The crack of the bat. The smack of the ball into a waiting glove. The sun shining down on fans dispersed through the stands.
All these things are reminiscent of an afternoon game in a major league park.
For 327 fans at Howe Field, Saturday afternoon held all the familiar promise of a day well spent at Safeco Field — minus 46,000 fans, Edgar Martinez and overpriced sushi.
With the Pacific-10 Conference being the national powerhouse it is — three teams lead the conference and country — a game between any two of these eight teams can range from blowout to battle.
After being rocked 9-0 by No. 3 Washington on Friday, the No. 20 Ducks had a pregame pep talk from men’s basketball head coach Ernie Kent on Saturday.
Combined with the one-day revisit of an old Oregon uniform — a uniform that had its start in 2000, the last time Oregon finished the season about .500 — the tracks were laid out for a good battle.
Amy Harris, a Freddy Garcia in her own right, was strong in the top of the first inning. The freshman struck out one batter and got the first and third batters to hit into outs.
The next inning and a half went much the same: The Ducks sent 10 batters to the plate but couldn’t pick up a run, while Harris struck out another batter.
In the top of the third, Harris gave up a single and a double — with the runner scoring — but struck out two batters as Oregon escaped the inning.
Sophomore Erin Goodell, a Carlos Guillen-esque middle infielder, led off the bottom of the third with a walk. Freshman Beth Boskovich followed with a perfect Ichiro-like sacrifice bunt.
After hearing about senior Andrea Vidlund’s stellar Wednesday against Portland State — Vidlund had an impressive old school Alex Rodriguez-like day with two home runs — the Bruins wanted no chance for her to school them. Vidlund was granted an intentional base on balls.
Next up was senior Alyssa Laux. Laux pulled a Bret Boone on her second pitch, sending her second home run of the season over the fence in right center field for a three-run shot.
No. 2 UCLA took a turn in the fourth, but Harris threw only nine pitches as the Bruins hit into three outs.
In the bottom of the fourth, Boskovich earned a walk on four consecutive pitches. Rodriguez — oops, I mean Vidlund — took the second pitch she saw into right field for her fifth home run of the season.
Harris showed she was human in the top of the fifth, when she gave up a solo home run between the second and third out.
In the top of the sixth, after a flawed attempt by Oregon to pad its 5-2 lead, Vidlund pulled a Mariners’ bullpen and let the bases fill with one out. She came back to strike out the next two batters on six straight pitches to end the inning.
The Ducks struck out three times in the bottom of the sixth to pull themselves to three outs away from a win.
Vidlund gave up three singles and one run to start the seventh. She struck out the next batter with runners on first and second. UCLA followed with a single to score another run, and moved the tying run to second.
On their feet and as nervous as Mariner fans in September 1995, 327 fans watched as, three pitches later, UCLA hit into a double play. The win for Oregon tied its combined Pac-10 win total — three — of 2001 and 2002.
As the major league plays on outside of Oregon and the Eugene Emeralds don’t begin their season until mid-June, the softball team is the perfect transition from television baseball to summer minor leagues.