The 18th-ranked Oregon softball team salvaged two wins Saturday after dropping two games Friday at the 10th-annual NFCA Classic in Columbus, Ga.
Behind the strength of pitchers Amy Harris and Alicia Cook, the Ducks (8-6 overall) beat Florida Atlantic, 5-0, in extra innings and San Diego State, 3-1.
The Ducks stumbled the day before, falling to No. 7 Alabama, 3-0, and Creighton,
4-1, during the
opening day of
the tournament.
Against Florida Atlantic, Harris held the Owls scoreless, but the Oregon
offense could not
get anything going until the top of the ninth inning.
Sophomore Ann Marie Topps got Oregon moving with an RBI double to give the Ducks a 1-0 advantage. Consecutive RBI hits by Erin Goodell and Suzie Barnes upped the score to 3-0.
Freshman lead-off hitter Lovena Chaput stepped up next and blasted a ball over the right-field fence for a two-run homer, extending the lead to 5-0. The Tualatin native went 3 for 4 with a double to go along with her home run.
Harris finished the Owls off in the bottom of the ninth for her third win of the season. The junior struck out nine and gave up five hits in her nine innings of work.
Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said she was proud of the way her team hung in the game.
“I thought we kept battling and continued to play strong defense,” Arendsen said. “And when we needed it, our offense came through in a big way. I thought Amy (Harris) threw a tremendous game for us.”
In the night game, Cook pitched a two-hitter and struck out seven for the Ducks as they defeated San Diego State.
The freshman from Elmira improved her record to 4-2 on the season and dropped her ERA to a team-leading 1.91 — .03 better
than Harris’.
Leading the offensive charge for the Ducks was freshman Kristi Jorgensen. The Tigard native went
3 for 3 with a double, a run scored and
an RBI.
Oregon jumped on top with a two-run fourth inning, sparked by an Ashley Richards RBI single. Jorgensen scored Richards on a double, giving the Ducks the
2-0 lead.
The Aztecs cut the lead to one when pinch hitter Megan McDonald hit an RBI single in the fifth inning, which turned out to be their last hit of the game.
“We continued to get timely hits and had a great pitching performance by Alicia Cook,” Arendsen said. “I’m very pleased with how we came out.”
Next up for the Ducks is their second trip of the season to Las Vegas to compete in the UNLV Classic. Oregon opens the tournament Thursday against Illinois-Chicago at 3 p.m.

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