Ducks overcome Liberty, umps in Super Regional opener
Just a few days ago on Sunday Dezianna Patmon completed a dramatic comeback with a three-run homer against Stanford to give the Ducks a a10-7 win over Stanford in the 7th inning of the Regional final.
Friday night at Jane Sanders Stadium Patmon played Ms. Clutch again, lacing a one-out single up the middle to beat Liberty 3-2 in the 8th inning before a packed house at Jane Sanders Stadium.
Twice in the game Duck speedster Kai Luschar became the victim of successful challenges by Flames' coach Dot Richardson, who waddled out of the dugout to say Luschar had left a base early.
In the 1st inning Paige Sinicki laid down a squeeze, Luschar sliding across home plate ahead of the throw. In the 7th, she stole second after a single to left, called out for leaving early.
Another scoreless relief effort by Staci Chambers got Oregon to the 8th, where Patmon corrected the injustice.
The two teams resume the best two-out-of-three series with Game Two at Jane Sanders Stadium, Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. PT, televised on ESPN. Another win sends Oregon to the NCAA Softball College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
Ducks get paid: Oregon first-rounders ink NFL deals
Whoever said that Oregon can't develop players or fails to prepare recruits for the NFL ought to take a look at these whopping new NFL contracts. Derrick Harmon and Josh Conerly, both selected in the first round of the April 24-26 draft, signed lucrative rookie contracts this week.
Conerly signed a fully guaranteed four-year, $15,681,094 deal with the Washington Commanders. Harmon agreed to a four-year, $17,973,604 fully guaranteed contract with Pittsburgh with a signing bonus of $9.7 million.
Conerly's deal includes a signing bonus of $8.04 million.
Seventh-rounder Carson Bruener was the only Washington Husky drafted. Three players were drafted from USC, Jaylin Smith in third round, Woody Marks in the fourth, center Jonah Monheim in the seventh.
Marcus Mariota narrates story of Oregon's remarkable softball season
Oregon baseball rained out, rescheduled at Big Ten tournament
It devolved into a contest to see how many times the Big Ten Network could run the same inane dugout interview. A three-hour rain delay set back the Oregon-Nebraska game in pool play Thursday night in Omaha.
Rescheduled today at 7 a.m. PT, the winner advances to the semi-finals of the tournament against Penn State. That game is scheduled for 3:03 p.m., also on the BTN. The championship game remains Sunday at noon.
Thursday the Ducks sent Michigan State home 4-2 with a two-run rally in the 7th.
Correction:
In early editions of the Autzen Zoo game story after Friday's dramatic win, Dez Patmon was incorrectly identified as the batter who sent a fly ball to the wall in the first inning, caught by Liberty's Paige Doerr.
After Kai Luschar was ruled out at third after lifting her foot off third base for a microscopic millisecond, Paige Sinicki returned to bat again. She was the one who blasted the long fly to left, picked off the wall by Doerr. Patmon grounded to second an inning later.