UO sb
A school-record win total, their first ever No. 1 ranking and the deepest Women’s College World Series run in school history will have to do. This historic Oregon softball season that featured so many “firsts” for the program ended short of the one the Ducks most hoped to accomplish. Oregon (56-9-1) entered Sunday four wins away from the first national championship in the program’s history, but was unable to extend this most memorable of seasons. Alabama pitcher Jaclyn Traina allowed just four hits in a shutout performance, and the No. 1 Oregon softball team fell 2-0 to the No. 2 Crimson Tide on Sunday. The Ducks were eliminated from the Women’s College World Series in the process; with a win, Oregon would have needed to beat Alabama again later Sunday before advancing to the best-of-three championship series. The Ducks went 2-2 at the 2014 WCWS, with wins over Florida State and defending champion Oklahoma. The Ducks lost to Florida and Alabama, the two teams that will play for the national title beginning Monday.
OSU bb
Senior Scott Schultz pitched a complete game two-hitter and Oregon State advanced to the championship game of the Corvallis Regional on Sunday with a 4-0 victory over UC Irvine before a sellout crowd at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. Schultz (7-2) struck out four, walked two and retired 18 of the last 20 hitters he faced to give the Beavers (45-13) a sweep of two Sunday elimination games. They ousted UNLV 6-1 in the afternoon on a complete-game four-hitter by senior Ben Wetzler. Monday’s championship game is set for 8:05 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU. The victor will advance to the best-of-3 Super Regionals against Stillwater Regional champion Oklahoma State. If OSU wins, it will host the Cowboys; if Irvine (37-23) prevails, it will travel to Oklahoma.
UO bb
Freshman Stephen Nogosek put Oregon in a position to win in just his second career start, but the Ducks couldn’t hold off No. 20 Vanderbilt 44-18) in the title game of the Nashville Regional on Sunday. Nogosek left the game after seven inning, his longest career outing, with a 2-1 lead after allowing just one run on four hits with seven strikeouts. Vandy scored single runs in the eighth and the ninth to keep Nogosek from picking up the win. Vanderbilt, which went 3-0 at this weekend’s Regional, will next face the winner of Monday night’s game between Stanford and Indiana. If Indiana wins, Vanderbilt will travel to Bloomington for Super Regionals. If Stanford wins, the Commodores will host the Cardinal in the next round.