Football gets all the attention. That’s fine — we wrote a whole piece imagining Autzen Stadium as a flower arrangement (spoiler: very loud, very yellow). But if you only show up at the University of Oregon for football, you’re missing the best part of being a Ducks fan: spring.
Spring is when Eugene earns its “TrackTown USA” nickname. It’s when the baseball team plays under the lights at PK Park with the Willamette River right there. It’s when the softball team fills Jane Sanders Stadium with noise that rivals Autzen on a per-square-foot basis. And it’s when the whole campus blooms — literally — in a way that makes every other college town look drab by comparison.
Here’s what’s happening, where to go, and why your florist keeps bringing up sports.
🏃 Track and Field at Hayward Field
This is the crown jewel. The rebuilt Hayward Field — opened in 2022 — is the finest track and field facility in the world, and that’s not regional pride talking. It hosted the 2022 World Athletics Championships and will continue to host NCAA and international events for decades.
Spring is when the Ducks track program comes alive:
- Oregon Relays (April) — One of the premier early-season meets, drawing top collegiate athletes from across the country. The atmosphere is relaxed but the competition is elite.
- Pepsi Team Invitational (late April/May) — A major multi-team meet that often features Olympic-caliber performances.
- Pac-12 Championships (May) — Conference championship meets rotate locations, but when they land in Eugene the city fills up.
- NCAA West Preliminary Rounds (late May) — The road to nationals starts here. Hayward Field has hosted these rounds multiple times.
Why go: Even if you don’t follow track, Hayward Field is worth visiting just to see the facility. Grab a seat in the east grandstand on a May afternoon, watch a 1500-meter race with the Cascade foothills as a backdrop, and try to explain why you’re not doing this every weekend.
The flower connection: Track and field is one of the sports where athletes receive bouquets on the podium. It’s a tradition that goes back to the Olympics. We’ve had customers order congratulations arrangements for U of O athletes who qualified for nationals or set personal bests. If you know a Duck who just PR’d, flowers are the move.
⚾ Baseball at PK Park
PK Park sits along the Willamette River, just north of Autzen Stadium. It seats about 4,000 — small enough to feel intimate, big enough to get loud when the Ducks rally.
The spring baseball schedule runs March through May, with midweek and weekend series against Pac-12 opponents. Friday and Saturday night games under the lights are the sweet spot: the temperature drops to the low 60s, the river is right there, and the pace of baseball on a spring evening in Eugene is about as good as life gets.
- Best seats: Along the first-base line for sun; behind home plate for the view of the river and the foothills beyond center field.
- Bring: A jacket (even May evenings get cool), a blanket for the lawn seats, and cash for the concession stand’s garlic fries, which are legendary.
- Kids: PK Park is one of the most family-friendly venues in Eugene. The lawn area in right field is essentially a supervised play zone with a baseball game happening nearby.
The flower connection: Senior Day for baseball is one of the biggest flower days of the spring sports calendar. Parents send arrangements to the stadium, teammates give bouquets to seniors during the pre-game ceremony, and the whole thing is unexpectedly emotional. If you have a senior Duck baseball player in your life, we deliver to PK Park and the surrounding area.
🥎 Softball at Jane Sanders Stadium
Jane Sanders Stadium is one of the best college softball venues in the country — a 2,500-seat facility that feels modern and electric. The Ducks softball program has been nationally competitive for years, and home games routinely draw near-capacity crowds.
Spring softball runs February through May, with the big Pac-12 series on weekends. The atmosphere is intense and fun — the student section is creative, the PA announcer keeps the energy high, and the talent on the field is genuinely elite.
The flower connection: Same as baseball — Senior Day is a flower event. But softball families also tend to do “good luck” bouquets for NCAA tournament weekends. We see a spike in orders every time the Ducks host a regional.
🏈 Spring Football (Autzen Stadium)
Oregon spring football practice runs through April, culminating in the Spring Game — a full-squad scrimmage at Autzen Stadium that’s free and open to the public. It’s not a real game, but it scratches the Autzen itch and gives fans a first look at new players, new schemes, and whatever Coach Lanning has been cooking up.
The Spring Game typically draws 30,000–40,000 fans, which is more than most schools draw for actual games. The tailgate scene is lighter than fall — more picnic blankets, fewer generators — but the parking lots still fill up and the energy is real.
The flower connection: Spring Game falls right in the middle of Mother’s Day season. We’ve had customers combine a Spring Game outing with a Mother’s Day delivery — take Mom to Autzen on Saturday, have flowers waiting at her door on Sunday. That’s an A+ play.
🎾 Tennis, Rowing, Golf, and More
The Ducks field competitive spring teams across several other sports:
- Tennis — Home matches at the Student Tennis Center are free, intimate, and surprisingly intense. The women’s team has been a perennial Pac-12 contender.
- Rowing — The Oregon rowing team trains and races on Dexter Lake and Fern Ridge Reservoir. Regattas are beautiful to watch from the shore, especially in the early morning mist.
- Golf — The men’s and women’s golf teams compete at courses around the region. Home events occasionally use local courses like Shadow Hills or Emerald Valley.
- Lacrosse — Oregon’s club lacrosse program has a passionate following and plays home games on campus.
The flower connection: All of these sports have end-of-season banquets and awards ceremonies. Coaches, graduating seniors, and team MVPs all receive flowers at these events. It’s a quieter tradition than football roses, but it’s consistent and meaningful.
🎓 The Spring Sports – Graduation Overlap
Here’s the thing that makes spring sports season special in Eugene: it overlaps with graduation. The last home baseball series, the conference championship meets, and the Spring Game all happen within weeks of commencement. For senior athletes, those final home games are their graduation ceremony in a way — the last time they wear the green and yellow, the last time the crowd cheers for them.
That overlap creates a wave of flower orders every May. We deliver:
- Senior Day bouquets to stadiums and athletic facilities
- Graduation arrangements to dorms, apartments, and family hotels
- Congratulations flowers to graduating athletes who are heading to professional careers or graduate school
- “Thank you, Coach” arrangements from families who want to show appreciation
We wrote about the U of O campus in our spring events guide and paired the campus with a flower arrangement in the landmarks piece (tulips, snapdragons, and daffodils, in case you’re curious). If you’re coming to Eugene for a graduation or a spring sporting event, we can have something beautiful waiting.
📍 Practical Info
- Parking: Autzen complex lots serve PK Park, Jane Sanders, and the track. Bike parking is plentiful and the bike path from campus is the fastest way in.
- Tickets: Most spring sporting events are free or very affordable. Track meets and baseball are often under $10. The Spring Game is free.
- Food: Concessions at PK Park and Hayward are solid. For pre-game dining, the restaurants along Franklin Boulevard and in the campus area are all within walking distance.
- Weather: May in Eugene averages highs of 67°F and lows of 44°F. Bring layers. Evening games will be cool. Rain is always possible but increasingly unlikely as May progresses.
💐 Send Flowers to a Duck
Whether it’s a senior athlete playing their last home game, a graduate walking across the stage, a coach who made a difference, or a friend who just loves the Ducks — flowers say it better than a text. We deliver same-day across Eugene, Springfield, and the entire U of O campus area.
Browse what’s fresh at eugeneflorist.com and let us deliver something green and yellow (or whatever color actually matches their personality). Go Ducks. 🦆🌸