Big Ten Tournament Schedule Change Shifts Oregon vs. Washington Matchup

The No. 3-seeded Oregon Ducks (38-15 overall, 20-10 conference) were set to take the diamond Friday at 7 p.m. PT to face the No. 11 Washington Huskies (25-31 overall, 12-18 conference) in a single-elimination quarterfinal match for the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, but the weather in Omaha, Nebraska, had other plans.

Brew that Saturday morning coffee and get ready for some Big Ten baseball...

The Ducks will face the Huskies as the first match of the day on Saturday at 8 a.m. PT.

Oregon’s Naulivou Lauaki Jr., center right, celebrates a home run as the Oregon Ducks host the USC Trojans on May 14, 2026, in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What Happens With Match Timing

According to the Big Ten, other matchups scheduled for Friday will also feel an impact. The highly touted match-up between No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 5 Purdue will begin no later than 4 p.m. PT. The conference will provide further updates for the game between No. 2 Nebraska and No. 7 Michigan as well.

The rest of the Big Ten Tournament schedule will stay how it was originally scheduled, so if the Ducks beat the Huskies, they will once again return to the mound for the semifinal, likely to see the first pitch at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday. If the Ducks clinch the semifinal, they move to the championship game on Sunday at 12 p.m. PT. The NCAA Tournament selection show follows shortly after on Monday.

There's only been one time this season that Oregon played a doubleheader, and it was their very first series of the season against George Mason University. The 11:05 a.m. PT first game with the 3:05 p.m. following match-up were both blowouts for Oregon, with the Ducks clocking in two 14-run victories.

Oregon infielder Maddox Molony, left, forces out USC outfielder Jack Basseer at second base as the Oregon Ducks host the USC Trojans on May 14, 2026, in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oregon Baseball's Recent History with Washington

With Oregon getting a two, now three-day bye before facing Washington, the Ducks enter the Big Ten Tournament off a 2-1 series win over USC that ended in a fourteenth-inning Burke-Lee Mabeus bunt. The Ducks have quite the young squad, but the amount of talent possessed in the dugout continues to build, with the hallmark win of the season being a 9-6 shocking Saturday victory over the No. 1 NCAA-ranked UCLA Bruins.

Washington, on the other hand, also enters this match off a performance high.

Washington fought through the double-elimination round of the Big Ten Tournament with a pair of wins. The first on Tuesday's round one was an 8-6 clinch over No. 6 Ohio State, and then the Huskies came through with an impressive performance on the mound to take down the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines 7-1 on Wednesday for the qualifier game.

Oregon’s Drew Smith, left, and Naulivou Lauaki Jr. celebrate a home run by Lauaki as the Oregon Ducks host the USC Trojans on May 14, 2026, in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Implications of a Double-Header

For Oregon, a double-header brings the question of stamina. With ace pitcher Will Sanford likely planned to come in for both games, there's a chance Mark Wasikowski might play the mound conservatively and switch in other pitchers. There's also the chance Sanford takes the mound in both matches and then has less recovery time for the semifinal, championship, and the potentially proceeding NCAA regional tournament, which lies on the horizon.

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