With a 13-4 win over Iowa on Saturday, May 17, the No. 5-ranked Oregon Ducks baseball squad clinched a Big Ten regular-season championship as well as the top seed in the conference’s upcoming tournament.

Saturday’s win over Iowa marked Oregon’s 10th in a row and 13th of its last 14 games. Entering the weekend, the Ducks sat in third-place of the Big Ten standings, needing a clean sweep of the Hawkeyes and a loss by UCLA to earn the conference’s top seed. The 13-run performance Saturday, as well as the Bruins’ Thursday night loss to Northwestern, dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s of the Ducks’ final regular-season series.

Third baseman Carter Garate helped lead the offensive charge for Oregon, posting a 3-for-4 day at the dish complete with a pair of home runs. Garate, who came into the series with just a single homer in 2025, launched three in the series win over Iowa, adding one in Thursday’s win as well.

The junior finished out Saturday with five RBI and a walk, leading the Ducks in total bases and RBI.

Two others, designated-hitter Dominic Hellman and first baseman Jacob Walsh, each collected three-hit days along with Garate. Walsh finished a triple shy of the cycle with three RBI, while Hellman notched a pair of singles and hit a blast himself.

The Ducks’ five-home run day was rounded out by a solo blast from second baseman Ryan Cooney in the sixth inning. The sophomore went 2-for-3 with a walk, a sacrifice hit and a stolen base. His home run gave Oregon cushion in the later innings, but it was Cooney’s third-inning RBI-double that gave the Ducks a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

On the mound, right-hander Jason Reitz (5-0) finished out the regular season undefeated in decisions, twirling 5.2 innings of one-run ball. It was a gritty win for the junior, who dealt with traffic on the base paths in nearly every inning, allowing four hits, two walks and hitting one. Despite that, the only run Iowa earned off the 6-foot-11 righty came on an RBI groundout in the first frame.

The Ducks bullpen — who’s turnaround in the month of May can’t be credited enough for Oregon’s down-the-stretch success — wasn’t quite as sharp as it had been in prior games, but didn’t have to be after inheriting a 9-1 lead in the sixth. Ryan Featherston, Toby Twist and Cole Stokes carried the game into the eighth inning and combined to allow two hits, four walks and one earned run apiece.

Sophomore left-hander Santiago Garcia finished off the game, recording the final four outs in order and notching a pair of strikeouts. Garcia was credited with the save, his fourth of the season, despite inheriting a five-run lead in the eighth.

As the top-seeded squad in the Big Ten, Oregon was paired with No. 8 Nebraska (28-27, 15-15) and No. 12 Michigan State (28-25, 13-17) for the pool-play portion of the conference’s tournament. The winners of the pools will advance to a single-elimination, four-team bracket.

Oregon opens tournament play against the Spartans at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 22 in Omaha. The semifinal games begin on May 24, with the championship game slated for May 25.