It’s been two seasons of unfortunate endings for the Oregon baseball program, dropping the season’s final games to Oral Roberts and Texas A&M in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. In each moment, it was clear that the Ducks had simply run out of juice, whether from the bullpen side or the magic in their tournament run.
Still, for the first time in program history, Oregon made back-to-back Super Regionals and announced itself as an up-and-coming program in the college baseball world. With that success, the Ducks capitalized on player acquisition and retention, landing high-profile names in the transfer portal and returning necessary arms and bats to the squad.
From Oregon’s final game in the College Station Super Regional, the Ducks return eight of nine from the starting lineup, with the lone player, Bryce Boettcher, off playing football in another building at the Hatfield Dowlin Complex. Saturday starter Grayson Grinsell returns to solidify the rotation while they landed experienced pitchers Jason Reitz and Sam Boyle out of the transfer portal.
Essentially, Oregon’s 2025 roster features depth and experience across the board, cultivating competition and, hopefully, propelling them to Omaha. The experience and culture are traits that head coach Mark Wasikwoski says might be the team’s finest moving forward.
“It’s a ton of fun to be around these guys. They’re old. It’s the same team, basically,” said Wasikowski on Wednesday. “I mean, you know, we lost a couple of pieces that were really good pieces last year. But overall, I think the team, we’ve been together for a while now, right? And so we’re used to working with each other, and that’s the biggest thing. I think the overall program itself, the depth in each position, across the board, you’re starting to see real competition in every spot on the field.”
With the retention Oregon displayed this offseason, they brought back impact bats up and down the order like Mason Neville, Jacob Walsh (the program’s home run king), Chase Meggers, Anson Aroz, and more. Nearly every position player on the roster has been to a Super Regional outside the incoming freshmen.
That experience has helped establish a leadership role within the program, something that returning catcher Chase Meggers says should be expected of everyone on the roster, not just those who return.
“I mean, we always talked about leadership being with everyone because if you have a couple of leaders, you’re not always with every guy,” said Meggers. “You try to make sure that every guy is a leader. But every guy that comes back that’s old, they’re supposed to be a leader. It’s what Waz expects out of us. And I think we expect that out of each other. So I think everyone’s a leader. But I mean, everyone is expected to be leading the team.”
Whether it be the older group, like Meggers, or the younger group, like returning bullpen arm Ryan Featherston, Wasikowski, hitting coach Jack Marder, pitching coach Blake Hawksworth, and assistant coach Marcus Hinkle have instilled the environment and culture that allows players to be leaders.
“Coming in as a freshman and looking up to those older guys to really show what it meant to be a leader and what the culture of this program was all about was really important for me,” said Featherston. “My stage of career, coming in this year, being able to kind of carry that culture on and just continue to push a player-led program has been really important. Making sure that all these guys know that they’re here to lead too. We’re all here to hold each other accountable and just keeping that intact.”
It’s a long season, filled with ups and downs, long miles in this new Big Ten schedule, and potentially plenty of winning. But it’s a season that will hinge on the camaraderie and leadership of this program, traits that have routinely flourished in Wasikowski-led teams before.
Oregon begins its 56-game season on February 14th, taking on Toledo in the first of a four-game series.
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