The 11th-ranked Ducks didn’t have their typical weekend.
Coming off the April 25 upset of No. 1 Arizona, Oregon came out flat Friday against No. 3 UCLA, dropping the game, 2-0.
After a postgame conference, the team picked itself up and came out firing against No. 7 Washington on Saturday. The Ducks (35-14 overall, 9-6 Pacific-10 Conference) mercy-ruled the Huskies in a 10-2 five-inning victory.
Oregon’s offense sputtered again Sunday with a 1-0 loss to Washington (34-12, 8-5) in eight innings.
“We’re playing No. 3 and No. 7 in the country,” Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said Sunday. “We’re No. 11. We’re the underdog. We’re playing the best teams in the country every weekend. If we had won every series every weekend, that would be phenomenal. I’m disappointed we lost, but I don’t think it’s because the kids didn’t work or didn’t play or didn’t care.”
The 1-2 weekend dropped Oregon to fourth-place in the conference, behind No. 1 Arizona, No. 9 Stanford and the Huskies.
Friday’s 2-0 loss to the Bruins, who split two 1-0 games with the Ducks in April in Los Angeles, was the first conference series that Oregon has lost this season.
UCLA scored its two runs on two home runs in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, shortstop Jodie Legaspi took an Ani Nyhus pitch deep to left center field. Catcher Emily Zaplatosch flied out to left field for the second out, but right fielder Lisa Dodd took Nyhus deep again, again to left field.
The Ducks managed just two hits in the game, a single by right fielder Kayleen Hudson and a bunt single by pinch hitter Ann Marie Topps.
“I don’t know how we can show up so lethargic against the defending national champs,” Arendsen said Friday. “I’m very disappointed. We didn’t make any adjustments against a very good pitcher.”
Oregon found its offensive rhythm in the second inning Saturday with a seven-run, two-out rally in the
second, en route to the 10-2 win.
After second baseman Erin Goodell walked to load the bases, center fielder Suzie Barnes fought off a handful of foul balls to score Hudson. Catcher Jenn Poore then dropped a bloop single past the shortstop into shallow center field, scoring left fielder Dani Baird and Goodell.
In the next at-bat, shortstop Breanne Sabol hit a three-run home run, her third shot of the season, directly over the 220-foot measurement on the center field wall.

Third baseman Ashley Richards crushed a pitch to the same spot, but two feet lower, as her double hit the top of the wall and came back into play. Richards scored on a single to left field by designated player Beth Boskovich.
“That inning was huge,” Nyhus said Saturday. “Any time that we score 10 runs off a top-class pitcher, we have to be happy with that. Our team did a really good job of scoring runs, and we played great defense.”
The Ducks added two runs in the third to make the score 9-0.
Nyhus gave up a home run in the fourth and a run in the fifth for Washington’s two scores.
In the bottom of the fifth, Poore singled in first baseman Kristi Leiter for the eight-run lead to end the game.
.The 1-0 loss to the Huskies marked the Ducks’ third Sunday in a row with an extra-inning game. In the top of the eighth, Washington first baseman Sarah Hyatt led off with a home run to left center field.
“We didn’t bunt well and we didn’t score,” Arendsen said Sunday. “I thought Ani pitched a whale of a game. It should never come down to one pitch.”
Nyhus threw 7 2/3 innings, allowing the one run and five hits. She walked four batters and struck out six.
“I think we just let the pitcher get to us,” Poore said Sunday. “We didn’t hit the pitcher as well as we should have, we didn’t go out and attack like we did yesterday.”
Washington pitcher Ashley Boek kept the Ducks off the bases, allowing four baserunners on three hits. She struck out 11.