It was a bittersweet ending for the careers of five seniors at Jane Sanders Stadium on Sunday. But for this team, it was perhaps more bitter than sweet, with No. 13 Oregon failing to collect a hit in a 2-0 loss to No. 20 Utah. It capped a sweep in the final series of the regular season, and dropped Oregon to the No. 5 seed in the Pac-12.

Seniors Allee Bunker, Terra McGowan, Katelyn Howard, Karissa Ornelas and Kyla Morris were honored before, during and after the game. The day began with all five of their dads throwing out first pitches, with their respective daughters catching. There were trivia and other entertainment segments in between innings. After the game, all five were honored on the field. They received flowers, gave hugs to their teammates and watched tributes on the video board. The postgame ceremony ended in the seniors themselves saying a few words of gratitude on the field.

“I appreciate everything that they’ve done on and off the field for this program,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “I appreciate the legacy, the culture, the leadership, everything that they brought to Oregon softball.”

But before the fun could begin, the Ducks had a game to play. As much as they would have liked to precede the festivities with a win, they couldn’t quite make that happen. And Utah pitcher Mariah Lopez was their biggest obstacle.

“I think we just had a rough weekend,” Lombardi said. “We had some balls that we hit hard that were hit right at people, and didn’t get some breaks. It was a tough weekend.”

McGowan hit one hard in the first inning, but was robbed of a home run by the right fielder. The first five Oregon batters were retired. Allison Benning and Hanna Delgado drew back-to-back walks in the second, and Tehya Bird put up a fight but ultimately struck out to end the frame.

Oregon pitcher Stevie Hansen worked around an error in the first, helped by a nifty double play on a liner to Bird at third base. Utah led off the second inning with a double, but Hansen induced three flyouts to escape.

The Utes broke through in the third. A single, wild pitch, sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly gave them a 1-0 lead — the first run this series that didn’t come on a home run. Three pitches later, Aliya Belarde went deep to right field. Lombardi opted to pull a quick plug on Hansen, taking her out after only 2 2/3 innings and bringing in Raegan Breedlove.

Breedlove stranded two hits in the fourth inning, then pitched a perfect fifth. But, as they did all weekend, the Ducks struggled to get a rally going. In the bottom of the fifth, Bird drew the team’s third walk, but Howard pinch-hit and struck out.

The top three hitters in Oregon’s order came up in the sixth. They all made quick outs.

As if things couldn’t get any worse for Oregon, the game went into a rain delay with two outs in the top of the seventh. The tarp came off the field less than 10 minutes later, though, as the rain let up fairly quickly. The weather started bright and sunny and took quite a few turns throughout the game. The delay lasted 16 minutes in total.

Breedlove ended up going 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Hansen, keeping Oregon in the game.

“Compared to last year, I think my confidence is through the roof,” Breedlove said. “That’s the reason why I think cruising along is a lot easier for me. Coach Lombardi has played a huge role in that, not just helping boost my confidence — staying in the bullpen, staying warm and then coming in. Relying on my teammates helped me out and lifted me up.”

Ariel Carlson, Ornelas and Alyssa Daniell all worked 3-2 counts in the bottom of the seventh, but they all struck out as Lopez completed her no-hitter. Despite the stunned atmosphere in the stadium, and the rain making a rude return, the postgame senior celebration commenced.

The players were all smiles in the ceremony, not letting the outcome of the game dampen a special sendoff.

“We didn’t finish exactly how we wanted to, but I think we all feel each other’s energy and feel the love for each other,” Breedlove said. “I think that’s the most important thing to us and to them especially.”

No. 13 Oregon (35-14, 14-10 Pac-12) will now head to Tucson for the Pac-12 tournament that begins Thursday.