EUGENE, Ore. – After five scoreless innings, one unearned run in the sixth had No. 25 BYU softball falling 1-0 at No. 1/3 Oregon on Thursday.

“It was a hard-fought game in a great atmosphere," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "McKenna Bull pitched an incredible game and Oregon made some key defensive plays to shut down some of our potential rallies. As coaches we are proud of our team for their effort and fight.”

Despite out-hitting the home team 5-3, BYU drops to 21-10 on the year as Oregon remains a perfect 30-0 (5-0 Pac-12). The Cougars had two errors in the loss, one of which was the winning run for the Ducks.

McKenna Bull pitched the whole game, throwing eight strikeouts and giving up just three hits and no walks. At the plate, Caitlyn Larsen Alldredge went 2 for 2 and Rylee Jensen went 2 for 3.

BYU at Oregon Box Score

Both teams’ defenses played tough in the matchup. The Cougars got runners in scoring position in the first two innings, but were unable to bring them home. In the top of the first, Jensen got to third and attempted to steal home, but got caught. For the home team, the Ducks went three up, three down in three innings, never bringing more than four batters to the plate.

The first hit for Oregon did not come until the bottom of the fourth on a double. The runner advanced to third, but Bull’s fifth strikeout of the game retired the side, keeping the game at a 0-0 tie.

The Ducks scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and runners on first and second, a single brought in an unearned run to make it 1-0. Facing a full count and runners on second and third, Bull got her eighth strikeout to escape with just a one-run deficit heading into the final inning.

BYU was retired in order in the final inning, taking the 1-0 loss to Oregon.

On Friday, BYU is playing at Oregon State at 1 p.m. PDT. Live stats will be available on the BYU schedule page.

PROVO, Utah – In the final Power-5 matchups of the season, No. 25 BYU softball will travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on No. 1/3 Oregon and Oregon State, facing the Ducks on Thursday and the Beavers on Friday and Saturday.

BYU Game Notes

The Cougars (21-9, 0-0 West Coast Conference) will start the trip off with a matchup against Oregon (29-0, 5-0 Pac-12) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. PDT in Eugene. BYU will then play Oregon State (16-13, 1-5 Pac-12) at 1 p.m. PDT on Friday and at 12 p.m. PDT on Saturday.

The game against the Ducks will be streamed live on the Pac-12 Network. All three games will have live stats available on the BYU softball schedule page.

BYU Storylines

• In 2017, BYU is 2-3 against the Pac-12. The two wins were against Washington and Utah, while the losses came against Arizona and in a doubleheader at UCLA.
• After defeating No. 11/13 Utah last week, BYU now has three wins over ranked opponents in 2017. The Cougars also picked up victories over then-No. 13 Washington and then-No. 11 Georgia.
• The Cougars are ranked for the fifth week of the season, the most a BYU softball team has been ranked in a single season. They checked into the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll at No. 25. The highest BYU has been ranked in 2017 is No. 23.
• For the sixth time this season, BYU softball won WCC Pitcher of the Week, this time with senior McKenna Bull earning her fourth nod. She picked up two wins last week with a 1.40 ERA while totaling 22 strikeouts and just four walks. Her win against No. 11/13 Utah was her third of the year against a top-25 opponent. Against Dartmouth, she threw 10 strikeouts enroute to becoming BYU’s career wins leader. As a team, the Cougars have taken at least one of the weekly awards every week so far in 2017, including sweeps of both player and pitcher of the week in weeks two and four.

Opponents Outlook

No. 1/3 Oregon (29-0, 5-0 Pac-12)

• The Ducks are the last undefeated division I team in the nation, picking up nine wins against ranked teams along the way.
• They are ranked first in the nation in batting average (0.372) and on-base percentage (0.470), along with being in the top five nationally in scoring (7.83), slugging percentage (0.557) and ERA (1.08).
• BYU trails in the series history 9-4 against Oregon. The Cougars have never won in Eugene, losing seven times, the last in the 2015 NCAA Eugene Regional. BYU last defeated Oregon in Provo, a 6-5 win in 2014.
   

Oregon State (16-13, 1-5 Pac-12)

• The Beavers are 15-13 so far in 2017, winless at home in four tries. They picked up a win at No. 21/24 Arizona State on Monday for their first ranked win of the year.
• Oregon State will play at Portland State on Wednesday before the matchup with BYU during the weekend.
• In the series history with the Cougars, the Beavers hold the 10-3 advantage, including a perfect 3-0 in Corvallis. BYU last played Oregon State in 2015, picking up a dominant 14-5 win.