Oregon baseball falls to Utah Valley 6-5 in regional opener at PK Park

The Oregon Ducks fell to Utah Valley 6-5 Friday night in the first game of the 2025 NCAA baseball regional tournament at PK Park in Eugene.

“I’m very proud of the effort and the team that I coach,”  Mark Wasikowski, Oregon head coach, said. “We weren’t able to finish it off, which was disappointing, but these guys – I love. They’ve got a lot of grit and fight in them; that’s what I saw.” 

The action didn’t really start until the 3rd inning, when Utah Valley scored four runs on four hits and an error, including a triple by Mason Strong. 

Oregon made its noise in the bottom of the inning, including a two-run home run by Drew Smith, followed immediately by a solo home run from Anson Aroz. 

Ducks’ starting pitcher Jason Reitz was pulled in the top of the 7th inning after giving up a walk then hitting a batter. Reitz gave up six runs on four hits with five errors, striking out 14.

Reliever Santiago Garcia gave up a single to Utah Valley’s Jimmy De Anda, which brought in the two runners left on base by Reitz. The Ducks would go through two more relievers before the end of the game.

The Ducks started a comeback in the bottom of 8th inning, with a booming solo home run by Drew Smith. That was followed by a walk from Anson Aroz, who eventually advanced to third, then appeared to score on a sacrifice fly by Chase Meggers, but it was overturned after review. 

In the 9th, the Ducks were able to use a walk, an error, a single and a sacrifice fly to bring home Jacob Walsh for the final run of the game.

“I’m sure that the guys in the locker room would like to start playing right now if they could. We play tomorrow [with our] backs against the wall,” Wasikowski said. “They play their best baseball when they’ve done that.” 

Oregon faces Cal Poly at noon, Saturday, in an elimination game. The Mustangs fell to the Arizona Wildcats, 3-2, in the first game of the day.