Oregon's Will Sanford pitching his best heading into super regional

The No. 11 Oregon baseball team will be playing for its season when it takes on No. 6 Texas June 7 in the Austin Super Regional at Disch-Falk Field.

And there’s no one the Ducks (43-17, 20-10 Big Ten) would likely rather give the ball to on the mound than sophomore Will Sanford, the probable starter for Game 2 after a humbling 11-3 loss in Game 1.

The true sophomore is 9-2 this season in 16 appearances with a 3.46 earned-run average and a career-best 119 strikeouts. He’s coming off his most dominant performance of the season against Washington State during the Eugene Regional, but outside a couple of tweaks he’s always brought the same mindset.

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&#8220;I think it’s just how I compete out there,” Sanford said. “Even if there’s no fans, even if I’m just playing against our team, I think I’ve done this throughout my career, especially in scrimmages. You can ask any of my teammates. I’m the same animated person when I pitch in scrimmages. So I think it’s just the competitor I am. I just really get amped up.”

The righty hasn’t been confirmed as the Game 2 starter, but he’ll likely get the ball come Sunday in Oregon‘s biggest game of the season in front of a rowdy crowd of nearly 9,000 fans in Austin, similar to the environments Sanford has thrived in this season.

“He’s got it,” coach Mark Wasikowski said. “You either got it or you don’t, and you don’t know if they’ve got it until they’re put in that spot and he’s got it.”

Though Sanford has always been a fiery competitor, his confidence has really come into its own in 2026 in his second season as a Duck.

The highly touted recruit had an up-and-down freshman campaign that featured a 6.39 ERA and nearly as many walks as strikeouts. But his teammates have noticed a change this season.

“The coolest part for me, watching as a teammates and just being behind him, he’s very confident in himself and I think that’s why he performs so well at that level,” infielder Ryan Cooney said of Sanford. “Being able to have that type of energy, which is true, there’s nobody in the stands, there’s 15,000 people in the stands, doing it the same way, regardless. That makes it really easy for me to back them up and just watch and enjoy the performance that I get to watch. I’m not surprised by the stuff that he’s doing right now and I don’t think it’ll stop at this rate.”

And the Ducks will need Sanford at his best if they hope to best the Longhorns in Game 2 to preserve their season. The typically steady Cal Scolari ran into trouble in Game 1 as the Ducks gave up 11 free passes and were ran out of the building, 11-3.

Just 24 hours after the defeat, Sanford will have to set the tone early in front of a hostile crowd, something he said he lives to do.

“I honestly just think its really fun to play in those big environments,” Sanford said. “Even the one in Nebraska, I thought it was great. Even though there’s 13,000 fans against you, it makes it more fun and you just enjoy it.”

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Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football and women’s basketball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com.