March 16, 2007

Box Score

EUGENE, Ore. - Utah State softball was topped twice by 16th-ranked Oregon by matching 8-0 scores Friday afternoon at UO's Howe Field in USU's opening action of the Cascade Clash Invitational.

Oregon won game one in six innings, while the second game ended after five innings due to the run-rule.

With the two losses, USU is now 8-14. Oregon won for the fifth game in a row and the Ducks have now won eight of the last nine, in improving to 26-3.

Utah State had only three hits on the day, two in the first before getting one-hit in the second game by Oregon's Alicia Cook, who improved to 14-1, and lowering her already Pac-10 leading ERA which was 0.86 coming into Friday's game.

"We played hard for the first four innings of the first game when we truly believed we could play with them, but then we just didn't finish the game mentally. We didn't find the ways to battle like we did earlier," USU first year head coach Candi Letts said.

In the first game, USU held Oregon scoreless for the first three innings, until the Ducks plated three in the fourth inning, followed by three more in the fifth and two more in the sixth before the game ended.

"When things don't go the way we want them to, we need to think the right things to get out of that situation and accept that challenge," Letts said. "We are still just a little bit off that and until we believe in ourselves, then games will get away from us."

Senior 1B Jamie Fife had a two-out single in the first, but was left stranded, one of USU's five runners left on base.

The Aggies got out of a jam in the bottom of the first when Oregon's Jennifer Salling popped up to Shaible in foul territory, and Schaible snagged the fly and threw out Sari-Jane Jenkins straying too far from first to end the inning.

In the top of the second, USU had runners on first and third with one out but couldn't plate any runs. After sophomore DP Aubie Stroman led off with a walk, junior SS Tara Evans had a single down the left field line, but the next two batters had fielder's choises to lead to outs and the rally ended with a strikeout.

In the second game, the Ducks hung a three spot on the board in the home half of the first and four in the bottom of the third and one more in the fourth.

Junior 3B Amy Schaible had the Aggies' lone hit with a double off the top of the fence in left center to lead of the second, but Cook got the next three outs, then retired the side the rest of the way out.

"Oregon is a good team, but it wasn't that I didn't think we could play with them, I just felt that our kids didn't compete like they should have. It's not always about winning and losing, it's about how you compete. I think we just backed off from competing like we did the first four innings," Letts said. "We looked like a great team those first four innings. They've got to play for the long haul because the long haul is where they learn to compete all the way through"

Utah State returns to action Saturday, heading to Corvallis, Ore., to take on Portland State at Noon (MT) and 15th-ranked Oregon State at 4 p.m. (MT). The Aggies conclude action on Sunday with a doubleheader against Towson beginning at 10 a.m. (MT).