Courtesy: OSU Sports Information

EUGENE, Ore.– Michael Conforto hit a second inning grand slam and the sixth-ranked Oregon State baseball team finished with 17 hits in a 12-2 win over No. 10 Oregon Sunday at PK Park. The game marked the series finale of the Civil War.

Oregon State’s victory gave the Beavers a 2-1 series victory over Oregon and the team now holds a two-game lead with three games to play in the race for the Pac-12 Conference championship. The club’s last Pac-12 series begins Friday against Washington State.

Conforto’s grand slam in the second inning started an offensive onslaught for the Beavers, who led 1-0 after the Oregon State (43-9 overall, 22-5 Pac-12) sophomore singled in the first. He proceeded to hit the first pitch he saw from Oregon (43-13, 20-7) starter Jake Reed over the right field fence to push the lead to 6-0. Tyler Smith had driven in the inning’s first run on a bases loaded walk.

The home run was the ninth of the season for Conforto, who has two grand slams on the year. It was also his second home run of the series after his game-winning solo shot on Saturday.

Conforto capped off his afternoon with a run-scoring double in the ninth, giving him six RBI on the day.

Smith singled to left in the third for a 7-0 Beavers lead. Oregon State broke the game open with a four-run eighth that saw Dylan Davis, Kavin Keyes, Ryan Barnes and Jake Rodriguez drive in runs.

Ben Wetzler was solid in 6 1/3 innings of work to earned his seventh consecutive win and improve to 7-1 this season. The lefty scattered six hits and two runs – one earned – while walking one and striking out six.

Wetzler earned his seventh quality start in nine Pac-12 games this season, and extended the pitching staff’s streak to 21 games against league foes.

Reed worked 2 2/3 innings for Oregon, allowing eight hits and seven runs – only one of which was earned – while striking out two. The right-hander dropped to 6-4 on the year.

Conforto, Davis and Keyes all had three hits to pace the Beavers, while Smith, Hayes and Barnes pitched in with two as well.

Oregon State and Oregon compete again Tuesday in a 5:35 p.m. PT game at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. The game is considered a non-conference tilt and will not count toward the Pac-12 standings.

Courtesy: OSU Sports Information

EUGENE, Ore. – Andrew Moore tossed a two-hit shutout and Michael Conforto and Ryan Barnes each hit solo home runs to send the sixth-ranked Oregon State baseball team to a 9-0 win over No. 10 Oregon Saturday afternoon at PK Park.

The Beavers evened the series with the shutout, which was the team’s 10th of the season and second of the year for Moore, who improved to 11-1, becoming the Pac-12 Conference’s first 11-game winner. The victory pushed the Beavers back ahead in the chase for the Pac-12 Championship, and now lead the Ducks by one game.

Oregon State (42-9 overall, 21-5 Pac-12), up 2-0 after seven, scored five in the eighth and two more in the ninth for the convincing win. The nine-run victory margin was the largest between the teams in a game that counts toward the Pac-12 standings since Oregon (43-12, 20-6) reinstated its program in 2009. It’s the second-highest overall.

“This was a very important bounce back win for us,” head coach Pat Casey said. “We battled through five tough innings against a very good starter in Cole Irvin. We were focused today and it showed.”

Moore held Oregon to just two hits – a double by Ryon Healy in the fourth and a single by J.J. Altobelli in the sixth – while walking one. He only picked up two strikeouts, with both coming in the eighth.

Pitching in his hometown of Eugene for the first time at the collegiate level, he did so in fine fashion, and in the process, set the Oregon State freshman record for victories in a single season, surpassing Sam Gaviglio’s 10 in 2009.

Moore also pushed his earned run average to 1.34 on the year.

The teams were embroiled in a scoreless tie through six but Conforto lofted a home run over the left field fence in the sixth off Irvin. Barnes did so in the seventh as well to put the Beavers in the driver’s seat, 2-0.

Then came the eighth inning. Oregon State sent 10 batters to the plate with Barnes and Danny Hayes highlighting the inning. Hayes hit a two-run single and Barnes tripled to right for three of the inning’s five runs. Andy Peterson, who went 4-for-4 with a walk, also drove in a run during the inning, which he followed in the ninth with another RBI.

Peterson’s four hits led the Oregon State offensive attack, which finished with 12 hits off four Oregon pitchers. Hayes and Barnes each had two hits as well.

Irvin took the loss and dropped to 10-3 on the year. The Oregon lefty allowed six hits and two runs with a walk and three strikeouts in seven innings.

Oregon State head coach Pat Casey:

Oregon State pitcher Andrew Moore:

Oregon State second baseman Andy Peterson:

Courtesy: Oregon Sports Information

EUGENE, Ore. – Tommy Thorpe picked the right night to have the best start of his career at Oregon. The sophomore was dominant holding No. 4 Oregon State to just two infield hits in eight innings in a 3-0 win for the sixth-ranked Ducks on Friday night.

Thorpe matched a career-high with seven strikeouts while only allowing infield singles in the second and third innings. The sophomore, who moved to 6-4 on the season with the win, only faced real trouble in the third. The Beavers (41-9, 20-5 Pac-12) put runners on second and third with a bunt single, a hit batter and a wild pitch, but Thorpe struck out Michael Conforto to end the inning.

Thorpe took the mound in the ninth and walked the leadoff hitter forcing Oregon (43-11, 20-5 Pac-12) to go to closer Jimmie Sherfy. The Ducks’ All-American picked up his 20th save, breaking the Oregon record of 19 he set in 2012, to help UO pull into a first-place tie with the Beavers in the Pac-12.

The Ducks jumped out early scoring two runs in the first and one run in the second. Ryon Healy, who returned to the starting lineup after sitting out the last three games, put Oregon on top 1-0 with a base hit to left field scoring Brett Thomas. After a Mitchell Tolman sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third with one out, Aaron Payne scored to make it 2-0 on a slow roller to first by Scott Heineman.

Freshman Nick Catalano led off the bottom of the second with a double and scored on a RBI flare single by J.J. Altobelli to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead.

Thomas and Payne led Oregon with both going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Matt Boyd (10-3) took the loss for Oregon State.

The Ducks and Beavers meet Saturday at 2 p.m. at PK Park in game two of the three-game series with both teams scheduled to throw freshmen. Cole Irvin (10-2) will pitch for Oregon, while Andrew Moore (10-1) gets the start for Oregon State.

Click above to see our one-on-one interview with former South Medford and University of Oregon star E.J. Singler.

Oregon Quarterback Marcus Mariota:

Oregon Linebacker Boseko Lokombo:

EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Oregon admits to committing a major violation in its payment to Will Lyles in exchange for information on recruits. The University released its 515-page report of its own internal investigation of the violations. Oregon had hoped to reach an agreement through summary disposition with the NCAA, but instead the case will go to a hearing. The NCAA and the University could not agree on if Oregon committed a secondary violation, or another major violation, by getting its reports from Lyles orally.

However, the NCAA does agree with Oregon that the violations were not committed intentionally and that there was no lack of institutional control or unethical conduct. This could bode well for Oregon, which will have its hearing with the NCAA later in 2013.

Oregon Defensive End Arik Armstead:

Oregon Wide Receiver Bralon Addison:

Oregon Defensive End DeForest Buckner:

Oregon Center Hroniss Grasu:

Oregon Quarterback Dustin Haines:

Oregon Safety Brian Jackson:

Oregon Cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu:

Oregon Head Coach Mark Helfrich:

Oregon Guard Damyean Dotson:

Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman:

Oregon Forward EJ Singler:

Oregon Guard Johnathan Loyd:

Oregon Center Tony Woods:

Oregon Forward Carlos Emory:

Courtesy: Oregon Sports Information

INDIANAPOLIS – Louisville survived its first test.

Russ Smith matched his career high with 31 points to lead three Cardinals in double figures, and top-seeded Louisville showed it can win close games, too, beating Oregon 77-69 on Friday night.

Kevin Ware added 11 and Gorgui Dieng had 10 points and nine rebounds for Louisville, which has won 13 straight. Coach Rick Pitino improved to 11-0 in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament.

“We dug ourselves a pretty big hole and weren’t able to come back,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Louisville is a very good basketball team and very talented. Smith got going to the basket and we just never got him slowed down.”

The 12th-seeded Ducks (28-9) at least made a game of it late. After Louisville went up 66-48 with 9:01 left, Oregon made six straight field goals to close to 70-64 – the closest anyone’s been to the Cardinals in a couple of weeks.

But Kevin Ware scored on a layup and Chane Behanan threw down a monstrous dunk to put the game out of reach. Still, Oregon is only the second team to be within single digits at the buzzer during Louisville’s run.

Louisville (32-5) moves on to play the winner of Michigan State-Duke on Sunday, hoping to advance to the Final Four for the second straight year.

E.J. Singler’s 15 points led five Ducks in double figures, and the Ducks had only 12 turnovers – one fewer than the Cardinals. But Oregon could never recover from its poor first half, when the Ducks were plagued by foul trouble – Johnathan Loyd had three before halftime – and an off night by Damyean Dotson. The freshman was huge in Oregon’s victory over Saint Louis, scoring a career-high 23. But he was 0 for 6 in the first half, and didn’t make a field goal until midway through the second. He finished with 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

“It wasn’t there in the first half,” Arsalan Kazemi said.

The Cardinals were barely tested in either of their first two games, beating North Carolina A&T by 31 and Colorado State by 26. They set an NCAA record with 20 steals against A&T, outrebounded one of the country’s best rebounding teams in Colorado State and left both teams with ugly shooting lines.

But the Cardinals were tested many times Friday night.

Peyton Siva spent the last 15:19 of the first half on the bench after picking up his second foul. But even without their floor general, the Cardinals didn’t miss a beat thanks to Smith. He hit a 3 to spark a 14-3 run that put Louisville up 24-8, and the game seemed to be all but over.

Smith had seven points during the spurt. When he finished the run with a layup, it was Russ Smith 9, Oregon 8.

The Ducks weren’t going away that easily, though. After Luke Hancock’s 3 capped a 12-2 run that put Louisville up 66-48, the Ducks would make six straight field goals. When Dotson knocked down a jumper with 5:12 remaining, it got Oregon within six, the closest it had been since early in the first half.

Closest anyone had been to Louisville since the Big East tournament, actually.

But part of what makes the Cardinals so imposing is their maturity – and their options, which seem endless. Instead of panicking, the Cardinals regrouped and regained control, and the Ducks never threatened again.

Postgame Notes

- Oregon finishes the season 28-9. The 28 wins are the fourth-most in school history.

- E.J. Singler made one 3-pointer to finish his career in a 10th-place tie with Bryce Taylor (168).

- Singler had a team-high 15 points and finishes his career with 1,546 points (11th all-time)

- Arsalan Kazemi (11 pts, 12 reb) posted his 56th career double-double and 11th of the season

- Kazemi’s 12 rebounds pushed his career total to 1,307.

- Oregon is now 14-10 in NCAA Tournament games and 2-1 in the Sweet 16.

- Oregon is 8-5 in NCAA Tournament games played in the Midwest Regional.