No. 5 Oregon softball has lost two straight games after dropping a 1-0 game on Saturday against No. 11 Tennessee in the Mary Nutter Classic. The Ducks also lost an exhibition game to the Japanese national team 17-5 — the loss won’t count against the Ducks’ record.
Against Tennessee, the Ducks went down in the first inning on an RBI double from Meghan Gregg.
Maggie Balint was given the loss, her first of the year, taking her record to 3-1. She pitched four innings, allowed six hits and one run while striking out three. Miranda Elish replaced Balint to pitched the fifth and sixth innings.
Oregon’s Mia Camuso went 2-for-2 in the loss while Jenna Lilley went 1-for-3.
The Ducks then played the Japanense national team.
Oregon went up 5-0, part of which was thanks to a Mia Camuso three-run home run. But, Oregon went on to allow 17 unanswered runs against the No. 2 national team in the world.
Elish, who started, and Balint, who relieved her, each played two innings. Olivia Kinsey came in to pitch the final three innings of the game. Megan Kleist saw no action on Saturday after pitching in Oregon’s loss to Texas A&M on Friday.
The Ducks take on No. 7 LSU and San Jose State tomorrow to conclude the Mary Nutter Classic before Oregon travels to Tampa, Florida, to play two games against South Florida on March 1.
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow