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Jun 6, 2026; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns outfielder Aiden Robbins (43) steals second base ahead of the tag from Oregon Ducks shortstop Maddox Molony (9) during the first inning of a Super Regional game at UFCU Disch-Falk field in Austin, Texas. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Oregon baseball in 2026 followed on the heels of 2025’s success, with the Ducks getting into super regional play. Oregon was losing veterans in the lineup and much of their starting pitching, but 2026 was looking to be a solid class, even if pitchers and underclassmen had something to prove.
The Ducks finished 2026 with a 43-18 (20-10, Big-10) record, and made it to the super regional again this season. They lost to Texas to end the season, and in the process it sure felt like they left stuff on the table in Austin. In that regard, the end of the season was a bit of a disappointment.
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Starting pitchers turned out to be Will Sanford, Collin Clarke, and then a mix between Miles Gosztola and Cal Scolari. Oddly absent all season was Ian Umlandt; the senior appeared in 18 games and started five in 2025, and had a 2.55 ERA in 60 innings of work. Yet, he was curiously absent this season, and only pitched two innings in the second game of the first series of the season against George Mason.
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Drew Smith was the veteran leader of the Ducks offense and infield. Smith was solid at third base, and led the team in BAVG, RBI, triples, and HR. Ryan Cooney was last season’s BAVG leader, and while he was nudged off the top spot by Smith, his batting and fielding improved over last season in most categories.
Burke-Lee Mabeus, Jax Gimenez, and Jack Brooks stepped into bigger roles as starters this season and rose to the occasion. At times you might have forgotten that Mabeus and Gimenez were only sophomores this season.
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The real shot in the arm of the Oregon offense turned out to come from a trio of freshmen: Angel Laya, Naulivou Lauaki Jr., and Brayden Jaksa. Laya and Lauaki shared the freshman record for home runs in a season with 14. Lauaki had the team’s highest slugging percentage at .687. Laya’s 47 RBIs were second only to Drew Smith’s 64. Jaksa’s BAVG in the starting lineup was, at .318, third to Cooney and Smith.
Oregon started the season winning nine games in a row before suffering their first loss at the hands (and bats) of UC Irvine. It turned out that the Anteaters were not going to be the only head-scratching loss of the season. While the Ducks turned it around against Vanderbilt, they lost a midweek match against the Beavers.
In Big Ten play, Oregon swept or won all of their series except the weekends against UCLA and Michigan. Two midweek contests in a fortnight against the Portland Pilots were inexplicable losses. Or maybe they were just that good in March and early April, because they also beat the Beavers and at the time could lay claim as the best college baseball team in Oregon.
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In the Big Ten tournament, the Ducks defeated Washington and Nebraska and faced UCLA in the championship game. That game went to 11 innings, and in the bottom of the 11th inning, with the bases loaded, Devin Bell hit the batter and the Bruins picked up a literal walkoff win.
Oregon ranked high enough at the end of the season to earn a regional at PK Park, where they swept Yale, Washington State, and Oregon State. That sent them to Austin to face the Texas Longhorns, where the Ducks were swept in two games, with the second-game loss stemming from pitching failures, including Bell’s inability to hold onto the Oregon lead in late innings.
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All-in-all, the 2026 Ducks were successful even as they showed troubling signs – losses to teams during the season that they should have won, and starting/closing pitching failures. The pitching was especially exasperating, because Oregon had the best bullpen that they’ve had in quite some time. It’s always something with pitching, so in that respect this season isn’t much different from previous seasons.
We now put the 2026 season to bed. Pitching next season is a question mark, but it’s a question mark every season. Oregon will need to get some offensive help from the portal, unless they’re sitting on gold with the handful of younger players on the roster that didn’t play much or at all in 2026. We will be looking closely at the offseason activity, especially as it relates to pitching and veteran bats.
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