Oregon Ducks' Mark Wasikowski Makes History, Wins Big Ten Coach Of The Year

Despite having yet to play in the conference postseason tournament, Wasikowski has directed the Ducks to their third consecutive 40-win season. The 41 wins Oregon currently sits at is good enough for fourth best in school history.

Wasikowski has grown the program into a perennial NCAA Regional attendees and has them on the verge of heading back. D1Baseball.com's latest rankings has the Ducks as the No. 4 team in the country. If Oregon wins the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, they would undoubtedly stay inside the top eight, which would give the Ducks a chance to host a Regional and Super Regional if they get there. e

The Ducks only lost one conference series this season after Ohio State won the final two games of their three-game series to steal a couple of wins in Columbus. Interestingly enough, the Buckeyes were the only team to beat Oregon in a series during the regular season.

Wasikowski wasn't the only Duck that earned Big Ten honors. Oregon had ten players listed between the first and second team with starting pitcher Grayson Grinsell, relief pitcher Seth Mattox, first baseman Jacob Walsh, second baseman Ryan Cooney, and outfielder Mason Neville all getting first-team honors.

On the conference third-team selections, the Ducks saw starting pitcher Jason Reitz, shortstop Maddox Molony, outfielder Anson Aroz, and designated hitter Dominic Hellman all recognized. Oregon's lone freshman team all-conference member was catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus.

Neville is among the best players in the country and is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award. He has whacked 26 home runs, which is a program record and has a .302 batting average. His play hasn't gone unnoticed as he has been projected to go in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft.

Grinsell leads the Big Ten with a 1.36 ERA and seven wins. The lefty has been one of the best arms on the West Coast this season for Oregon.

Oregon heads into the Big Ten Baseball Tournament on a ten game winning streak and are winners of 14 of their last 15 games. The last time the Ducks lost a game was on May 2 in a 2-0 loss to Michigan State.

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