Oregon Ducks Baseball Turns Heads With Live Like Lou Vegas Classic Victory

Only 11 games into their 2026 season, the Oregon Ducks baseball team is on a roll in an attempt to capture the College World Series glory that last years' squad barely missed.

Over the weekend, coach Mark Wasikowski and the Ducks added their first tournament feather in their caps with a 2-3 series victory at the Live Like Lou Vegas Classic with a two run win against Vanderbilt.

Oregon infielder/outfielder Jax Gimenez scores off an errant pitch as the Oregon Ducks host the Youngstown State Penguins on Feb. 20, 2026, at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The First Two Games at the Live Like Lou Vegas Classic

Entering the Live Like Lou Vegas Classic, the Ducks were one of seven undefeated teams ending the week of Feb. 28 (including USC, Texas A&M, and Texas) with sweeps over George Mason and Youngstown State.

During their first tournament match-up of the season against the Arizona Wildcats, the Ducks handed Arizona their ninth loss in their first ten games of the season. Pitcher Will Sanford stepped to the starting gig after not allowing a run in the first two series of the season with a pair of outs to start the first inning and the Ducks had a solid hold of the game starting in the second inning with a Jax Gimenez first career home run.

The Ducks closed the deal against Arizona with a 7-2 scores after three runs in the third and fifth innings.

"I think our team does a really good job at picking each other up," said junior infielder Ryan Cooney postgame. "Especially on the offensive side. We just have a really deep team that can score a lot of different ways and I think we've shown that so far this year."

That offensive talent Cooney mentioned did not appear in their next game against UC Irvine. Senior infielder Drew Smith finally ignited the offensive momentum for the Ducks in the seventh inning with his fourth home run of the season. The Ducks saw slight success in the eighth inning with a home run from senior infielder Dominic Hellman, but UC Irvine continued to load bases, and two hit by pitches pushed them over the edge to hand the Ducks their first loss of the season at 8-6.

Oregon infielder/outfielder Drew Smith bunts for a single as the Oregon Ducks host the Youngstown State Penguins on Feb. 19, 2026, at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Bouncing Back From the Season's First Loss

Oregon outfielder Angel Laya hits a single as the Oregon Ducks host the Youngstown State Penguins on Feb. 19, 2026, at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With the Ducks facing Vanderbilt for the opportunity to win the Live Like lou Vegas Classic, the big question was how this years' team would respond to their first setback. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Cal Scolari started hot by keeping Vanderbilt off the bases and put up no runs, two walks, and eight strikeouts. The Ducks kept Vanderbilt out of scoring until the Commodores posted four straight runs in the eighth inning.

On the offensive side, the Ducks' junior infielder Maddox Molony put up the first home run of the game, with two other homeruns following in the sixth inning with Hellman and redshirt junior first baseman Gabe Miranda after the Ducks got up to 4-0. That lead put up enough cushion to survive Vanderbilt's comeback with a walk-off 6-4 victory.

The Takeaway: Up Early

With the Ducks taking the Live Like Lou Vegas Classic victory, Oregon also landed eight players on the all-tournament team.

1. Relief Pitcher Tanner Bradley
2. Outfielder Jax Gimenez
3. Infielder Ryan Cooney
4. Outfielder Angel Laya
5. Infielder Drew Smith
6. Starting Pitcher Cal Scolari
7. Designate Hitter Dominic Hellman
8. Catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus

With more heated competiton, Oregon's weakness in the end stretch shows as something to be addressed moving forward, while their depth of talent and power at offense shows future promise.

"Obviously, competition level is really good this weekend, right," Wasikowski said. "And so, I thought we matched it. I think there's a feeling in the locker room that we should easily be 3-0 on the weekend and we weren't, right. So we came up on game two."

Leading into their rivalry game against the No. 19 Oregon State, there's promise for a strong performance on the diamond, as the Ducks work out preseason kinks from a winners perspective.

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