Friday, May 26
Eugene, Ore.
4:00 PM
University of Oregon
51-6
4
vs
0
Kentucky
39-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Kentucky
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
1
Oregon
0
0
1
0
0
3
X
4
5
0
Scrappy Offense Backs Kleist As Ducks Win Super Regional Opener
05/26/17 | Softball
Megan Kleist pitched the best game of her young career and Oregon manufactured four runs to beat Kentucky on Friday at Jane Sanders Stadium.
EUGENE, Ore. — Super Regional play opened with a win for the Oregon softball team, again, although this version of the Ducks beat Kentucky on Friday in its own particular way.
A year ago, Oregon bashed its way past UCLA to open their Super Regional. Catcher Janelle Lindvall had two home runs, and her fellow senior Koral Costa added an RBI double.
Both those players are gone, as is that power-hitting offensive style. The 2017 Ducks get by through force of will, the latest example a 4-0 victory Friday over the Wildcats before 2,423 fans in Jane Sanders Stadium.
"That's the definition of scrappy for us," UO coach Mike White said.
Sophomore Megan Kleist pitched what White called the "best game I've seen of her career." But when she walked off the mound after a strikeout to end the top of the sixth, Oregon's lead was just 1-0. That came thanks to the scrappy efforts of sophomore Alexis Mack, who got down a two-out bunt in the third and then stole second base (below), allowing her to score on a rocket of a single to center by Gwen Svekis.
"I think we're the best team in the country right now with two outs," Svekis would say later. "We scratch and we claw and we find a way to get them on and get them in. We don't use the long ball as much, and it's made us a better club all the way around."
The Ducks (51-6) still manage a big inning now and then. Witness their three-run sixth Friday, breaking open what had been a one-run game. But this was no three-run homer, as the 2016 team might have employed; Oregon's three runs in the sixth Friday were produced without so much as a single hit.
Instead, two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases. Two groundball outs brought in a run each, and the third scored as Lauren Lindvall reached on an error. Forget a hit; the Ducks didn't so much as get the ball out of the infield, but still broke the game open.
"In the past we've relied completely on the long ball," Svekis said. "If we were going into the seventh and if Koral or Janelle or Nikki (Udria) didn't hit a home run, we were defeated."
That's not the case in 2017. And now the Ducks are a game away from reaching the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The Wildcats (39-18) will try to extend their season in the second game of the series Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN2). If they win, the decisive third game will be played Sunday, under the new format instituted by the NCAA for Super Regionals this spring.
Where will White turn to start Saturday's game? For much of the season, freshman Maggie Balint has been second in the rotation. And she's earned that right, leading the Ducks with a 21-3 record and 1.16 ERA.
But how to go away from Kleist (above), who improved to 20-3 on Friday, with a 1.21 ERA? A week after struggling in one abbreviated NCAA Regional appearance, the sophomore abandoned the riseball, got the handle on her changeup and leaned heavily on her dropball to record her ninth shutout of the season.
"She really picked it up and led this team on the mound," White said.
Kleist worked around some bad luck at times. In the first, Kentucky's leadoff hitter chopped a ball over third base and stole second when the Ducks couldn't execute a pickoff play. Kleist kept her cool and got out of the inning, freezing the cleanup hitter on a changeup for a called third strike to end it.
In the fifth, Breanne Rey led off with a double for the Wildcats, another chopper over the infield that landed just inside the foul line in right field. With one out, Lindvall fielded a grounder at second on which she took an excellent path to the ball, getting her momentum moving toward third base, where she threw out Rey.
Other than that, Kleist didn't allow much, thanks to her dropball and a changeup that was much improved over the week before.
"I struggled with it last week, but I worked on it a lot in practice this week, and I thought it really helped keep the batters off-balance," Kleist said. "Throwing the dropball and then having that change of speed really helped."
A week ago in regionals, it was freshmen like Balint, Miranda Elish and Shannon Rhodes who set the pace. On Friday, the veterans entered the forefront, none more so than Kleist. But so too did her battery mate Svekis, who doubled in the first, drove in the game's first run in the third and also walked in the sixth to provide one of the three UO baserunners who scored in the inning.
Svekis, now hitting .455 in the postseason, was thrown out at home in the third, after trying to score on a double by Udria. Having a runner thrown out was discouraging, but the silver lining was a hard-hit ball by Udria, who's been scuffling of late.
If Oregon's veterans had been pressing at the plate in recent weeks, that wasn't the case Friday.
"I think sometimes they start thinking too much," White said. "Our mentality was, opening day — just go back and play free and easy. Don't make it bigger than it already is. It's a big situation of course, but you've got to allow yourself to play your best game."
The Ducks did that Friday, the best version of this team being a scrappy bunch that finds a way to manufacture runs and back stellar pitching. That formula has Oregon won game away from Oklahoma City, and two chances to clinch a trip there at home this weekend.
A year ago, Oregon bashed its way past UCLA to open their Super Regional. Catcher Janelle Lindvall had two home runs, and her fellow senior Koral Costa added an RBI double.
Both those players are gone, as is that power-hitting offensive style. The 2017 Ducks get by through force of will, the latest example a 4-0 victory Friday over the Wildcats before 2,423 fans in Jane Sanders Stadium.
"That's the definition of scrappy for us," UO coach Mike White said.
Sophomore Megan Kleist pitched what White called the "best game I've seen of her career." But when she walked off the mound after a strikeout to end the top of the sixth, Oregon's lead was just 1-0. That came thanks to the scrappy efforts of sophomore Alexis Mack, who got down a two-out bunt in the third and then stole second base (below), allowing her to score on a rocket of a single to center by Gwen Svekis.
"I think we're the best team in the country right now with two outs," Svekis would say later. "We scratch and we claw and we find a way to get them on and get them in. We don't use the long ball as much, and it's made us a better club all the way around."
The Ducks (51-6) still manage a big inning now and then. Witness their three-run sixth Friday, breaking open what had been a one-run game. But this was no three-run homer, as the 2016 team might have employed; Oregon's three runs in the sixth Friday were produced without so much as a single hit.
Instead, two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases. Two groundball outs brought in a run each, and the third scored as Lauren Lindvall reached on an error. Forget a hit; the Ducks didn't so much as get the ball out of the infield, but still broke the game open.
"In the past we've relied completely on the long ball," Svekis said. "If we were going into the seventh and if Koral or Janelle or Nikki (Udria) didn't hit a home run, we were defeated."
That's not the case in 2017. And now the Ducks are a game away from reaching the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The Wildcats (39-18) will try to extend their season in the second game of the series Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN2). If they win, the decisive third game will be played Sunday, under the new format instituted by the NCAA for Super Regionals this spring.
Where will White turn to start Saturday's game? For much of the season, freshman Maggie Balint has been second in the rotation. And she's earned that right, leading the Ducks with a 21-3 record and 1.16 ERA.
But how to go away from Kleist (above), who improved to 20-3 on Friday, with a 1.21 ERA? A week after struggling in one abbreviated NCAA Regional appearance, the sophomore abandoned the riseball, got the handle on her changeup and leaned heavily on her dropball to record her ninth shutout of the season.
"She really picked it up and led this team on the mound," White said.
Kleist worked around some bad luck at times. In the first, Kentucky's leadoff hitter chopped a ball over third base and stole second when the Ducks couldn't execute a pickoff play. Kleist kept her cool and got out of the inning, freezing the cleanup hitter on a changeup for a called third strike to end it.
In the fifth, Breanne Rey led off with a double for the Wildcats, another chopper over the infield that landed just inside the foul line in right field. With one out, Lindvall fielded a grounder at second on which she took an excellent path to the ball, getting her momentum moving toward third base, where she threw out Rey.
Other than that, Kleist didn't allow much, thanks to her dropball and a changeup that was much improved over the week before.
"I struggled with it last week, but I worked on it a lot in practice this week, and I thought it really helped keep the batters off-balance," Kleist said. "Throwing the dropball and then having that change of speed really helped."
A week ago in regionals, it was freshmen like Balint, Miranda Elish and Shannon Rhodes who set the pace. On Friday, the veterans entered the forefront, none more so than Kleist. But so too did her battery mate Svekis, who doubled in the first, drove in the game's first run in the third and also walked in the sixth to provide one of the three UO baserunners who scored in the inning.
Svekis, now hitting .455 in the postseason, was thrown out at home in the third, after trying to score on a double by Udria. Having a runner thrown out was discouraging, but the silver lining was a hard-hit ball by Udria, who's been scuffling of late.
If Oregon's veterans had been pressing at the plate in recent weeks, that wasn't the case Friday.
"I think sometimes they start thinking too much," White said. "Our mentality was, opening day — just go back and play free and easy. Don't make it bigger than it already is. It's a big situation of course, but you've got to allow yourself to play your best game."
The Ducks did that Friday, the best version of this team being a scrappy bunch that finds a way to manufacture runs and back stellar pitching. That formula has Oregon won game away from Oklahoma City, and two chances to clinch a trip there at home this weekend.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kleist, Megan (20-3)
L: Meagan Prince (21-8)
Batting:
2B: Breanne Ray 1 ; Jenny Schaper 1
Base Running:
SB: Katie Reed 1
Batting:
2B: Svekis, Gwen 1 ; Udria, Nikki 1
RBI: Svekis, Gwen 1 ; Camuso, Mia 1 ; Bishop, Madi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mack, Alexis 1 ; Cruse, Haley 1 ; Udria, Nikki 1 ; Rhodes, Shannon 1
SB: Mack, Alexis 1
HBP: Udria, Nikki 1 ; Rhodes, Shannon 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
lf/dp
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballC
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