Oregon Softball: Ducks Win Opener vs Utah Valley
Oregon Softball opened their season with a win on Friday night in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge with an 8-0 win over Utah Valley.
Pitchers Jordan Dail and Brooke Yanez combined to give up just one hit and nine strikeouts throwing 59 of their combined 83 pitches for strikes. Oregon saw their offense step up early scoring four runs in the first inning and two in the second.
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Allee Bunker and Terra McGowan were key players in the game. Bunker was 2 for 4 with a home run and three runs batted in. After waiting a year to play in an Oregon Uniform, McGowan wasted little time hitting two doubles and scoring two.
For Terra McGowan, it has been a long offseason. She had a chance to become eligible and play in 2019, but her eligibility was denied since she transferred from another Pac-12 school to play for Melyssa Lombardi and the Ducks. She now joins a team with a lot of talent and a lot of pitchers. Last season, Jordan Dail was pretty much the lone option in the circle and she was a workhorse. I expect what we saw on opening night will become more routine with multiple pitchers working games for the Ducks this season.
For the first game, the Ducks hit .346 as a team and .375 with runners in scoring position. The Ducks were also 4 for 6 when leading off an inning putting a runner in scoring position early and finding ways to capitalize. With new faces all around, this is encouraging for a team that definitely has some youth on the roster.
Oregon Softball has a doubleheader on Friday facing BYU at 4 pm Pacific Time and George Washington at 6:30 pm Pacific Time.