In a winner-take-all game two of the regional doubleheader, Oregon was defeated 1-0 by Texas in a pitching duel. The game started 30 minutes after Terra McGowen hit a walk off RBI single to clinch game one for the Ducks by a score of 3-2. 

With the loss in game two, the Oregon softball season came to an end. The Ducks finished the year with 40 wins, marking the 14th time in school history reaching this tally.

Brooke Yanez finished the season with 14 complete games and 268 strikeouts, ranking third in program history in season strikeouts. . 

Haley Cruse ended her stellar career as the only player in school history to lead the team in hitting for four consecutive years. She finished her career hitting .378— a figure that ranks 5th in school history. 

“She [Cruse] has left the program better than when she got here,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. 

After an exciting finish to the first game, the offense got off to a slow start for both teams in game two. 
With the game scoreless in the bottom of the fourth, Texas got on the board when pinch hitter Jordyn Whitaker connected for an RBI single with two outs. The Ducks starting pitcher, Samaria Diaz, was excellent through three innings, but with runs hard to come by, the Whitaker RBI single was enough to end the night for Diaz. 

To minimize damage, Makenna Kliethermes took the mound for the Ducks.

“Loved the second game, how they battled,” Lombardi said. “Brooke was spent, so Samaria had to come in and did what she did and then passed the ball off to Makenna. We had some tough tough jams that we got out of and we kept doing it, we just fell a little short.” 

Brooke Yanez, after playing the entirety of game one, was called in to replace Kliethermes in the sixth inning after a few two-out singles from the Longhorns. 

Yanez pitched a perfect sixth inning to give the Ducks a chance in the final inning. 

The Ducks got the start they wanted in the seventh inning. Rachel Cid led off with a double and Hanna Delgado reached on an infield hit. But the Ducks were unable to send anyone home as a strikeout and a couple groundouts closed out the game for the Longhorns, ending the Ducks’ season in heartbreak fashion. 

“I’m so proud of this team, just to watch them transform from the beginning of the year to now… I can’t say enough,” Lombardi said. “My heart hurts because they were right there and I want them to get what they want and we just fell short.”