Announced Thursday morning via their personal twitter accounts, Oregon softball pitcher Miranda Elish and utility player Lauren Burke will transfer out of Oregon prior to the start of the 2019 season. Of course former head coach Mike White, who recruited both players, has left for Texas.
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— Miranda ✞ (@elish_miranda) October 18, 2018
Elish, a junior out of Crown Point, Indiana, spent the past two years on Oregon’s pitching staff, helping to propel the Ducks to a Pac-12 Championship and two Women’s College World Series appearances. She concludes her two-year pitching career as a Duck with a record of 37-2.
Her sophomore season was highlighted by pitching Oregon’s first-ever, seven-inning perfect game against Portland State on April 3, where she recorded a career-high 16 strikeouts. She was recognized as a First Team All-Pac-12 and First-Team All-Pacific Region member.
She ended her freshman season undefeated, 12-0, posting a 1.79 ERA (ranked fifth in the Pac-12 at the time) and pitching five shutouts in helping Oregon to a 54-8 record in 2017. In her first year with the Ducks, she was a Pac-12 All-Freshman and an NCAA All-Eugene Regional player as well.
Elish was ranked a No. 1 recruit in the nation by FloSoftball.com coming into Oregon, along with being a three-time Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year and a MaxPreps first-team All-American in 2016.
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— Lauren Burke (@lauren_b18) October 18, 2018
Burke made the Pac-12 All Freshman team last season. The utility player hit .351 and had three home runs in 36 games.
The Eugene native had plenty of big postseason hits. Burke had two pinch hit home runs in the NCAA regionals and a clutch hit to break a scoreless tie in a win-or-go-home scenario against Kentucky in the Super Regionals.
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