Two different seasons, two different NCAA Regional Tournament locations, two identical results.
Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla., the second-seeded Ducks took top-seeded Florida State to a tiebreaker game in the hunt for a Women’s College World Series berth.
But Oregon’s dreams ended with a two-hit shutout by Florida State’s Jessica van der Linden, sending the host school to the World Series and the Ducks back to Eugene, one win away from Oklahoma City for the second time in as many years.
“It’s frustrating to get so close,” senior catcher Jenn Poore said in a release. “But at the same time, it’s exciting to see where we’ve come as a program. Three years ago we weren’t even in this situation.”
Oregon, which three years ago was 1-20 in Pacific-10 Conference play and finished the season 12 games below .500, was in the NCAA Regionals for the second time in Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen’s two-year tenure.
The Ducks kicked off their trek through the NCAA Regional Tournament with a 1-0 win against Bethune-Cookman on Thursday. Advancing in the winners’ bracket, Oregon beat South Florida 12-0 in five innings Friday, finally finding the offensive firepower that the Ducks had been missing in the final weeks of their season.
Oregon first baseman Beth Boskovich was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game, and third baseman Ashley Richards was 1 for 2 with two RBIs.
“It’s always fun to be able to hit in your teammates, but this is probably only my third time being lead-off hitter,” Boskovich said in the post-game press conference. “I’m usually in the meat part of the lineup, which is nice so I have background hitting people in. I like trying to get on base first because it pumps up the team.”
The next day, the Ducks lost a 5-4, 12-inning, 4-hour 30-minute marathon heartbreaker to Florida State. Oregon had a 4-1 lead after the third inning, but Florida State scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game.
“We are obviously very disappointed,” Arendsen said in the post-game press conference. “Especially when you get out to a lead, you never assume you’re going to win, never ever. We know better than that, but you certainly feel like it’s going
to be your day.
“To me it was an epic battle that one team was going to win, and it was going to be a disappointment to the other team.”
Two hours later, Oregon took a 2-1 victory against South Florida to give the Ducks a second chance at Florida State on Championship Sunday. Oregon scored two runs in the bottom of the first, and pitcher Ani Nyhus allowed one run in the seventh.
“I’m really proud of our effort tonight,” Arendsen said after the victory. “I thought we rebounded well. It was an incredibly difficult loss this afternoon, very disappointing. Our players stepped up.”
On Championship Sunday, the Ducks took the first game from Florida State, 1-0, to give both teams one loss in the double-elimination tournament.
In the deciding game, Oregon managed just two hits as All-American van der Linden shut down the Ducks in a 2-0 Florida State victory. Last season, Oregon lost to Louisiana-Lafayette in Fullerton, Calif., in the second Sunday game.
“I’m extremely proud of this group and the way we have played,” Arendsen said in a release Sunday. “We didn’t lose because of any lack of effort. They put everything on the line, and I’m just sorry for the players that they won’t have this experience this season.”
Four Ducks were named to the all-region team: Nyhus, Richards, Boskovich and Poore, who had eight hits during the weekend. Richards led the regional tournament with three doubles, and Boskovich had four RBIs.
Nyhus went 4-1 in the tournament, allowing two runs in five games while striking out 29 batters.