If the Oregon softball team is going to achieve its goal of winning a national championship, the Ducks will have to find a way to get by Florida first.
Although the Ducks (16-3) are ranked the No. 2 team in the nation, for the second time in one week, Oregon has struggled with No. 1 Florida (19-0). The Ducks suffered a 3-0 loss last week and then fell to the Gators Friday by a score of 5-1 in the first round of the Judy Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif.
Pitcher Karissa Hovinga took the loss for Oregon as she was roughed up for five hits and five runs in just 3.2 innings pitched. The runs weren’t all Hovinga’s fault though.  The Oregon defense committed two errors that led to two unearned runs.
Jasmine Smithson-Willett came on in relief of Hovinga and had her best outing of the season. She limited the Florida offense to no runs on one hit in 3.1 innings.
Offensively, the Ducks were shut down last week but gained a little more traction this time around.
Jenna Lilley and Hailey Decker each had two hits, while the Ducks pounded six altogether.
For the game, Oregon went 3-for-15 when runners were on base and 0-for-9 with hitters in scoring position. Oregon had no trouble getting the leadoff runner on in each inning, which happened four times. However, the execution to advance runners and and then score them is where the Ducks struggled.
Florida hit two solo home runs for the early 2-0 lead.
The Ducks seemed poised to respond in the bottom of the second when Janelle Lindvall led off with a hit-by-pitch and Decker advanced her to second with a single. Two strikeouts and a fly out later resulted in the end of the scoring opportunity.
Still down 2-0, the Ducks had two runners on in the third inning with two outs on singles by Janie Takeda and Lilley. But, Lindvall flied out to deep centerfield to end the inning.
Two errors in the fourth inning ultimately cost Oregon the game as the Gators scored three runs, including a perfectly executed double steal of second and home plate.
Trailing 5-0, Oregon found life in the sixth inning when Lilley led off with a double. But, as was consistent throughout, three straight outs ended the inning.
The Ducks finally scored against Florida in the seventh inning when Koral Costa was hit by a pitch and Lindvall singled to put two runners on with no outs. Nikki Udria then advanced both runners a base after she grounded out to the first baseman.
After another hit by pitch loaded the bases, Takeda hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Costa and account for Oregon’s only RBI.
The Ducks return to action tomorrow when they face Pacific at 2:30 p.m. and Fresno State at 5 p.m. in the Judy Garman Classic.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka