Catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus hammered the first pitch he saw the opposite way over the wall in left field to break a 6-6 tie in the eighth, part of a four-run rally that put away the game for the Ducks in PK Park Sunday afternoon.
They won 10-6 for a series win over second-place UCLA. With a month to go the Big Ten standings look like this at the top:
Iowa 17-4 .810
UCLA 13-5 .722
Ducks 14-7 .667
USC 11-7 .611
Wash. 11-7 .611
Oregon has three more three-game sets in conference play. They're out of the league until May 2 with a Tuesday game at home versus Portland, then four games against Oregon State, Friday-Saturday-Sunday in Eugene, Tuesday at Corvalllis.
The Ducks resume league play Friday May 2 with a weekend series in East Lansing against the 9-9 Spartans. Conference play wraps up with two more weekend dates:
May 9-10-11 Washington at Oregon
May 15-16-17 Oregon at Iowa
Is this heaven? No, it's first-place Iowa, currently three games clear of the Ducks with the Big Ten Tournament to follow May 20 to May 25 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, the site of the College World Series in the middle of June.
All this is relevant because at 27-11 overall and No. 16 in the country, the Ducks are within hailing distance of the Top Eight seeds for the NCAA Tournament, which would mean hosting a Regional and a Super Regional with the best route to Omaha.
On Sunday they toppled a top ten opponent for the first time since 2023, and they did it in an old-fashioned slugfest.
Centerfielder Mason Neville broke the Oregon single-season home run record with his 19th, a three-run shot in the fourth inning that made it 6-4 Ducks, a blast to the roof in right field.
B5 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭@masonneville_ took the lead right back with a three-run moonshot. #GoDucks
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) April 20, 2025
UCLA 4
Oregon 6 pic.twitter.com/ehxHp5O6BN
UCLA tied it 6-6 in the top of the eighth when shortstop Rob Cholowsky lined a single into right to score one. They had the bases loaded with one out when 6-3 senior righthander Seth Mattox came on to pitch.
Mattox got clean-up hitter Roman Martin to hit a choppper to third baseman Chase Garate near the bag. Garate fielded it, stepped on third and fired home to Mabeus for the tag and a double play to get out of the inning.
T8 | Big time double-play from Carter Garate to keep the game even at six. #GoDucks
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) April 21, 2025
UCLA 6
Oregon 6 pic.twitter.com/AlbEEHxduO
The Mabeus bomb followed, then a two-run single by Jacob Walsh and a sacrifice fly by Drew Smith. With a four-run cushion in the top of the ninth Mattox got the final three outs for the win and the series.
𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) April 21, 2025
True Freshman @LeeMabeus unties the game on the first pitch he sees with a solo shot. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/adn0nsYRGf
They've proven to be a scrappy, resilient bunch with a lot of unity and fight, but to make noise in the CWS, they've got to line up their pitching. Grinsell tossed another stellar game to win Friday, and starter Jason Reitz gave them five innings on Sunday, allowing four runs, three earned. He hit a batter, walked a batter and struck out four.
Mattox, a transfer from California Baptist, reached 2-0 on the year with the win. In 10 innings of work this year he's allowed 5 hits and walked 7, struck out 8.