OMAHA, Neb. – The magical run for the 11th seeded Washington Huskies at the 2026 Big Ten Baseball Championship came to an end on Saturday as they lost to their Pacific Northwest rival, the No. 3 seeded Oregon Ducks.
Cruising behind a stellar start from Cal Scolari and a lineup that bruised the Washington pitchers for five homers, including two pairs of back-to-back solo homers, the Ducks took an early lead in the bottom of the second and never let off the gas on their way to a 9-4 win. Jack Brooks led the Ducks at the plate, going 2-for-3 from the eight hole with three runs scored, two RBIs, a double and a homer.
With the win, Oregon improves to 39-15 and advances to face No. 2 seed Nebraska at 6 p.m. CDT in the second semifinal. Washington finishes the season 25-32.
In the bottom of the second, Oregon’s Naulivou Lauaki led off with a single. Two batters later, Jack Brooks was hit by a pitch, and pinch hitter Gabe Miranda singled to load the bases for the Ducks. Washington starter Noah Kenney struggled with control, walking Ryan Cooney and Angel Laya on full counts to push two runs across for the Ducks.
Lauaki extended the Oregon lead to 3-0 with a solo homer, his 11th of the year, with one out in the third.
Washington’s best chance came in the top of the fifth, when an error by Oregon third baseman Drew Smith allowed Blake Wilson to reach first. Casen Taggert followed with a single, and Ethan Swidler’s ground out gave the Huskies runners at second and third with one out. But Scolari then struck out Ty Cowan, and despite issuing a walk to Huskies leadoff man Jackson Hotchkiss to load the bases, he fanned Braeden Terry swinging for his 10th and final strikeout of the game to escape the bases-loaded situation.
“My stuff looked sharp and I felt good after those first couple of hitters,” Scolari said on the game broadcast of his first inning, where he struck out the side on 13 pitches. “It’s always nice to get a couple of punch outs and it just builds confidence.”
Story continues below video.
And then the Ducks turned up the power.
Drew Smith led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer, his 15th of the year, that landed in the Ducks bullpen behind the left field wall, and Brayden Jaksa followed him, crushing a 3-2 pitch over the bullpen in left to give the Ducks a 5-0 lead and chase Washington starter Noah Kenney from the game.
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Ducks get two on the back-to-back homers. The second coming from @BraydenJaksa21. #GoDucks
Washington 0
Oregon 5 pic.twitter.com/7MXsQPoWsj— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) May 23, 2026
An inning later, Jack Brooks led off the sixth with a solo homer to right field that landed in the Huskies’ bullpen, and Miranda followed him with a homer to the same corner of the park that make it 6-0. They added two more in the eighth on an RBI single by Laya that scored Maddox Molony and a sac fly by Drew Smith that got Brooks home with the ninth run of the game for the Ducks.
Trailing 9-0 in the ninth, the Huskies loaded the bases for No. 9 hitter Ty Cowan, who hit a grand slam to get the Huskies on the board when they were down to their final two wouts, but Oregon’s Michael Meckna fanned leadoff man Jackson Hotchkiss and induced a fly out from Braeden Terry to end the game.
Where to Watch – The entire 2026 Big Ten Baseball Championship will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network and the games will also be available on the FOX Sports App.
2026 Big Ten Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
All games played at Charles Schwab Field, Omaha, Nebraska
Tuesday, May 19
No. 12 Michigan State 8, No. 5 Purdue 4 – Game 1 – Recap
No. 8 Iowa 10, No. 9 Illinois 6 – Game 2 – Recap
No. 7 Michigan 10, No. 10 Rutgers 0 (Seven Innings) – Game 3 – Recap
No. 11 Washington 8, No. 6 Ohio State 6 – Game 4 – Recap
Wednesday, May 20
No. 5 Purdue 3, No. 9 Illinois 1 – Game 5 – Recap
No. 6 Ohio State 3, No. 10 Rutgers 2 – Game 6 – Recap
No. 12 Michigan State 4, No. 8 Iowa 3 – Game 7 – Recap
No. 11 Washington 7, No. 7 Michigan 1 – Game 8 – Recap
Thursday, May 21
No. 5 Purdue 8, No. 8 Iowa 1 – Game 9
No. 7 Michigan 3, No. 6 Ohio State 0 – Game 10
Friday, May 22
No. 4 Southern California 7, No. 12 Michigan State 0 – Game 11
No. 1 UCLA 4, No. 5 Purdue 3 – Game 12
No. 2 Nebraska 6, No. 7 Michigan 4 – Game 13
Saturday, May 23
No. 3 Oregon X, No. 11 Washington X – Game 14
2 p.m. – No. 4 Southern California vs. No. 1 UCLA 4 – Semifinal 1 – Game 15
6 p.m. – No. 2 Nebraska vs. No. 3 Oregon – Semifinal 2 – Game 16
Sunday, May 24
3 p.m. EDT – Championship Game
Photo: Cal Scolari struck out 10 for the second time in his Oregon career in the quarterfinal win against Washington. (Photo via Oregon Baseball on X)
