What a crazy week for Oregon sports. I would call this the good, the bad, and the ugly—but there really wasn’t much in the ugly form.
SOFTBALL’S BIG MOMENTUM SHIFT
After the softball team was run-ruled by Stanford, there was a lot of doubt that Oregon could come back and beat the same team twice in one day. Their pitcher dominated the Ducks in the first matchup, and Oregon’s pitching looked listless and out of gas.
But it’s funny how momentum can shift. When the Ducks came back to run-rule the Cardinal in the first game Sunday, there was a sense that maybe they could find a way. There was a belief on that team—especially in front of the hometown fans.
Those hopes seemed to be fading when the Cardinal took a 7–3 lead in the second inning. The offense the Duck women saw Saturday was back, and the Oregon ace simply could not make enough pitches. Then the unexpected happened: Staci Chambers—with just 14 appearances and a 4.25 ERA—pitched brilliantly over 4 1/3 innings, allowing just three baserunners and holding the Cardinal scoreless as the Ducks battled back, little by little.
There was so much drama on Sunday. Two elimination games. A deficit against an elite offense that started to seem insurmountable. A pitcher with limited appearances shutting down the Cardinal. And a dramatic three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh capped what was one of the best weekends in Oregon sports history.
TRACK AND FIELD MAKES BIG SPLASH
While there was some hope that the Women of Oregon might be able to find a way to get past USC for a conference title, I don’t think many people expected the men—projected to finish fifth based on form charts—to challenge the Trojans. But performance after performance from the men showed a team deep almost everywhere, with enough talent to rise above projections and truly challenge USC.
Did USC have some tough breaks (spikes) that cost them the title? Yes. But it’s not like Oregon’s men didn’t have a stellar meet across the board, with a lot of unexpected points scored.
While the women couldn’t overcome the Trojans, I thought they put up a pretty good fight—even without their top distance runner—and kept things close enough to make it interesting down the stretch.
If this year’s women’s team had some of the sprint successes of past seasons, they might have found the missing points needed to win. But what we saw is that Jerry Schumacher has this program on the right path, and the Ducks are going to be in a really good position moving forward.
BASEBALL
At midseason, I thought the Ducks baseball team was good, with a chance to do some damage in regionals, but I wasn’t sure just how good they were. On May 2nd, the Ducks were 31–13 overall and 12–8 in conference play. Then they went on a 10-game win streak, giving up just 2.7 runs per game while scoring 7.8.
The sweep of Iowa gave the Ducks a share of the conference title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. They are certain to host a regional and have a legitimate chance to get past that to the Super Regionals.
The biggest question for this team is going to be the depth of their pitching. Grayson Grinsell has been spectacular all season, but the other two starters have struggled at times, and the Ducks will need to make sure their bats stay hot when Jason Reitze (5–0, 3.09) and Collin Clarke (5–2, 4.59) are on the mound. But this team has a lot of heart, a lot of grit, and just enough power to make a deep run—if it all continues to come together like it has over the last ten games of the season.
THE LINKS
Flock Talk: Here Comes the Sun
Sunday Morning Sidewalk: The Long Shadow of June
DSA Inside Read: June Awakenings
Wednesday War Room: Projecting the Running Back Depth Chart
