Arizona proved hot indeed as the No. 23 Oregon softball team dropped two of three in the desert during the weekend.
The Ducks (24-12 overall, 1-2 Pacific-10) sandwiched two losses around a lone win to open conference play. The team started the weekend out somewhat promisingly, losing a 3-2 battle to No. 2 Arizona Friday, followed by a 10-0 shellacking of No. 5 Arizona Saturday. But the Ducks were unable to gain any momentum, dropping the final game of the trip, 7-3 to Arizona State.
“We had a tough time,” Oregon head coach Rick Gamez said in a released statement.
The trip to the Valley of the Sun did have a bright spot in sophomore infielder Chirsti Shelton. The Phoenix-native hit her first two home runs and knocked in six RBIs during the three-game stretch.
Sunday’s loss dropped Oregon’s Pac-10 record below .500 and handed freshman Andrea Vilund (12-4) her first conference loss. After beating the Sun Devils the previous day, the Ducks found themselves chasing the home team all day.
Arizona State jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Kara Brun had an RBI single and Sara Kahler an RBI double, putting the Sun Devils up 2-0.
Oregon then answered in the top of the third on Shelton’s second round-tripper in as many days, closing the gap to 2-1.
Arizona State extended the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the inning, causing the Ducks to remove starter Vidlund, replacing her with senior Danielle Haag. The Sun Devils then scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, which pushed the lead to 7-1.
The Ducks got two runs in the top of the sixth on Jill Robinson’s 10th home run of the year.
Saturday’s game was the polar opposite of Sunday’s. The Ducks pounded ten runs en route to a 10-0 win. Pitchers Haag and McMurren (9-9) combined for a four-hit shutout. Haag won her third game, pitching 4.1 innings of two-hit ball.
Oregon first got on the board in the top of the fifth when sophomore catcher Kelly Planche led off with her first dinger of the year. Missy Coe also drove in two runs in the inning with her 11th double, and Triawn Custer drove her home with a single.
With a 4-0 lead, Oregon went right back to work in the top of the sixth, scoring three more runs. Holly Ray led off with a single and Planche reached on an error, setting the table for Shelton, who crushed her first homer of the year.
The Ducks continued pouring it on in the next inning, scoring three more runs. Shelton had two more RBIs in the inning, giving her a career-high of five.
While the Oregon bats were on fire in the first game against Arizona State, the Ducks opened the weekend with a rare low-scoring 3-2 affair with the No. 2 Wildcats.
TSenior Lindsey Welch hit a two-run job in the top of the second. But that lead wouldn’t stand; the Wildcats answered in the bottom of the fourth with two runs.
The game remained tied into extra innings. And in the bottom of the eighth, the Wildcats took the lead for good when the winning run crossed the plate on a single with none out.