The final day of the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic didn’t treat the Oregon softball team kindly, as the 13th-ranked Ducks lost
to both No. 8 Michigan and Oklahoma State on Sunday.
Oregon fell to Michigan 9-0 in its first game of the day as Duck freshman Alicia Cook
(2-1) took the first loss of her early collegiate career. She gave up six runs on six hits in
1 2/3 innings of work.
Cook’s counterpart, Michigan’s Jennie
Ritter, shut down the Ducks. She went the
entire game giving up only three hits
and striking out six batters, improving her record to 2-0.
The Ducks had to endure a rough
first inning as Michigan jumped out to a
4-0 lead, highlighted by Michigan third
baseman Grace Leutel’s double that scored two for the Wolverines.
Michigan scored all nine of its runs in the first three innings of the game. The Wolverine offense was led by designated hitter Nicole Motycka, who went 3 for 3 with two RBIs
and a run. Also contributing to the victory was second baseman Tiffany Haas, who
went 3 for 4 with a homer, two runs scored and an RBI.
The Ducks finished the weekend much as they began it — roughly.
Oregon fell to Oklahoma State 3-2 on
a walk-off home run by Cowgirls first baseman Jennie Killman in the bottom of the
seventh inning.
Oregon fell behind early, trailing 2-0
after Oklahoma State scored a run in both the second and third innings.
The Ducks fought back as center fielder Suzie Barnes hit her third home run of
the weekend, hammering a two-run homer
to tie the score. The sophomore hit her first career home run Saturday in the Ducks’
victory over UC-Riverside and hit another
later that evening in Oregon’s win against
Texas State.
Johnson and Oregon starter Amy Harris
(2-2) then quieted down until Harris gave
up a home run to Killman to end the game. Harris went six innings and gave up three
runs on five hits while striking out five
and walking two.
Johnson (3-2) dominated Oregon hitters, striking out 11 while giving up five
hits and the two runs off of Barnes’ home
run in seven innings of work.
On Saturday, Oregon defeated UC-Riverside 11-3 on the strength of Barnes’ hitting. She went 3 for 3 with a home run, a double, four runs and two RBIs.
The Ducks scored in every inning except the second.
Ani Nyhus picked up her first victory
of the season going 3 2/3 innings while still trying to recover from an arm injury.
In the night game, Oregon was powered
by back-to-back home runs to defeat Texas State 7-1.
Oregon trailed 1-0 until the sixth inning, when freshman left fielder Lovena Chaput hit a home run to tie the game. Barnes stepped up next and drove a ball
out of the park to give the Ducks a lead
they wouldn’t relinquish. Oregon scored four in the sixth and three in the seventh
to wrap up the game.
Harris shut down the Texas State offense, limiting the Bobcats to four hits and one run while striking out five and walking four in her seven innings pitched.
Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said her team’s willingness to fight and stay in the game was key to the victory.
“I couldn’t be happier with how we
battled today,” Arendsen said. “We put
pressure on them in the fifth inning and came back again in the sixth. I am very pleased with how we continued to believe we could do this.”
Oregon will travel to California on Friday to play in the UC-Riverside Invitational, where their first matchup will come against Portland State at 10 a.m.

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