Oregon senior Kai Luschar could only watch as her collegiate career hung on by a thread. She stood a few feet away from Katie Flannery, shouting words of encouragement.
Flannery battled to stay alive against the 2-2 count, fouling back a pair of pitches. The Ducks played until the final pitch all season long, but finally, the ninth pitch of the at-bat caught Flannery swinging.
No. 16 Oregon (54-10, 19-3 Big Ten) saw its season come to an end in a 4-1 loss to No. 2 Oklahoma (52-8, 17-7 SEC) on Sunday.
The Ducks entered hot off a walk-off win against Ole Miss on Friday that kept their season alive after a loss to UCLA in the Women’s College World Series opener. The Sooners, meanwhile, fell 4-2 to No. 6 Texas on Saturday.
It was far from an ideal start for Oregon. The Sooners sent the Ducks batters down in order at the top of the first. Then, the first two batters at the top of Oklahoma’s lineup singled to put runners on the corners.
Oregon assistant coach and former Sooner, Sydney Romero, visited Elise Sokolsky in the circle. Sokolsky and the Ducks responded by recording outs against three of the next four Oklahoma batters, keeping the game scoreless.
Senior outfielder Dezianna Patmon has shown up for Oregon in the biggest moments all postseason, and Sunday was no different. Without any hits for the Ducks through five batters, Patmon sent the 0-1 pitch over the center field wall for the first advantage of the game. It appeared to be a good omen, as Oregon entered the game 42-0 on the season when homering.
The lead was short-lived, however, with Isabela Emerling homering to left field to tie the game.
The Sooners pulled ahead in a disastrous bottom of the third inning for Oregon. Lyndsey Grein entered in relief for Sokolsky. She immediately struck out a batter, but lost all momentum after a two-RBI homer by Cydney Sanders. Grein ended up with 39 total pitches in the inning alone, and her Ducks found themselves in a 3-1 hole.
Grein calmed down by recording a 1-2-3 fourth inning, but Sanders once again homered on a full count to put Oklahoma up three.
Oregon struggled to get anything going offensively. Senior shortstop Paige Sinicki stole second to put a runner in scoring position in the sixth with Patmon up to bat. This time, relief pitcher Sam Landry struck her out swinging to put the Sooners three outs away from the semifinals.
Landry tallied two of her six strikeouts in the seventh. It ended the Ducks’ best postseason finish since 2018. The Sooners will continue their quest for five-straight national championships when they face No. 12 Texas Tech on Monday at 4 p.m. in the WCWS semifinal.
