.
Schools will have a "salary cap" of $20.5 million to distribute to athletes across all sports, with football expected to get 80% of that revenue share. Third-party NIL deals will be reviewed by the clearing house and must reflect true promotional value rather than "pay for play."
At the same time, the College Football Playoff Committee is considering an expansion of the playoff for 2026 that increases the field from 12 to 16 teams, first round on campus sites, with the Big Ten and SEC getting four automatic bids each.
Another Duck in coaching
Former Oregon defensive lineman Sua'ava Poti coaches the defensive line at St. John Bosco in Bellflower, California, one of the top schools in Southern California football.
Poti played 14 games for the Ducks in 2021 but moved into a student assistant role in 2023 due to health reasons.
New offensive line offer goes out
After a school visit by A'lique Terry, the Ducks have offered Dominic "Dom" Harris, a three-star, 6-7, 335 offensive tackle from Ed Clark High School in Las Vegas.
Harris has offers from Auburn, Washington and Utah among others. He also competes in shot and discus.
Softball hosts NCAA Regional beginning Friday
Big Ten regular season champion Oregon hosts one of NCAA softball's 16 regionals beginning Friday May 16 at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene.
It's a four-team pod featuring the Ducks as the highest seed, followed by Stanford, Binghamton and Weber State. The Ducks open play Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PDT versus the Weber State Wildcats, a team they beat 9-1 in a nonconference game back on Valentine's Day.
The three-day schedule from goducks.com:
2025 NCAA EUGENE REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 16
Game 1 – Stanford vs. Binghamton – 2:00 p.m. PT
Game 2 – Oregon vs. Weber State – 4:30 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 17
Game 3 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 1:00 p.m. PT
Game 4 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 3:30 p.m. PT
Game 5 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser – 6:00 p.m. PT
Sunday, May 18
Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 3:30 p.m. PT
Game 7 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (if necessary) – 6:00 p.m. PT
The games are televised on ESPN+, with an excellent radio broadcast on the UO student station KWVA.