Upset of LSU Highlights Opening Day Split

Friday, February 15

Clearwater, FL

2:30 PM

University of Oregon

James Madison

02/15/19 | Softball

Box Score Box: Oregon 8, LSU 5 Box: JMU 9, Oregon 1

By: Nate Krueger

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Oregon softball team came away with a split against a pair of top-25 opponents on Friday after suffering its first loss of the season, 9-1, to No. 23 James Madison in the Ducks' second game of the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational.

After opening their weekend with a huge 8-5 win over No. 8 LSU earlier in the day, the No. 19 Ducks (6-1) had trouble solving three-time all-American pitcher Megan Good in the nightcap. Oregon will look to bounce back on Saturday with two more games against Florida Atlantic and No. 18 Kentucky.

How it Happened: Starter Maddie MacGrandle did a nice job of working out of trouble in the early going, picking up strikeouts to strand a runner at third in the first and leave the bases loaded in the second. The Ducks threatened in the bottom of the second after a double by Jasmine Sievers and a walk by Hannah Galey, but a strikeout kept the game scoreless.

The Dukes (1-1) broke through against MacGrandle in the third, using a pair of singles and a two-out, RBI double to take a 1-0 lead. MacGrandle put JMU down in order in the fourth, but the Dukes struck for four runs on four hits in the fifth to take control. JMU added four more in the top of the sixth to make it a 9-0 game.

Oregon broke through against Good in the bottom of the sixth, with freshman Allee Bunker ripping a one-out triple and coming around to score on an RBI groundout by classmate Rachel Cid. Good finished off the game with her eighth strikeout of the night.

At the Plate: Sievers continued her torrid start to the season with a 2-for-2 night with two doubles, accounting for half of Oregon's four hits. The freshman is now 7-for-8 with a home run, two doubles and five RBIs through her first three collegiate games. Bunker and Cid both finished 1-for-3, with Cid picking up her team-leading 11th RBI.

In the Circle: MacGrandle (2-1) was solid through the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth, allowing five runs with four strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Freshman Kailey Krueger made her collegiate debut throwing the final 1.2 innings and allowing four runs with a strikeout. Good struck out eight over six innings while allowing one run on four hits.

Up Next: Oregon will play two more games in Clearwater on Saturday, beginning at 7 a.m. PT against Florida Atlantic. The Ducks will face their third ranked team of the weekend at 1 p.m. PT against No. 18 Kentucky (ESPNU).