EUGENE, Ore.—No. 3 Oregon used a three-run home run in the bottom of the first to defeat BYU 5-2 in the Eugene Regional opener on Thursday night. 

With the win, Oregon improves to 47-9 on the season, while BYU falls to 33-24. Carly Duckworth highlighted the game offensively with two hits and two RBI for the Cougars. Hannah Howell relieved Tori Almond in the first inning. Almond received the loss as Howell pitched 6.0 innings and gave up just one earned run on three hits. 

"It’s a disappointment to lose," head coach Gordon Eakin said. "I thought our kids battled really hard with some adversity and I was proud of them for the way they fought against a very good team. Carly filled the lead-off role very well and did a very nice job for us. Gordy also did a nice job as a freshman and got the job done. With the adversity we faced, I was proud of how we hung around and made it a game.""

Duckworth led off for BYU with a first-pitch single to right field in the first, but Oregon answered with three-straight outs.

Oregon’s first runner drew the walk to start the inning and moved all the way to third after two called illegal pitches on Almond. The following batter walked, thanks to the two illegal-pitch calls, to place runners on the corners with no outs. Almond paid for the two free passes on a home run from Oregon’s Alexa Peterson to give the Ducks a quick 3-0 advantage.

After going down 2-0 to the next batter, Almond was replaced by Hannah Howell. Howell was able to get out of the jam to send BYU into the second.

To start the second, Alexandra Hudson Shamo threaded a single up the middle. With one out, Coco Taualii drew the walk to place runners on first and second, and then Mylee Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases for BYU. Duckworth battled Oregon’s pitcher to a 3-2 count and then hit a bouncing single up the middle to bring in two runs for the Cougars.  

Oregon threatened to score in the bottom of the frame with runners on second and third, but Howell got the Duck batter to look at strike three, leaving two on base to hold the score at 3-2.

Shamo highlighted the bottom of the third inning with a diving play in center field to send BYU to the fourth, still down 3-2.

The Ducks placed runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of a walk and Cougar error. They were able to bring one in on a sacrifice fly to bump their lead to 4-2. A bases-loaded walk brought in another run for Oregon in the bottom of the fifth, but Howell answered with a strikeout and forced a ground out to close out the inning. 

Oregon’s lead-off batter grabbed an infield single to start the bottom of the sixth, but BYU’s defense responded with a 1-6-3 double play to clear the bases. Duckworth snatched a line out one batter later to close out the inning. 

BYU had the beginning of its order up to start the seventh and needed three runs to send the game to the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Gordy Bravo had an infield single to keep the team alive, but a strikeout sealed the 5-2 victory for Oregon. 

BYU will play tomorrow at 2 p.m. PDT in an elimination game against Wisconsin. The winner will advance to play at 5 p.m. 

PROVO, Utah--BYU softball will play in the nightcap of the Eugene Regional on Thursday at 6 p.m. PDT against No. 3 seed and host Oregon at Howe Field in Eugene. North Carolina and Wisconsin will kick off the Regional at 3 p.m. PDT.

Game matchups throughout the Regional are as follows (all times listed are PDT):

Thursday, May 16    

Game 1 - North Carolina-Wisconsin, 3 p.m.    

Game 2 - No. 3 seed Oregon-BYU, 6 p.m. 

Friday, May 17

Game 3 - Game 1&2 Winners, 11 a.m.    

Game 4 - Game 1&2 Losers, 2 p.m.    

Game 5 - Game 4 Winner & Game 3 Loser, 5 p.m.    

Saturday, May 18

Game 6- NCAA Regional Final, 12 p.m.

Game 7- NCAA Regional Final (if necessary), 3 p.m.

BYU QUICK HITS

• BYU won 16 of its final 17 regular-season games and clinched the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Championship in the process to earn a bid to its ninth-straight postseason. 
• BYU played in the Eugene Regional last year after winning the Western Athletic Conference tournament. It defeated Mississippi State and Portland State in the Regional but was ultimately eliminated after losing twice to Oregon. The Cougars are 3-6 overall against the Ducks and have yet to beat them at their home field.
• The Cougars are led by freshman outfielder Gordy Bravo, who is hitting a .393 clips alongside 43 RBI and 35 runs scored.
• Senior JC Clayton's playing status for the Regional is still undetermined pending an evaluation of an injury sustained in BYU's last game of the season. 

OPPONENT NOTES

OREGON

The Ducks won their first Pac-12 Championship en route to a No. 3 seeding in the NCAA Regionals. They are 9-0 in regional action in the last three years and have made it to the NCAA’s every year under current fourth-year head coach Mike White. Last year, Oregon made it to its first-ever Super Regional and also advanced to its second Women’s College World Series. Oregon is led by Alexa Peterson and Janie Takeda at the plate, who are sporting a .471 and .457 batting average, respectively. Peterson is one of four Duck batters who are in double digits for home runs this season, to help pad the team total of 76. Right handed pitcher Jessica Moore leads the way for the Ducks on the mound. In her fourth and final year for Oregon, she had a 25-win season alongside a 1.59 ERA and has limited opponents to a career-low 39 earned runs this season. As a team, Oregon ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA in batting average, ERA, win/loss percentage and slugging percentage. 

ONE OF A FEW

BYU is just one of 19 NCAA softball team’s to have made it to the postseason in each of the last nine years. The Cougars are tied with Arizona State and Texas at nine-straight for the 17th highest streak in postseason history. California leads the way with 29-straight postseason appearances. Oregon’s appearance this year makes is it’s fourth-straight, while Wisconsin hasn’t made it to the postseason since 2005. North Carolina ranks 13th in the NCAA with its 11-straight appearances.  

OFF TO A GOOD START

BYU has won its first game in the last six years of its NCAA Regional appearances. Below are the Cougars’ all-time Regional records by day and game:

Thursday                         Friday                                              Saturday

Game 1: 7-2                     Winner’s Bracket Game 2: 2-5         Championship: 1-4

                                         Loser’s Bracket Game 2: 1-2           If Necessary:0-0

                                         Loser’s Bracket Game 3: 3-3

LAST TIME OUT AT REGIONALS

BYU won two and lost two in its Oregon Regional last year, defeating Mississippi State and Portland State and falling to No. 11 Oregon twice. Oregon did advance onto the Super Regional and defeated Texas to advance to the Women’s College World Series, where they finished 1-2. Following are the combined stats for players on this year’s team from last season’s Oregon Regional (4 games):

Tori Almond- 18.0 IP, 8 hits, 4 ER, 15 K 

JC Clayton- 2 hits, 1 RBI 

Carly Duckworth- 2 runs, 1 SB 

Bailie Hicken-1 BB, 1 SB

Hannah Howell- 10.0 IP, 19 hits, 9 ER, 5 K

Katie Manuma- 1 hit, 2 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Ashlee Robinson- 1 BB, 2 hits, 1 run

Alexandra Shamo- 2 hits

Caroline Umphlett- 1.0 IP

TICKET AND MEDIA INFORMATION

All-session general admission tickets are available to purchase online at the www.GoDucks.com website. Later in the week, single-day tickets will be available online as well. Information regarding where to watch the games via live stats or internet streaming will be available later in the week. Check the byucougars.com website and BYU softball schedule for more information as it becomes available.