The mood of the Oregon softball team, ranked 18th in the USA Today/NFCA poll and 24th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, changed from one week to the next after the Ducks lost three games last weekend at the UNLV Desert Classic in Las Vegas.
Oregon (6-4) dropped a 7-6 decision to Utah State (2-9), which had only one victory prior the meeting, to open the tournament last Friday. The Ducks rallied behind starting pitcher Amy Harris later that day against No. 4 Tennessee (8-0).
Harris didn’t allow a run until the seventh inning and allowed only five hits, but only three Ducks managed to get on base as Oregon was shut out and held hitless.
Tennessee catcher Shannon Doepking led off the seventh inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Alicia Brown replaced Doepking on the bases and eventually scored on an infield single. That run gave Harris her first loss of the season, as Oregon fell 1-0.
Freshman pitcher Melissa Rice earned her first victory of the season, a 5-3 win over Hawaii (7-6), to begin the second day. Rice allowed one earned run on two hits in five innings. Harris earned the save, her first of the season.
Harris lost her second game of the season as the Ducks fell to Colorado State (7-4) 6-1 in the second game of the day. Breanne Sabol’s solo home run, her third of the season, was the only tally Oregon put on the scoreboard.
Oregon rounded out the tournament with an 8-0 win over UTEP (2-7). Harris earned the shutout and her fourth victory of the season, allowing only one hit with seven strikeouts in three innings.
The Ducks head to Palm Springs, Calif., for a four-day tournament beginning Thursday. Oregon opens with No. 10 Oklahoma (9-1-1) at 8 p.m.