Oregon cruises past Canisius in NCAA baseball tourney

Scott Heineman hit a two-run double and Shaun Chase a two-run homer in Oregon’s four-run first inning, and the Ducks cruised to a 12-6 victory over Canisius in an elimination game Saturday at the Springfield (Missouri) Regional.

Heineman and Chase combined for five hits, five RBIs and five runs for Oregon (38-24), which will play Iowa in another elimination game today.

Oregon led 8-0 after the top of the fifth and withstood every rally by Canisius (34-30), which played without its usual cleanup hitter in Ryan Stekl, who took a bad-hop single off his face in a 14-1 loss to Missouri State.

Oregon reliever Trent Paddon (2-3) retired eight of the last 10 batters in the final 4 2/3 innings.

Jesse Puscheck and Anthony Massicci each had three hits for the Golden Griffins.

J.P. Stevenson (7-4) allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Regional play continues today throughout the 16 sites as teams begin to qualify for next week’s 16-team super regionals. Rain delayed some regionals on Saturday, particularly in the Midwest and Texas.