On The Road Back To OKC!

Saturday, May 27

Eugene, Ore.

4:00 PM

University of Oregon

52-6

Kentucky

39-19

Oregon

Kentucky

Photo by: Paul W. Harvey IV

05/27/17 | Softball

Box Score Eugene Super Regional 2 Box 17

Oregon completed a dramatic comeback Saturday to beat Kentucky, 6-5, and reach the Women's College World Series.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore — As Mike White settled into his chair on the dais of the Yamanaka Room in Jane Sanders Stadium, the UO softball coach took a deep breath to collect himself.

"Slow the heart rate down just a little here," White said. "Pretty pumped up after that."

You and the rest of us, coach.

For the fourth time in White's eight seasons as head coach, Oregon is headed to the Women's College World Series. The Ducks advanced Saturday thanks to a thrilling comeback that had White and everyone else on the edge of their seats, rallying for four runs in the seventh to beat Kentucky, 6-5, and sweep the Eugene Super Regional.

Oregon will advance to face the winner of the Seattle Super Regional, between Washington and Utah, in Oklahoma City on Thursday. The Ducks (52-6) are making their third trip in four years to play in ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, and their fourth in the last six.

"Sometimes you've got to stop and say, hey, this is pretty special right now, what's going on," White said. "It's exciting to go back to that big stage."

Whatever drama awaits Oregon in OKC, it will have a tough act to follow.

The Ducks opened their Super Regional with a dominant victory for the second year in a row, beating Kentucky on Friday, 4-0. But a year after UCLA evened the score in game two and then won the 2016 Eugene Super Regional, the Ducks on Saturday again seemed in danger of being unable to clinch.

As the designated road team Saturday, Oregon batted in the top of each inning. Entering the seventh, the Wildcats (39-19) led 5-2. All season long the Ducks have relied on small ball to manufacture offense, making the odds of a four-run inning slim. But these scrappy Ducks care nothing about the odds.

Danica Mercado lofted a single into short right field to open the inning, and Alexis Mack followed with Oregon's fifth infield hit of the game. Gwen Svekis walked to load the bases, and Nikki Udria — who lined out to end game three against UCLA last spring — grounded a single up the middle to plate two runs.

"Last year against UCLA, the person I wanted up was Nikki Udria," White said. "She's the kid you want up in those situations."

A bunt by freshman Shannon Rhodes moved up both runners, but also left the Ducks down to their final two outs. Next up came Mia Camuso, the first baseman who just barely missed fielding the two-run single that put Kentucky up 5-2 in the sixth.

Now it was 5-4, and Camuso had a chance for redemption. This time, the game of inches played in her favor — Camuso lofted a hit into left field that landed just inside the foul line, and just out of the Kentucky outfielder's reach.

Two more runs scored, and Oregon had its first lead of the day — the only lead that mattered.

"It was pretty special to get that hit," said Camuso, who was 1-for-11 in the postseason prior that that at-bat. "I'd been struggling a little bit. You've just got to keep swinging and pull through. I was just glad I got to do that for my team."

That team now moves on to Oklahoma City. At the beginning of the season that seemed improbable, for an Oregon squad thought to be in a rebuilding year. Instead, a precocious freshman class including Camuso, Rhodes, Saturday's winning pitcher Miranda Elish and national freshman of the year candidate Maggie Balint made it not a rebuilding year, but a reloading year.

They'll get their first taste of ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, taking their cues from a senior class that played there in both 2014 and 2015, including Udria, Mercado and Sammie Puentes.

"It's going to get tougher and tougher," Udria said. "But the hardest part is getting there. We've done a phenomenal job of battling, and everybody's stepped up. If I had one piece of advice for the freshmen, it's to be in the moment, and never take a pitch off."

If Saturday was any indication, that's their mentality as the Ducks head east. Camuso's uniform didn't stay clean through even the first inning, thanks to a diving catch of a popped up bunt by Kentucky's second batter of the game. Playing with that level of desperation right out of the gate paid dividends by game's end — though nobody at that point could predict the drama about to ensue.

The Wildcats scored twice in the first despite Camuso's diving effort, and went up 3-0 in the fourth on a home run by Abbey Cheek. The Ducks finally broke through in the top of the fifth, in their typical scrappy style.

Mercado led off with an infield single, though she was thrown out at second trying to take an extra base when the throw to first was errant. Mack followed with another infield single and Svekis and Udria walked to load the bases, before Rhodes drove in a run with a groundball out. Camuso came up with her first chance of the day for a big hit, and drove a line drive toward shortstop, but Kentucky's Katie Reed elevated to snare the liner and end the inning.

That was one of several sparkling plays by Kentucky's infield on the afternoon.

"They fought tremendously hard today, really gave us a run for our money," White said. "But our team just fought and fought and fought, which shows the character of our team. That kind of game there is a showcase for the sport. Even though it's obviously nicer to be on the winning side, I think both teams have to be proud of the display they put on here."

When Kentucky's No. 9 hitter, Erin Rethlake, grounded her two-run single just past Camuso's outstretched glove in the sixth for a 5-2 lead, there seemed scant hope Oregon would come out the winning side. Lacking the 2016 team's power potential, these Ducks had a tough row to hoe to mount a comeback.

They may lack the 2016 team's power, all right. But after the clutch hits from Udria and Camuso in the seventh inning Saturday, the 2017 Ducks can boast of something the 2016 team couldn't — a berth in the Women's College World Series.

"You never know," White said. "For us it was just, get on base — doesn't matter if it's a hit by pitch, a walk, an error, a single. That's our mentality this year. Last year it was, get somebody on and bomb it. That didn't work out too well. Right now it's grit, determination, scrappiness. And I think we showed that."