After a weekend in Las Vegas at the UNLV Classic, the Oregon softball team’s record stands at 7-3.
The Ducks, who lost only one of five games over the weekend, defeated Central Michigan, Alabama, Kansas and Kent State.
On Friday, Oregon faced Cal Poly with freshman Lindsey Kontra in the pitching circle. With the score tied 3-3, the Mustangs scored five straight runs to hand Kontra her first loss of the season in an 8-3 decision.
That same afternoon, the Ducks faced Central Michigan and picked up a 9-8 win. Senior Connie McMurren came in to earn a save by recording the final two outs of the game with the bases loaded. Sophomore Anissa Meashintubby had pitched the entire game to that point, striking out five and walking three.
Andrea Vidlund hit her second and third home runs of the season against Central Michigan. Junior Alyssa Laux was 3-for-5 in the game.
No. 13 Alabama fell to Oregon on Saturday in an 8-3 upset, due in large part to the complete game pitching by Kontra, whose record now stands at 3-1. She allowed just one earned run in the game.
The Oregon bats were on fire swatting 11 hits (after 13 against Central Michigan). Lakeesha Eversley and Kristi Hall each hit home runs for the Ducks.
“We are hitting the ball extremely well right now, and the hits are coming at the right time,” Oregon head coach Brent Rincon said. “Lindsay Kontra continued to put pressure on a very good Alabama team and really took them out of their game.”
Kansas was the next team to fall to Oregon in a 9-7 game that included another Eversley home run and two more hits from Laux. Lynsey Haij was 2-for-4 in the game with a triple and three RBI. McMurren pitched the entire game for Oregon to record her first win of the season.
In the final game of the weekend, Meashintubby was handed the ball again and pitched Oregon’s first shutout of the season, a 4-0 win over Kent State. Meashintubby (3-0) allowed only four hits while striking out four. Eversley swatted two doubles and Haij hit a double that drove in the first Oregon run.
“To finish the tournament 4-1 is really a testament to how far we’ve come,” Rincon said. “We competed hard all weekend and are really looking forward to continuing that next weekend.”
Oregon travels to Arkansas for three games next weekend.