In 2025, the Oregon Ducks won a share of the Big Ten regular season title in their first year in the conference.
The team finished with a 42-16 overall record and was 22-8 in Big Ten play. They hosted a regional at PK Park in Eugene as the number 12 national seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski talked about the Ducks’ first season in the Big Ten.
“Winning the Big Ten last year — our first year in the conference — was awesome,” Wasikowski said. “When we got here, Oregon hadn’t been to the postseason in a few years. Now it’s been five straight seasons, and we’re still hungry for more.”
Since Wasikowski’s first season in 2020, the Ducks have made the NCAA Tournament five times. In 2023 and 2024, Oregon made a super regional and were on the verge of making the College World Series.
The head coach mentioned that his Oregon team has their sights on playing Omaha once the time rolls around.
“We haven’t gotten over the hump to Omaha yet,” Wasikowski said. “That’s next. The big goal is to win a national championship.”
The Ducks are looking to make it to the College World Series for the first time since 1954. That is also the year Oregon won its only national championship.
For Wasikowski, homegrown talent and focusing on the little details are imperative in accomplishing the team’s ultimate goal of winning a championship.
“The goal is simple: win today,” the Oregon head coach said. “We focus on daily improvement. If we keep hitting small goals, the big ones — like a national championship — will come into reach.”
Wasikowski added, “We’ve done things differently here. We’re not really a portal school. We’ve built this program around high school players who’ve grown in our system. We’ll add a portal player now and then to replace a draft loss, but mostly it’s homegrown talent.”
According to Perfect Game, the Oregon Ducks brought in a top-25 high school recruiting class in 2025.
It is the second-straight top 25 class that Oregon has brought in. In 2024, the Ducks had the 16th ranked high school recruiting class.
From February 27 through March 1, the Oregon Ducks will be playing at Las Vegas Ballpark for the 2026 Las Vegas College Baseball Classic.
There are some tough opponents for the Ducks in this invitational event. They will play against the Arizona Wildcats, Vanderbilt Commodores, and UC Irvine Anteaters.
Wasikowski stated that he thinks the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic is “the best tournament in the country that week.”
“Arizona, I know very well from my time coaching there,” said Wasikowski. “They won our regional in Eugene last year, which I don’t think sat too well in our locker room. Vanderbilt’s another powerhouse. The last time we faced them, we won their regional to advance to the super, so I doubt they’re sending us any Christmas cards.”
The Ducks’ head coach also had high praise for the head coach of the UC Irvine Anteaters, Ben Orloff.
“Ben Orloff’s done an incredible job at UC Irvine,” Wasikowski said. “His program’s been rolling, and I think they’re close to breaking through to Omaha.”
The head coach added, “There’s definitely a ‘salt in the wound’ theme to that tournament. A lot of pride, a lot of history between these programs. It’s going to be a great, competitive event to kick off the year.”
NCAA News: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski walks on the field before an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional game against Oral Roberts Sunday, June 11, 2023, in Eugene, Ore. Oral Roberts won 11-6. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
