Historic matchup looms possible on the diamond at PK Park: Ducks vs. Beavers?

QuickTake:

Oregon and OSU have never faced each other in the NCAA baseball postseason. Coaches from both teams aren’t quite ready to start talking about it, though. They have other business first.

Mark Wasikowski gets it.

One can’t just ignore the Beaver in the room.

“I think it’s great for fans,” the Oregon baseball coach said.

But …

“It’s two good baseball teams that are in a regional where there are four teams, and let’s not get shortsighted. The other two teams that are in our regional are really good as well.”

Wasikowski is correct there. Washington State won 30 games in 2026. Yale, Oregon’s regional-opening opponent, did too.

But the fourth team participating in the Eugene Regional this weekend is the one Oregon fans have been chasing since baseball was reinstated at UO in 2009.

Back then, Oregon State had just won a pair of national titles. The Ducks came in with money for a big-name coach and a top-of-the-line stadium, hoping to replicate the success of their in-state rival.

“Is Corvallis north of here?” George Horton said at his introductory press conference as the new era’s first head coach. “We’re going to try to make everyone forget where Corvallis is, by the way.”

For a program starting from scratch, Oregon’s 11 postseason appearances in 18 seasons are nothing to sneeze at and, like Oregon State, major-league clubhouses now include plenty of alumni.

The Ducks have even been to the Super Regional round three times.

They’ve almost made it to Omaha — in 2012, the Ducks came one misplayed fly ball away from booking their first ticket to the College World Series since 1954 — and the program has really hit its stride under Wasikowski, who is 247-123 since replacing Horton in 2020.

Still, Oregon seasons that have begun with “this is the year” have continually ended with plenty of “What ifs?”

Meanwhile, Oregon State has continued on as a powerhouse. Since Oregon reentered the mix, the Beavers have reached the College World Series four more times — winning it in 2018 — and arrive in Eugene fresh off an appearance last season. They’re the No. 8 team in the nation, according to the polls, and carry the pride of a university that has lost so much athletically in recent seasons.

While football and basketball have slipped from their once-competitive levels following the dismantling of the Pac-12 Conference, baseball has remained as nationally relevant as ever in Corvallis.

And the fans up there are pretty ticked about having to travel for a regional after a season in which Oregon State went 43-12.

The Ducks, 15th in the polls, earned the No. 11 overall seed in the tournament — and a spot as one of the 16 regional hosts — largely based on a higher RPI and stronger strength of schedule than the Beavers, who were 18th in the RPI. Oregon’s strength of schedule ranked 29th nationally, while Oregon State’s ranked 62nd.

It’s made good fodder for fans online. But like the Ducks, the Beavers are trying to narrow their sights.

“There’s no complaining,” Oregon State coach Mitch Canham told reporters. “It’s always been rule number one. So regardless at home or road, if that’s part of our standards here from the get-go is no complaining, then we’re not going to do it early or we’re not going to do it late. We’re just going to go about our business and work our butts off.”

Still …

“I know for a fact that there’s going to be a whole lot of orange in that stadium,” OSU outfielder Easton Talt said. “More than they’re used to.”

That’s part of the challenge that comes with postseason baseball. After more than 50 games played, each team comes into a regional where one drop of focus can derail a season’s worth of work. And if the Ducks and Beavers both win their opening games on Friday, their first time squaring off against each other in the postseason Saturday night will be electric.

The atmosphere would be quite the spectacle for players to contend with.

They just have to get there first, Wasikowski said.

“My brain’s not on Oregon State,” the coach said. “My brain is on Yale.”