Just like its predecessors earlier this school year, the Oregon baseball team will begin a season like no other on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, at PK Park versus Toledo.
Shortly after, the Ducks will play in their first Big Ten Conference game against a familiar opponent in USC on March 7 in Irvine, California,, before making four cross-country treks throughout the season to typical Big Ten venues like Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa.
One thing that’s already new this season is the Ducks will charter instead of flying commercial like they would typically in the Pac-12.
“For us, it’s necessary,” coach Mark Wasikowski said. “Without it, when you’re looking at a 56-game regular-season schedule and trying to get games in on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and when you’re traveling greater distances, there is no logical way of doing it unless you’re chartering — at least productively when it comes to trying to win games.”
Wasikowski credited Oregon’s administration for recognizing that if the Ducks had continued to fly commercial, it would put them at an extreme disadvantage with the upcoming travel ahead on the schedule in the Big Ten.
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For the players, like outfielder Mason Neville, the new schedule will feel a lot like travel ball and high school ball.
“It might be a little different this year, you never know, but I feel like you don’t really think about things like that,” Neville said. “You’re just focused on getting there and getting ready to play, making sure you’re feeling good and taking care of business. I don’t think it should be too big of a deal.”
Outside the obvious travel logistics, with trips to Ohio State, Maryland, Michigan State and Iowa on the docket, Oregon is also expecting to see new playing styles in a conference that is typically pretty deep and is adding a few quality baseball programs in the new West Coast schools.
‘Big Midwest boys who hit bombs’: Oregon baseball expecting new playstyles in new conference
Junior pitcher Grayson Grinsell anticipates a more “SEC style” of baseball that features more powerful bats and players looking for the long ball.
“There will be some differences,” Grinsell said. “You’ve got the big Midwest boys who hit bombs. Understanding that’s probably going to be more of the trajectory of every game versus your typical West Coast baseball that you saw in the Pac-12.”
The Ducks, for their part, have always aimed to have powerful bats but will continue to do whatever it takes to win games. The physical style of play the Big Ten typically displays won’t change how Oregon runs its program, per Wasikowski.
“We want to be a balanced program,” he said. “We want to be able to win in any way that we need to win … physicality is a big deal for our program. We want to be big and be physical but we don’t want to be like boxy big, we want to be athletic and be able to move and have that strength really work for us instead of just looking good on the beach.”
Oregon, fresh off its second straight NCAA Super Regional appearance, is still looking to take that next step and make it to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. But the program feels positioned in the Big Ten to do so.
More than anything, Wasikowski and the Ducks are excited about the level of commitment the conference has shown in its sports as it looks ahead to its first season in a new era.
“You’re going to see them explode across the board,” Wasikowski said of sports in the Big Ten. “I think the investments are at such a level that they’re unmatched across the country. There’s only one other conference that’s relatively close to it and the other ones, there’s just a gap. I think as the years go on you’re going to see a compound effect for what that means and it should be advantageous for the Big Ten Conference.”
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.
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