Ducks baseball squad tries to breathe easy as they head to hostile territory

QuickTake:

Oregon handled the pressure of hosting a regional at PK Park. Now the Ducks go to Texas for a Super Regional where every pitch is pressurized.

The Ducks have moved on.

But when asked to look back once more at the Eugene Regional, where Oregon completed their sweep with a 4-1 win over Oregon State, Maddox Molony has one memory that still puts a smile on his face.

“I mean, seeing the fans and how much more green there was to orange was amazing,” Oregon’s shortstop said. “I loved every minute of it.”

He’s just excited for what’s next, too, even if the color ratio is about to be flipped on its head.

Oregon’s third trip to college baseball’s super regional round in four seasons takes the No. 11 Ducks to Austin this time, where they’ll face No. 6 Texas. If the Ducks were dominant in their Eugene Regional win, the Longhorns were supreme in the Austin Regional. Texas outscored opponents 41-7 while playing in front of crowds that looked like this:

Thought the 4,278 who sold out PK Park were loud on Sunday? Texas averaged 7,240 fans per game during the regular season.

The Longhorns are coming off their second consecutive 40-win season and will challenge the Ducks with a pitching staff that amassed 600-plus strikeouts for just the fourth time in its storied history. Starters Ruger Riojas and Dylan Volantis are the first Texas duo with 100 strikeouts in a regular season since 2011.

Add in the crowd, and the Ducks are facing two or three games where every pitch is going to feel pressurized. For an Oregon team that has relied so much on youth in 2026, this is where some of the experienced hands are expected to pay off.

The last time the Ducks played in a super regional, Molony was swept out of College Station by Texas A&M in 95-degree heat and 8,000 fans in the seats.

“In the moment, it felt a little bigger than just another game,” Molony said of 2024. “But looking back on it now, you realize it’s just another game. You still play nine innings, 27 outs and that’s all it really is, no matter where it’s played.

“It’s in Texas again, by chance. Different city, but all it is, is another game.”

Deep breaths

Molony then became yet another Duck to talk about his breath. It’s been a key for the Ducks during pressure situations this year, finding their air and focusing in on the present. Miles Gosztola spoke of it on Sunday after pitching six innings of one-run ball.

“I think the key is not letting the game speed up and working to get my breath underneath me,” Gosztola said.

That remained the emphasis on Tuesday before the Ducks left for Austin.

“I think really being able to control the mind is how I stay present,” Molony said. “It’s easy for me to do that when I can control my breath. When I can do that in the moment, if the crowd’s loud, if the crowd’s not — whatever it is — if I can control my breath, it allows me to be where my feet are and focus on the task.”

The Ducks do have proof of concept of succeeding in hostile territory. Oregon second baseman Ryan Cooney pointed to the Ducks’ 8-0 thumping of Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals last month in front of a crowd of 12,000-plus fans mostly in Cornhusker red in Omaha.

“It’s just understanding how important each other is, and the dugout really is, in those moments,” Cooney said. “Because if you get wrapped up in the fans and the loud noises and what they’re trying to do to you, then you know you’re going to lose. I think we’ve been able to handle that and grow as a group, especially those guys that experienced that.”

Plus, the Ducks have enough to deal with based on Texas’ ability alone.

“I know we’re really trying to get to Omaha,” Oregon ace Will Sanford said. “They’re trying to push to Omaha, too. But this is just a really high-level, highly talented team that we’re going to go against, and I just can’t wait to get going.”