Cruse, Diaz Excited For One More Year

On March 11 at Saint Mary's, Samaria Diaz retired the side in order in the seventh inning to clinch a 4-0 victory for the UO softball team.

At the time, it looked like the senior transfer had slammed the door on the Gaels to propel the Ducks into Pac-12 play on a five-game winning streak. Oregon was set to open conference play two days later at Cal with a 22-2 record.

Instead, the Ducks soon learned that Diaz had thrown the final pitch of 2020, owing to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Oregon's season was over, and with it too, Diaz's college career.

But though unfinished business for the 2020 Oregon softball team may linger, Diaz in fact hasn't made her final appearance for the Ducks. Both she and fellow senior Haley Cruse will take advantage of a special circumstance allowing them to return for spring 2021; the third 2020 senior, Bailey Cook, plans to graduate and take an internship with the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, working in marketing and promotions.

Bailey Cook Senior Day

Graduating senior Bailey Cook was recognized recently on what would have been senior day at Jane Sanders Stadium.

"I'm just so excited to get back in the bullpen with my girls," Diaz said.

Count UO coach Melyssa Lombardi as excited as well. The return of Cruse and Diaz means the Ducks will return their leading hitter from 2020 — Cruse was hitting a cool .457 through 24 games — and also the pitcher who led them in ERA at 1.00.

"I'm thrilled they're coming back," Lombardi said. "They're seniors; they've played longer than anybody else on our team. They've got the experience. They know what it takes."

Diaz has been pursuing a master's degree in sports communication at Oregon, she said, and would have had to remain in school to finish the program following this spring anyway. Now, she'll get to do so while also preparing for another softball season come spring.

Diaz was pursuing an internship with DreamWorks Animation prior to the pandemic, she said, and Cruse was considering some job opportunities as well for after this season. Now, Cruse will enroll in Oregon's one-year Advertising and Brand Responsibility graduate program, which women's basketball players Sabrina Ionescu and Minyon Moore participated in this academic year.

"I wanted to end my career on my terms," Cruse said.

The Ducks didn't have that chance as a team in 2020, which was "Version 2" of the program since Lombardi took over for the 2019 season. That initial year saw major roster turnover that led to Oregon just trying to tread water; by this spring, it was a different story.

"They were prepared," Lombardi said. "They were ready to go and they had high expectations, for the Pac and for postseason."

Expectations would have been high for the 2021 season regardless, but especially with Cruse and Diaz back in the fold. Cruse anchors a lineup brimming with maturing talent including Allee Bunker, Rachel Cid and Jasmine Sievers, who will be upperclassmen next spring. And Diaz (below) returns to a pitching staff equally deep and versatile.

Diaz_PSU

What lies between now and then is uncertain. Both Cruse and Diaz are taking classes this term from their homes in southern California, checking in with coaches via weekly Zoom meetings, and with teammates through group chats.

"Even though we haven't been able to do a lot of physical stuff, we've gotten better as a team," Lombardi said. "And we've stayed connected — I think that's the most important."

Strength coach Courtney Walden has helped with workouts; Diaz said that "you're playing around with stuff you randomly have around the house, lifting gallon jugs filled with water." Cruse said a park near her house recently re-opened, allowing her to do some softball drills.

"I'm just trying to do as much as I can," Cruse said, "so that I can be ready when we do get that call that we're allowed to come back."