Softball cracks Liberty 13-1, earns sweep and trip to CWS
Emma Cox and Paige Sinicki clubbed home runs and LIndsey Grein pitched a complete-game three-hitter as the Ducks beat Liberty University 13-1 in Jane Sanders Stadium Saturday night.
The win gave them a 2-0 sweep of the Flames and punched their ticket to the College World Series at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
The Flames have become Oregon's version of the Washington Generals, the barnstorming foils of the Harlem Globetrotters. Three times now UO has met LU in the postseason, ringing their bell for a 45-6 victory at the Fiesta Bowl on January 1, 2024, topping them 81-52 in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 21, and now this sweep on the softball diamond.
The Softball College World Series begins May 29 and runs through June 5/6, featuring the eight winners of the Super Regionals. The teams are divided into two four-team double-elimination brackets, then the winners of the two brackets meet in a best-two-out-of-three final.
Klaudia Kazimierska scorches field of pros in 1500 meters
Oregon middle-distance runner Klaudia Kazimierska, from Wloclawek, Poland beat a field of pro track stars at the Sound Running Track Fest in Los Angeles Saturday night, running the 1500 meters in a time of 4:03.26.
Kazimierska competed in the 2024 Olympics for her home country. She won the 800 meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field on May 18 in a time of 2:02.94, helping the Oregon Women's Team to a second-place finish.
She ran her race Saturday in Prefontaine style, going to the front early and fighting off the field. Her time was the third-best in NCAA history and her personal best.
At the Paris Olympics in 2024 Kenya's Faith Kipyegon won the 1500 in a time of 3:51:29. That's the challenge in front of her for the Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028.
Baseball awaits seeding show, likely to host Regional
After falling to Nebraska 7-3 in a rain-delayed 7:00 a.m. PT game at the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, the Ducks await Monday's seeding show for the NCAA Tournament, 9 a.m. PT on ESPN2 or ESPNU.
D1 Baseball projects Oregon to earn a 13-seed and host a regional despite their loss on Saturday morning. The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak for the Big Ten regular season co-champions, 42-14 this season.
They were off their game after the 5 a.m. bleary-eyed wakeup call, committing four errors, hitting into three inning-ending double plays and leaving nine runners on base.