The Oregon Ducks (6-5) closed out the Campbell/Cartier Classic with a 2-0 loss against the No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies (9-0). The Aggies beat the Ducks 4-1 in both teams’ first game in the classic this weekend, and ended their undefeated weekend with another win over Oregon.
The Ducks’ offensive struggles during the weekend came back to bite them in their lone contest on the final day. Tallying just six hits on Sunday was well below Oregon’s average for the weekend. Adding to that, none of the hits came in the same inning as any others. Other than being held hitless in the 6th inning, the Ducks had one hit in each inning. They just couldn’t string them together to produce runs.
The Oregon defense was much more impressive than the offense. Despite allowing two runs in the game, Taylour Spencer (2-1), who pitched 5.1 innings in the game, allowed just four hits and walked two batters. Unfortunately for the Ducks, the hits from Texas A&M were slightly less spread out.
The game was held scoreless until the bottom of the 4th inning. The Aggies’ Kramer Eschete was able to make it home on a double from Allie Enright. Oregon was able to prevent any more being added to the lead in the inning.
In the top of the 5th and 6th innings, the Ducks struggled to get any momentum. They managed just one hit, but failed to get a runner in scoring position. The bottom of the 6th saw just the fourth hit of the day from the Aggies. Unfortunately for Oregon, it was a home run from Julia Cottrill.
The 2-0 lead would be too much for the Ducks to overcome late in the game. They managed to get two runners on base with a walk then a single, but a pop-out ended the game just one batter later.
Spencer recorded the loss in the game, despite her impressive showing. She did not record a single strikeout in the game, despite pitching for most of the contest.
Oregon will play its next set of games in Cathedral City, California during the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The first game for the Ducks will be Thursday, February 22 at 2:30 p.m. against the UCF Knights.
