Oregon Softball Loses To SLU, 4-2

Oregon played their fifth game of the weekend today against Southeastern Louisiana. SLU was an NCAA tournament participant in last season’s tournament and was eliminated in the LSU regional.

The Ducks were looking for a get-right game before heading to Stanford next weekend. Elise Sokolsky started in the circle, and threw for three innings, giving up no runs on two hits with 2 BB and 2 Ks.

Oregon got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, with Kaylynn Jones driving in two runs with a single to left center, and the Ducks were up 2-0. Oregon’s bats then dried up for the rest of the game; they did not get a single hit in the last three innings against three different SLU pitchers.

Taylour Spencer came in the game in the fourth inning and allowed one hit and no runs. After walking her first batter in the fifth inning, Oregon brought in Lyndsey Grein to hold on to the lead and save the game.

It did not go well.

Grein’s outing was a complete disaster. She gave up a single, and then the two base runners advanced on a wild pitch. The next SLU batter hit in a run off a single and then stole second base, putting runners on second and third. The runners came home when Grein gave up a triple, and SLU was up 3-2.

Grein struck out the next batter, but then a wild pitch scored another Lion. That was it for Grein’s day, and Maddie Milhorn took the circle. Milhorn pitched very well over 2.1 innings, allowed no runs off one hit with one BB, and struck out the last three hitters she faced. She set the Ducks up to get some hits and get back into the game.

The hits never came, and Oregon went down 4-2 in the upset.

A disappointing loss completed what was ultimately a disappointing opening weekend for Oregon softball. Defense fumbled on Friday. The Ducks could not generate runs against Tennessee on Saturday. Then today, Oregon suffered a pitching breakdown.

We did learn something about the pitching room this weekend, and for the most part it’s positive, in spite of the losses. Taylour Spencer seems to have healed from last year’s health problems; and while it is early, she is throwing well.

Middle Milhorn had an opportunity to show her stuff, and looked good every time she was in the circle. It’s still too early to make definitive declarations, but she is not looking like a weak link on the pitching roster.

There are concerns about Oregon’s batting. It’s not so much about the batting itself, because the Ducks have the bats. What appears to be painfully obvious is that a lot of Oregon’s offense last year received a jump start, game after game, from Kai Luschar – specifically, Luschar’s ability to get on base and then immediately get in scoring position with steals. The Ducks don’t have that this season, and it’s already beginning to show.

The sky is not falling (yet), and it’s too early in the season to adopt a gloom-and-doom attitude about Version 8. This is a very different team from last season, and they have some bugs to work out, and some time to work out those bugs. That will be Oregon softball’s task this coming weekend, ahead of this weekend’s Cardinal Classic in Palo Alto.