by Steve Mims
EUGENE, OREGON
Oregon won the Pac-12 baseball tournament to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Ducks are the No. 2 seed in the Nashville Regional, hosted by Vanderbilt this weekend.
The Commodores are the sixth overall seed in the tournament.
Oregon is 37-20 as it opens up against Xavier while Eastern Illinois is the other school in the four-team, double-elimination regional. The winner advances to a Super Regional the following week.
The Ducks come in hot after going 4-0 at the conference tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Tanner Smith had three hits as Oregon opened with a 3-2 win over California, scoring twice in the eighth inning for the winning runs.
Bennett Thompson had four hits the following day as Oregon beat conference champion Stanford 8-6 in 10 innings. The Ducks scored twice in the ninth to tie the game and added two runs in the 10th.
Oregon beat Washington 12-7 in the semifinals as Colby Shade had four hits and Sabin Ceballos drove in six runs. The Ducks won the title with a 5-4 win over Arizona.
SOFTBALL
Oregon’s season ended in the Super Regionals when Oklahoma State beat the Ducks on consecutive days.
The Cowboys opened the regional with an 8-1 win as Kai Luschar, KK Humphreys, and Alyssa Daniell each had one hit for the Ducks. Allee Bunker and Ariel Carlson had the lone hits in a 9-0 loss to OSU that ended UO’s year at 38-17.
MEN’S GOLF
The Oregon women’s team advanced 14 entrants out of the NCAA West Preliminary to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.
Oregon will send three runners to the 1,500 meters in Klaudia Kazimierska, and Izzy Thornton-Bolt. Jadyn Mays will compete in the 200-meters, Ella Nelson in the 800 and Shana Grebo advanced in the 400 hurdles while also qualifying on both relays teams.
Jorinde van Klinken qualified in the shot put and discus while Jaida Ross also advanced in the shot put. Shelby Moran will compete at the NCAA meet in the hammer.
Oregon’s men qualified Micah Williams in the 100 and Matthew Erickson in the 800. Williams is also on the short relay that reached the NCAA meet while Alex Slenning made it in the 3,000 steeplechase.
Steve Mims has spent 25 years as a sportswriter, including 21 years at The Register-Guard. He covered University of Oregon athletics from 2013-2020. He works in Eugene as a registered representative and insurance agent at PBC Insurance. He can be reached at smims@pbcins.com.