No. 11 Oregon baseball moved into the Eugene Regional winner's bracket on May 30 after beating Washington State at PK Park, keeping its bid for a first super regional berth since 2024 on track. A win would send the Ducks to the regional final, where they would be two victories from advancing.
That is why the game drew attention in Eugene. Oregon had already gotten past Yale in its NCAA regional opener, then faced a Washington State team that arrived with momentum after beating Oregon State 3-2 in Friday's first game. The Cougars came in as the regional's No. 3 seed, while Oregon entered 41-16 overall and 20-10 in the Big Ten.
Will Sanford set the tone early for Oregon. The sophomore struck out the side in the first inning, reached five strikeouts through two innings and had seven by the end of the third. Washington State starter Luke Meyers answered with efficient work of his own, sending Oregon's first six batters down in order before extending that streak to nine straight through three innings. By then, Meyers had needed only 17 pitches through the first three frames and 42 pitches as the scoreless game moved toward the fifth.
The deadlock finally broke when Burke-Lee Mabeus reached with Oregon's first single to right field, and Jax Gimenez followed with an RBI single to right to give Oregon a 1-0 lead in the fifth. That sequence mattered because the Ducks had not gotten on base through four innings, a slow start that left them relying on pitching to keep the game within reach.
Sanford kept doing that. He allowed his first baserunner in the third inning, but Oregon escaped without damage, and the Ducks' staff had bought enough time for the lineup to scratch out a run. Washington State had entered the day after a 3-2 win over Oregon State, while Oregon State later beat Yale 9-2 at PK Park on Saturday, underscoring how quickly the bracket was tightening around the winner's side.
The unanswered question now is simple: whether Oregon could finish the job and move on to the regional final. The Ducks were two wins away from the program's first super regional berth since 2024, and the path still ran through PK Park.
