The Oregon Baseball team entered Thursday Night as the 16th ranked team, starting a pivotal series against the 17th ranked USC Trojans. With the Big Ten Tournament kicking off next week, a series win for either team would give each team a great chance of earning the right to host a regional in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The task of winning on Thursday Night was always going to be tough as Oregon faced one of the Nation's best starters, Mason Edwards, who's trending toward being a 1st round pick in the MLB Draft. Cal Scolari took the mound for the Ducks as he continues to be a key arm for this pitching staff.
If you told every Oregon fan that Cal Scolari was going to turn in 5 innings while allowing just 1 run, you'd think that the Ducks had a great chance at winning this game. You'd feel even more confident when you heard that Oregon got 6 innings of relief from Toby Twist and Tanner Bradley with just 1 run allowed.
Despite the incredible effort by the pitching staff, with Mason Edwards starting on the other side of this matchup, it was never going to be an easy day for the Ducks' offense.
Oregon's offense finds late life, but couldn't deliver
The first 8 innings for the Oregon offense were a brutal watch as the Ducks were shut out heading into the 9th. Early on, Oregon put a ton of pressure on Mason Edwards, but failed to ever push the run across. Considering that the Ducks looked lost at the plate, striking out 13 times in the first 8 innings, it looked like Oregon may be heading to a quiet Game 1 loss.
Instead, Junior Lauaki launched the biggest home run of his incredible season to tie the game and bring energy back to the ballpark.
𝐋𝐄𝐓'𝐒 𝐆𝐎 𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐒!@junior_lauaki with the solo shot to tie the game at one a piece!#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/PvUy45UTeM
— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) May 15, 2026
At the start of extra innings, Bradley put another 0 up on the scoreboard, giving the offense another chance to win the game, but the Trojans continued the pitcher's duel with a 1-2-3 inning. The Trojans offense put the pressure right back on the Ducks to answer as Isaac Cadena hit a solo shot to make it 2-1.
The Ducks quickly got to work as Drew Smith and Brayden Jaksa each singled, forcing the Trojans to turn back to the bullpen. Lauaki struck out, but a wild pitch allowed the tying run to move 90 feet away, and the winning run to move into scoring position leading to a bases loading intentional walk.
Maddox Molony and Jack Brooks each had a chance to be the hero, but Molony struck out before USC sealed the game with a stellar sliding catch dashing any hopes of an incredible win for the Ducks.
Even in a losing effort, you can't say enough about the effort the offense turned in on Thursday Night as they gave the offense every chance to pick up the win. After a rough weekend facing UCLA's offense, the Ducks' staff rose to the occasion in this matchup, on a night where every scoreless inning was needed with the struggles the offense had.
This loss will sting for the Ducks as it's one they easily could've won late or if they capitalized earlier in the game. In a game decided by 1 run, leaving 10 runners on base will cost you every time, especially as it allowed Edwards to find a rhythm early once, he got off the ropes.
Now the Ducks have to battle back and try to win these next two games as they'll have major postseason implications. Friday Night's game won't be much easier with USC star Grant Govel on the mound, but the offense needs to rise to the occasion. The Ducks and Trojans are both jockeying for 1 of the 16 regional host bids, along with positioning in the Big Ten Tournament, and finding a way to win this series would make the postseason path much easier.
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