Tag: Oregon Ducks softball

Oregon is one of six schools to reach Super Regionals on two diamonds

Oregon is one of just six schools to advance to the Super Regional round in both baseball and softball this season.

Reaching the Sweet 16 is no easy feat. That’s why there’s such a celebration when you do make it on the basketball floor. The NCAA even trademarked the term “Sweet 16.”

In baseball and softball, those sports’ version of the Sweet 16 are the Super Regionals. It’s probably more rare to reach the Super Regional round because of how unpredictable baseball and softball can be.

Oregon baseball hasn’t made a Super Regional since 2012 until now and softball just made its first Super Regional appearance since 2017 before getting swept at Oklahoma State in two straight games.

It’s not easy.

But this season, the Ducks are fortunate enough to advance to the Super Regional in BOTH sports. They are just one of six schools to complete the feat in 2023.

Ironically, both Oregon and Stanford represented the Pac-12 in each sport. Stanford softball made it all the way to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series before losing to Oklahoma.

Also, both Pac-12 teams are hosting their baseball Super Regionals and have a fairly decent chance of moving on to the CWS in Omaha.

Here are the six schools that advanced to the Super Regional round on both diamonds this season.

Oklahoma State sweeps and eliminates Ducks in Super Regional

The Ducks softball season ends with a 9-0 loss to Oklahoma State in Game 2 of the Stillwater Super Regional.

Where everything went right in the regionals for the Oregon Ducks softball team, it was quite the opposite in the Stillwater Super Regional.

The Ducks’ season ended at the hands of Oklahoma State with a 9-0 loss in Game 2. The Cowgirls advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City with Oregon finishing its year with a 38-17 overall record.

In the two games of the Super Regional, the Ducks scored a total of one run. Not only that, but the Cowgirls retired 36 straight batters over the course of the two contests. An Allie Bunker single to center broke up the perfect game

Oregon’s last base runner came in Game 1 during the second inning when Alyssa Daniell singled home KK Humphreys for the Ducks’ lone run.

OSU pitcher Kelly Maxwell needed an even 100 pitches for the complete game shutout.

It’s a stark contrast from the Regionals where the Duck offense exploded for 29 runs in the three games, including wins of 10-4 and 14-4 over host Arkansas.

This was the first time Oregon had advanced to this round of the  NCAA tournament in five seasons and the first under head coach Melyssa Lombardi. The goal in Year 6 has to be to return to Oklahoma City.

Ducks drop Game 1 of Super Regional to Oklahoma State

In their first Super Regional appearance in five years, the Ducks softball team couldn’t get the bats going in a loss to Oklahoma State.

It’s been five years since the Oregon Ducks softball program was in a Super Regional and the nerves were on full display.

Fueled by a three-run fourth inning, Oklahoma State went on to take Game 1 by the score of 8-1. Now the Ducks will have to win two straight in Stillwater in order to advance to the Women’s College Series.

At first, it looked like things would be going Oregon’s way as they took a 1-0  lead in the second inning on Alyssa Daniell’s single to right that scored KK Humphreys.

Daniell would be the last Oregon baserunner as Cowgirls starting pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl retired the last 17 Ducks to come to the plate.

Oregon starter Morgan Scott was rolling through 3.1 innings, but then the proverbial wheels came way off the axle for the Ducks.

Kiley Naomi put the Cowgirls on the board with a solo homer to tie the game. A walk and a double put runners on second and third. OSU’s Morgyn Wynne hit a comebacker to the circle and Scott had the runner dead to rights, but her throw to home was wide and OSU took the 2-1 lead on the error.

It got even worse from there.

Oklahoma State scored four more runs in the fifth with the big blow being a three-run homer off of Wynne’s bat to make it 7-1. The only question then was if Oregon was going to be run-ruled.

Game 2 between the Ducks and Cowgirls is scheduled for Friday at 3 pm PST and will be televised on ESPN2.

NCAA Tournament super regionals set after a wild weekend of college softball

A look at the super regional matchups, which includes the Oklahoma Sooners welcoming the Clemson Tigers to Norman.

The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament was fantastic. There were a pair of big-time upsets, fantastic back-and-forth action and most of the top softball teams advanced to what should be a great slate of super regional action next weekend.

There were big offensive outbursts and even a perfect game in a winner-take-all matchup on Sunday afternoon that highlighted a fabulous weekend for the sport of collegiate softball.

Three of the top 16 went home early. No. 2 UCLA, No. 10 LSU, and No. 11 Arkansas were unable to make home field hold up, and were sent home early. UCLA didn’t even get a chance to play Los Angeles Regional winner San Diego State because the Bruins were beaten by Grand Canyon and Liberty before the regional final.

With one more leg before the Women’s College World Series, here’s a look at each of the super regionals and what those teams had to do to advance.

Oregon softball All-American Brooke Yanez to enter NCAA transfer portal

2021 All-American third team pitcher Brooke Yanez has entered the transfer portal, but could still return to the Oregon Ducks in 2023.

The NCAA transfer portal has continued to impact nearly every one of the Oregon Ducks athletic programs as student-athletes continue to search for the best opportunities they can on what is now effectively an open market.

Kelly Graves and the women’s basketball program saw massive losses this offseason, and now the portal has struck again, this time on the women’s softball side.

Brooke Yanez, who redshirted this past year because of a season-ending shoulder injury, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, according to James Crepea of The Oregonian.

Yanez, who graduated this past weekend in Eugene, initially reported she was “most definitely” going to return to Oregon in 2023, so this could just be a chance for her to explore her options, while leaving the door open to a return to the Ducks.

Yanez was one of the best pitchers in the NCAA in 2021, earning All-Pac-12 First Team honors and third-team All-American, while going 22-6 with a 2.11 ERA. Her 10.29 strikeouts per seven innings was tops in the Pac-12 and 13th nationally – and a return to Oregon would be a huge boost to the program in 2023.

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Ace pitcher Brooke Yanez to miss 2022 season with injury

Ace pitcher Brooke Yanez announced on Twitter that she will miss the entire 2022 season with injury, but she’ll be back.

Oregon Ducks softball ace pitcher Brooke Yanez announced via Twitter that she will miss the entire 2022 season due to injury.

It’s a big blow for the Ducks. Yanez was one of the best pitchers in the country last season. The first-team all-conference hurler was 22-6 and posted a 2.11 earned run average a year ago.

The transfer from UC-Davis was going to be a fifth-year senior this season, but it’s assumed she will receive a medical redshirt and Yanez says she will be ready to go for the 2023 season.

In her absence, the Oregon pitching staff will consist of Makenna Kliethermes, Jordan Dail, and Stevie Hansen.

So far this year, the Ducks are 16-3 and are set to open their home season today at Jane Sanders Stadium. The Ducks will host North Dakota State, Portland State, and Oregon State in the Oregon/Oregon State tournament. The Ducks will play PSU at 4 p.m.

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Transfer portal stings Oregon softball with three departures

Three Oregon Duck softball players announce their intentions to leave Eugene and continue their college careers elsewhere.

It’s that time of year that every college sport dreads these days. It seems like right after a season ends, players decide to use the transfer portal to get out of dodge.

This time it’s Oregon softball’s turn to feel its effects with the big loss being shortstop Alyssa Brito seeking greener pastures elsewhere. Along with the all-Pac-12 selection, infielders Mya Felder and Jazzy Contreras have put in their transfer papers as well.

Losing Brito is going to hurt the Ducks. It’s hard to find a shortstop that can both be a slick fielder and hit as she can. Brito was one of the top prep players in the country when she signed with Oregon and in her one and only season as a Duck, she didn’t disappoint.

She finished the season with a .299 average with 10 home runs and 31 runs batted in. In the Austin Regional, Brito went 4-for-14. But her play at shortstop was something to behold as she made several key plays to either end innings or to stop potential scoring threats.

Felder was a key component for the 2020 Ducks that went 22-2 before the pandemic forced a shutdown of the season. The sophomore from Fresno, Calif. hit .356 with two homers and 10 RBIs for that first season and Felder got off to a hot start in 2021 before her bat went ice cold.

The designated player was hitting .390 through the month of March and then once the conference season got rolling, Felder’s bat didn’t. Her spot in the batting order kept dropping and eventually she finished this season with a .274 batting average with five home runs and 21 RBI.

Contreras just played in two games this season and 13 games overall in her two seasons for the Ducks where got received one at-bat.

Whether Oregon Ducks softball head coach Melyssa Lombardi can replace talents such as Brito and Felder remains to be seen, but it won’t be easy.

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WATCH: Terra McGowen hits walk-off to keep Oregon’s season alive

Terra McGowen’s double to right field scores Haley Cruse to give the Ducks a 3-2 win over Texas to force a Game 7 in the Austin Regional.

It was worth the wait.

Terra McGowen sent Shealyn O’Leary’s 149th pitch to the right-field wall to score Haley Cruse to give the Ducks the 3-2 win over Texas and to extend the Oregon Ducks softball season for at least a couple of more hours.

After Brooke Yanez held the Longhorns scoreless in the top of the eighth, the Ducks got cracking. Cruse lined a double down the right-field line to begin the extra-inning rally. Allee Bunker coaxed a walk to set up McGowen.

The Oregon catcher could have easily sacrificed the runners over, but coach Melyssa Lombardi trusted McGowen to swing away, and swing away she did.

With the victory, the Ducks and Longhorns meet up one more time tonight to decide the winner of the Regional and to see who goes on to Oklahoma State for the Super Regional next weekend.