Prior to Friday’s home opener against Oklahoma State, head coach Melyssa Lombardi emphasized that the team would be refreshed and energized getting past four road tournaments in four weeks.

While No. 24 Oregon (12-7) put the ball in play a lot, it only managed one hit en route to a 3-0 loss to No. 19 Oklahoma State. The Ducks had a leadoff runner on first base every inning except the bottom of the first. 

“There was times when we wanted to advance the runner with our short game and were unable to do that tonight,” Lombardi said.

Jordan Dail (9-4) was solid with 8 strikeouts and two walks but ultimately got the loss as Oregon’s offense failed to score for the fourth consecutive game.

“Jordan gave us a chance to win,” Lombardi said. “I still think she needs to work on managing her counts but she put us in a position to win.”  
Oregon made the final inning interesting. Haley Cruse and Rachel Cid both walked to put two on with no outs. But April Utecht and Lexi Wagner flied out, bringing up freshman Katelyn Howard, who struck out to end the comeback hopes.

On the second pitch of the game Rylee Bayless doubled to left field, the ball flying just past Cherish Burks’ outstretched glove. Dail managed to force pop-up and a strikeout, but gave up a single to Chyenne Factor and Bayless ran home to put Oklahoma State on the board 1-0.

Dail and the defense were solid for most of the night after giving up an early run. Oklahoma State knows how to hit for power. The team ranks 11th in the nation for home runs with 30, while the Ducks have 13. In the sixth inning, Chyenne Factor launched a two-run homer to right-center to make it 3-0 lead with her third RBI of the game.

“I think my changeup got a little inconsistent towards the end of the game,” Dail said. “But once we got into the last inning I sort of found it again.”

Dail had some great defensive efforts behind her for most of the game, especially in the third inning. Burks made a diving catch on the third base line to start the inning. It would have landed out of bounds, but she didn’t give up on the play. Then, second baseman Allee Bunker dove over the first base side to snag a popup from Samantha Show.  
Oregon had a good opportunity to score in the fourth. Bowden singled to right field, putting Sievers on second base with one out. Haley Cruse hit a sacrifice fly to advance Sievers to third, but Rachel Cid flied out to center, ending Oregon’s chances.

Both Cid and Lombardi said they team swung well, but Oklahoma State was in the right position every time.

“We hit balls hard, we just hit them directly at people,” Cid said. “I believe tomorrow they’ll fall. I’m very confident in our approach and our at bats. It’ll come together, trust me.”

Follow August Howell on Twitter @howell_august