Arlington (TX) Martin DE RJ Cooper made a "hard decision" narrowing his finalists down to five. He breaks down the stressful process, the push from each contender and what's next in his recruitment

STORY: https://n.rivals.com/news/texas-de-rj-cooper-narrows-it-down-to-five

I'm very happy for all the prospects who now get to proceed with their visits!

Some Monday reading for you.

Ducks had to come back from a 4-1 deficit and then won it in the 11th. Great series for the team, hopefully they can keep it going!

It is looking like this will happen

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Been a wild game so far, beaver bullpen struggling with control again in the 6th as they hit some batters and walked in some runs. Ducks up 5-1 bottom of the 6th. Bases loaded, two outs, Ducks still hitting

I think it's going be a relatively small class but the schollie math is really a mess right now with the unknowns of an extra year option for everybody. But, I'm thinking a couple more DL, a WR, maybe a RB, a couple OL are all needed.

Also, my guess is that this will be Cristobal's first non Top Ten recruiting class.

First off there is a reason UCLA is who they are....a very, very good team with Garcia imo the best of the best as far as all around players!
Yesterday in the first game we out hit them by quite a bit but could not get any clutch hits, it was unreal! But....who was pitching for them? The best of the best....Garcia! It was a winnable game but we lost 3-0. Second game not so pretty as they beat us easily.
Today, Yanez has a no hitter going through four and we lead 2-0 with two solo homers. They get one in the 5th and you could see Yanez was struggling (tired?). She got left in for the 6th and after an error let’s the lead off hitter on guess who is up next? Yep....her....2 run shot and they never looked back beating us 6-2.
I love Lombardi but she made some questionable decisions in this one.
UCLA had the clutch hits, we didn’t and their homers had runners on, ours didn’t....ugh!
Tough weekend but this group still is a good one and fun to watch!!
Doesn’t get too much easier next weekend heading to Seattle!!

OK guys great stuff from the WR, DB and head coaches in our interviews today.

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Could get some 1 seeds from this year if things fall in place, ie they don't dodge the bullet. They will try.

New series by Adam starting today. Some good national stuff including a couple players the Ducks are involved with.

Just giving everyone a heads up, softball vs. UCLA starts at 5, baseball game follows it vs OSU. Great opportunity to watch both on TV! (If you have Pac 12 network)

Been great pitching so far, 1-1 in the Bottom 8th, hopefully the ducks can pull this off

The Ducks held their fifth practice of spring today and afterwards I interview Marcel Yates, Bryan McClendon and Cristobal. I'll bring you those when the processing finishes.

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EUGENE — Robert Ahlstrom pitched into the eighth inning and Oregon rallied for three runs in the bottom of that frame as the No. 19 Ducks opened their series against No. 21 Oregon State with a 4-1 victory on Friday before 992 fans in PK Park.

Ahlstrom left after allowing a leadoff triple in the eighth, and that run came across to tie the game, 1-1. The Ducks then used two hits, three walks and a hit batter to retake the lead and improve to 3-1 against the Beavers so far this season.

In a battle of in-state rivals, it was the Eugene native Ahlstrom and Salem native Gabe Matthews — who homered and drove in two runs — who led Oregon to the win over OSU.

“It’s awesome,” Matthews said. “This is what you look for, both teams playing hard, and then coming out on top. It was a good game, and the whole rivalry thing, it’s exciting.”

How It Happened: Ahlstrom’s competitive fire helped him get out of trouble throughout this start. After a wild pitch put runners at second and third with one out in the second, Ahlstrom struck out the next two hitters to escape the jam. He struck out the last batter of the fourth to strand a runner at second, and ended the seventh with his ninth strikeout of the night to strand runners at the corners.

“Early on obviously I got into a little bit of trouble, a little bit of a jam,” Ahlstrom said. “That’s just a time we as a staff emphasize bearing down and making pitches. I just got in that zone, and it definitely helped having fans here.”

Aaron Zavala led off the second with a single for Oregon and went to second on a one-out walk by Matthews, but they advanced no farther. After Kenyon Yovan was hit to open the fourth by OSU starter Kevin Abel, Zavala tried to hit against the infield’s defensive shift, but his groundball went right to the only infielder on the left side, who started a double play.

Matthews finally broke the scoreless tie in the fifth with a leadoff home run, his fourth of the season and the first of the senior’s career against Oregon State. Yovan reached on a dropped third strike and Zavala walked with one out in the sixth, and they both advanced on a double steal, but OSU got out of the jam.

Ahlstrom, who pitched seven scoreless innings to beat Oregon State on March 12, was given the chance to pitch into the eighth Friday. His second pitch to Jacob Melton was driven just inside the first-base line and into the right-field corner for a triple, ending Ahlstrom’s night. Andrew Mosiello took the ball and allowed a game-tying sacrifice fly before ending the threat.

The Ducks wasted no time responding in the bottom of the eighth. Singles by Tanner Smith and Anthony Hall opened the inning, and Zavala was intentionally walked with one out to load the bases. OSU turned to reliever Bryant Salgado, who was unscored upon in 11 appearances this season entering Friday, and he walked pinch hitter Tristan Hanoian before hitting Matthews to push across two UO runs. The Beavers then turned to their closer, Jake Mulholland, who walked Josh Kasevich to force in another run before getting out of the inning.

“Our guys, it wasn’t like they got to the 13th or 14th pitcher on somebody’s staff,” Wasikowski said. “Those guys are good; those guys are really good. And they had to lay off some really competitive pitches. I was really proud of the players in that eighth inning. They did a good job of grinding those at-bats out.”

Mosiello benefitted from the three-run inning, earning the win to improve to 2-1 this season. Kolby Somers pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his fifth save.

At The Plate: Matthews’s homer was the 18th of his career, moving him into a tie for seventh on the UO career list with Don Reynolds (1972-75) and Jim Willis (1973-74). He is up to 114 RBIs in his career, fourth all-time at Oregon and two shy of tying Ryon Healy for third. Zavala went 1-for-2, improving his average to .446 on the season, which would rank 16th in the country based on stats around the NCAA entering Friday.

On The Mound: Ahlstrom went at least seven innings for the third time in six starts this season, and allowed one run or fewer for the fourth time in those six appearances. His nine strikeouts were one shy of the career-high 10 he posted against Oregon State on March 12.

“He’s a little bit of an old-school pitcher,” Wasikowski said. “He doesn’t just throw four pitches, he adds and subtracts. … He understands the element of pitching. It’s not all about just lighting up radar guns. It’s about getting them about. It’s about winning games. It’s about being competitive.”

On Deck: The Ducks planned to throw RHP Cullen Kafka (3-1, 2.08 ERA) against Oregon State LHP Cooper Hjerpe (2-2, 1.69 ERA) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

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Hi everyone. I have a large number of past Ducks Illustrated (and Mighty Oregon) magazines available at a low, low price. For example: recruiting editions from 2002-2020, all the big games, special Marcus Mariota editions such as the Heisman edition. Plus men and women's basketball and track, baseball, softball etc. Just let me know what you want and I'll give you a good deal!! Jerry at ducksillustrated@yahoo.com or call me at 541-221-3154 Go Ducks!!

Oregon provided these clips from yesterday's practice to give everybody a taste of the action.

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There is still a long way to go before Nationals, but he is off to a good outdoor season start. Track and Field Magazine is predicting that LSU will beat Oregon by a considerable margin. Oregon will need a big contribution from Vollmer to help prove them wrong.

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Clips of him at practice. I think he's mic'ed up.

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