It had the makings of a strange night at The Jane.

Going up against Utah, who entered Saturday last in the Pac-12 standings, No. 2 Oregon was held hitless in the first four innings before the Utes took 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

Yet, like the great teams do, the Ducks bounced back. Although Saturday wasn’t a game Oregon needed to win, it was one they wouldn’t let slip away. A late offensive burst pushed the Ducks to a 5-2 victory over Utah to clinch the series win.

“We had trouble hitting the ball, and then all of a sudden we caught fire,” said head coach Mike White. “We fought back well. We made a lot out of nothing.”

The second of a three-game series between the Ducks and Utes were gridlocked for the first half of the game.

In the battle of the Miranda’s in the circle, the Ducks’ Miranda Elish retired the first eight batters she faced.

Utah’s Miranda Viramontes kept up. Last season, the Ducks handed the junior her first loss of the season in a 12-3 Oregon win, in which Viramontes lasted just three innings. On Saturday, though, she didn’t allow a single hit through the first four innings.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Utes had runners on first and second with one out. Following a mound visit, Lilley fielded a ground ball at the hot corner and got the force out at third before firing a missile to first to finish off the double play and help Elish escape the jam, bringing the sellout crowd to its feet.

A two-RBI double from Abby Robertson, though, put Utah ahead 2-0 in the top of the fifth.

Utah needed a shutout in the bottom half of the inning. Oregon wouldn’t oblige. With two outs and runners on second and third, it was Lilley who delivered with the bat this time, finding a gap in the right side of the infield to drive in a pair of runs and tie the game.

The base knock brought life back to the Ducks after Mia Camuso was thrown out at home plate to keep Oregon scoreless.

“I thought I ran ourselves out of the inning,” said White. “The team was able to pick me up, and that’s what you got to be able to do sometimes.”

Gwen Svekis had been fooled badly by Viramontes changeup in her prior two at-bats. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Svekis didn’t wait long. The senior swung at the first pitch she saw, muscling a bit of a jam shot that dropped into centerfield to drive in two more runs to give Oregon a 4-2 lead.

The Ducks tacked on one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was enough support for Elish. The sophomore wasn’t her sharpest, allowing seven hits and two earned runs, but was able to go the distance, finishing off the Utes to clinch the win for the Ducks.

“We really feed off of each other as a team,” said Elish. “We just have to go out (on Sunday) and play a really good game for our seniors.”

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In the bottom of the first inning, Gwen Svekis hit a high fly ball that had just enough oomph to sneak over the left-field wall and give the Ducks an early 2-0 lead over Utah.

It was a nice way for Svekis to begin her final regular season series. With regionals and super regionals still on the docket, though, the Ducks aren’t planning on the next three days being the final time they take the field at Jane Sanders Stadium in 2018.

Svekis’s blast was just the beginning of a night that Oregon (42-7, 16-3 Pac-12) owned from start to finish, with the Ducks topping Utah 8-0 in six innings.

“We know we’re not playing our last home games,” Haley Cruse said. “It’s not saying goodbye yet.”

It’s been a rough go in Pac-12 play for Utah (20-26, 2-17 Pac-12), who entered the night tired with Stanford at the bottom of the conference standings. The bottom of the second inning on Friday showed why.

With one out and Mia Camuso on second, Haley Cruse reached on a fielder’s choice that didn’t result in an out. Then followed a walk to Jenna Lilley that preceded Katie Donovan’s second wild pitch of the inning to bring home Camuso and give the Ducks a 3-0 lead. Lauren Burke entered in for Alexis Mack, and made her impact felt, driving home Cruse and Lilley to put the Ducks up 5-0.

On the other end of the conference standings, Oregon is in a battle with UCLA for the Pac-12 title. Even following an emotional series sweep over No. 4 Washington in Seattle, the Ducks kept the intensity up versus Utah.

“Certainly, they were focused tonight,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “They know what’s at stake, and have been here before.”

As she has done all season, Megan Kleist set the tone in the circle, pitching six shutout innings to lead the way.

The junior ran into a bit of trouble after she allowed a pair of singles to Alyssa Barrera and Heather Bowen to lead off the top of the fourth inning. Kleist escaped the jam to come away unharmed.

In the bottom half of the inning, Cruse brought The Jane to its feet with her first home run of the season to give Oregon a 6-0 advantage.

In the sixth inning, a single by Alexis Mack, paired with two errors from the Utes, brought home Cruse to give the Ducks a run-rule win.

Oregon and Utah will go back at it again on Saturday at 6:30.

“We’ve worked hard to be in control of our destiny in this conference race,” White said. “For us to let up would be difficult to do. It’s not something we want to do.”

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Heading into Washington, the Ducks aimed to make a statement.

They accomplished that with a pair of wins on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Oregon provided an exclamation point.

In the final game of a weekend series between two of the top five teams in the NCAA, No. 2 Oregon (41-7, 15-3 Pac-12) came away with a 5-3 win over No. 4 Washington to complete a sweep of the Huskies in Seattle.

Washington (41-8, 12-8 Pac-12) manufactured a run off of the Ducks’ Megan Kleist in the bottom of the second inning to jump out to the 1-0 lead.

For the third straight game, Washington held an early lead over Oregon. But just as they had done in the first two contests, the Ducks rallied from behind, and on Sunday, they didn’t wait long to do so.

In the top of third inning, the Ducks put a five-spot on the Huskies to jump out to a lead that they wouldn’t surrender the rest of the afternoon. A 2-RBI double from Jenna Lilley put the Ducks up 2-1. Two batters later, DJ Sanders drove in Lilley — and herself — with a two-run home run to left field to give Oregon a 4-1 lead. Sanders now has 13 home runs on the season, tying Gwen Svekis for the most on the team.

In Seattle, the long ball came at the right time for Sanders, whose grand slam in the top of the ninth inning on Friday lifted the Ducks to its series-opening win.

Kleist allowed three runs in 6-plus innings and earned the win to improve to 17-5 on the season. The Ducks welcome Utah to Eugene on Friday for their final regular season homestand.

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Friday’s match between Oregon men’s tennis and No. 2 UCLA looked at first to be setting up to be a classic, but the Bruins eventually pulled away with a 4-0 win to advance to the championship match and send the Ducks home.

With no more regular season matches to be played, Oregon (17-9, 4-4 Pac-12) now awaits its fate in the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced Tuesday.

On Friday, though, all focus was on UCLA (25-2, 8-0) after a big-time, 4-2 win over Cal in the first round of the tournament on Thursday.

With four singles players for the Bruins ranked nationally, the Ducks clearest path to an upset involved winning the doubles point.

Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold fell 6-3 to Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu before the Ducks’ Armando Soemarno and Charles Roberts evened it back up with a 6-4 win of their own.

It came down to the No. 2 pairing of Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry, who have put together quite the 2018 season. The pair kept it close, but fell 7-6, which clinched the doubles point for UCLA.

The Bruins then rolled in singles. Laurent more than held his own against Redlicki, the No. 1 player in the country. The Oregon junior won the first set, 6-4, and was trailing 3-2 in the second set before his match, along with Stevens’ and Gentry’s was abandoned.

Akihiro Tanaka, Riki Oshima and Cormac Clissold weren’t able to gather any momentum in their respective matches, losing in straight matches to clinch the 4-0 sweep for the Bruins and send the Ducks home.

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On Saturday, Oregon recorded their first ever win over Cal to close out the regular season.

The Ducks didn’t wait long to get win number two. Facing the Golden Bears on Thursday, Oregon pulled out a 4-3 win to advance to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.

Unlike their match on Saturday, the Ducks jumped out to the early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. Armando Soemarno and Charles Roberts came away with a 6-2 win, before Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry clinched the point with a 6-4 win out of the No. 2 spot.

The doubles point turned out to be the difference maker, with the Ducks and Golden Bears splitting its six singles matches.

The Ducks’ Cormac Clissold defeated Jacob Brumm on Saturday, but Brumm got back at the Australian, pulling out a 6-3, 6-3 win to even the match at one.

Akihiro Tanaka put the Ducks up 2-1 with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Ben Draper. Cal evened the match at two thanks to a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win for the Golden Bears’ Bjorn Hoffman over freshman Riki Oshima.

Stevens and Gentry won together in doubles, but had mixed results in singles. Stevens defeated JT Nishimura for the second consecutive match, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to put Oregon up 3-2. But, Cal evened the match at three when Paul Barretto defeated Gentry in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

It all came down to the No. 1 match, with the Ducks’ No. 22 Thomas Laurent against No. 54 Billy Griffith. It took three sets, but the Oregon junior pulled out the 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win to clinch the match for the Ducks.

Oregon faces UCLA on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Pac-12 semifinals.

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The Ducks started out strong, but could not maintain the effort through a full 60 minutes, dropping its season finale in a 19-9 loss at No. 15 Colorado.

Entering Friday with a chance to finish .500 in its inaugural season of Pac-12 play, Oregon instead finishes with an 8-8 regular season record and 4-6 mark in Pac-12 play.

It didn’t look to be headed that way, at least early. Back-to-back goals from Shannon Williams and Jill Zubillaga, and another added from Mariah Gatti gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead less than five minutes in.

Colorado settled in, though, scoring the next three goals to take a 4-3 lead, before a 5-0 run gave the Buffs a 10-5 lead and eventual 11-6 lead heading into halftime.

Williams and Gatti provided one last punch, scoring a pair of goals to put Oregon within four, 12-8, with just over 26 minutes remaining.

In the end, Colorado was just too much to handle. The Buffs went on a 7-1 run to close out the game to get the win and clinch the first-ever Pac-12 regular season title, going 9-1 in conference play.

Oregon will stay in Boulder for the Pac-12 tournament. They enter as the No. 4 — out of six teams — and will face No. 5 Cal on April 26.

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The schedule keeps on raising the bar, and the Ducks keep on answering the call.

Playing in its seventh consecutive game versus a top-10 opponent, Oregon made its loudest statement yet on Thursday at Jane Sanders Stadium. A complete game shutout from Megan Kleist, paired with two home runs and sprinkling of timely base hits led the Ducks to a 5-0 win over No. 2 Oklahoma, who suffered its first true road loss since 2016.

“That’s where we need to be at,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “We did a really a good job of hitting a very good pitcher.”

Facing the two-time defending NCAA champions, No. 4 Oregon (35-7, 9-3 Pac-12) entered Thursday with respect for the Sooners, but their play on the field showed anything but fear.

As the sellout crowd at the Jane settled into their seats, senior DJ Sanders set the tone in the first inning.

With two outs in the top half of the first, Shay Knighten hit a chopper to the left side of the infield. Sanders picked the tough hop and fired a strike over to first to help Kleist retire the Sooners in order.

Sanders flashed her glove on defense, and she didn’t wait long to introduce her bat to Oklahoma.

Following a four-pitch walk to Alexis Mack, Sanders hit a two-run home run to give the Ducks the early 2-0 lead. The home-run — a low line drive roped over the left field wall — was Sanders’ third in five games. The senior delivered on Thursday after being bumped up to the third spot in the lineup.

“I didn’t want to go up, and move back down the next day,” said Sanders. “I do like the fact that I know that [White] trusts me.”

Entering Thursday, Parker had one of the best resumes for a starting pitcher in the country. The senior sported a 21-1 record with the third-lowest ERA (0.73) in the NCAA. She had only allowed five home runs in the 2018 season, but that didn’t stop the Ducks bats from taking flight against the Sooners ace.

Following Sanders’ two-run blast in the first inning, freshman Mary Iakopo launched a no-doubt, solo home-run in the bottom of the third inning to give Oregon a 3-0 lead.

The third inning would be Parker’s last. On the other side, Kleist had it rolling for the Ducks. The junior didn’t allow a hit until the top of the fourth inning, when Jocelyn Alo squeezed a chopper past Sanders.

Parker departed after three innings. Unfortunately for Oklahoma, the Ducks bats stuck around for the show.

In the bottom of the fourth, an RBI single from Jenna Lilley, followed by a two-out RBI single from Sanders pumped up Oregon’s lead to 5-0.

That was more than enough support for Kleist, who once again elevated her game against top competition. In her past three starts versus top-10 opponents, Kleist went seven innings in each and allowed a combined three runs. Nothing changed against the second-ranked Sooners, who could only muster one hit and one walk on the afternoon.

“You can’t help but look at the name across their chests — two-time national champions,” Kleist said. “But you got to look past that and they’re just another team.”

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The Ducks were flying high.

Head coach Nils Schyllander and his team came into Eugene riding a four-match winning streak, with the most recent win coming via a big-time, 4-3 win at Washington.

On Friday, that came to a halt. Missed opportunities and a strong outing from Arizona State led to the Ducks dropping a 4-1 contest to the Sun Devils in the first match of their final homestand of the season.

“It was a very good college match,” Schyllander said. “There were a lot of opportunities for both teams. [Arizona State] just came out ahead. I give them credit.”

Doubles stalwart Armando Soemarno missed his second consecutive match due to undisclosed reasons. Just like last Saturday versus Washington, the Ducks were able to win the doubles point and jump out to the early 1-0 lead versus Arizona State.

Ty Gentry and Simon Stevens set the tone, cruising to a 6-2 win over the Sun Devils’ Andrea Bolla and Baonoromandresy Rakotomalala. The win is the fourth in a row for the duo, who seem to be back on track after losing three straight.

“We’re really feisty out there. We feed off each other’s energy,” Gentry said.

Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold, along with Charles Roberts and Riki Oshima both found themselves in a battle in their respective matches. With Laurent and Clissold up 5-4 on Michael Geerts and Tim Ruehl, Roberts and Tanaka found themselves down 5-4 to Arizona State’s Benjamin Hannestad and William Kirkman.

Roberts and Tanaka fought back to even the match at five apiece. A complete comeback was not needed, though, as Laurent and Clissold clinched the doubles point for the Ducks with a 6-4 win.

However, the Ducks hit a brick wall in singles.

Oregon fell behind from the start, with four of the six Ducks in action dropping their opening sets.

It’s not often that Laurent loses, and especially not often that he gets outplayed from start to finish of a match. That was the case on Friday, as the Frenchman dropped a 6-4, 6-1 contest to No. 44 Geerts to tie the match at one.

Oregon then went down 2-1 after Tanaka lost 7-5, 6-2 contest to Rakotomalala. It was more frustrating, considering that Tanaka was up 5-4 in the first set before dropping three straight games.

Stevens kept his match No. 66 Hannestad close throughout but came away on the losing end in a straight set, 6-4, 7-6 loss to put Oregon down 3-1.

With their backs up against the wall, Oregon needed a clean sweep in their remaining three matches to come away with the win.

Gentry, Oshima and Clissold all took their matches to a third set. Gentry and Oshima wouldn’t have the opportunity to come back, though, as Clissold dropped his match 6-3, 4-6, 3-6 to Ruehl to clinch the win for Arizona State.

“We still put ourselves in a position to win the match,” Schyllander said. “They got a couple of guys of guys back. They’re a very, very good team.”

The loss drops the Ducks to 1-3 in Pac-12 play with four conference matches remaining. The last home match of the season takes place on Sunday, in which the Ducks hope to send their seniors off the right away before hitting the road the rest of the way.

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Tuesday was a productive day for many players on the Ducks.

For Miranda Elish, it was perfect.

In the back-end of Oregon’s doubleheader versus Portland State on Tuesday, Elish retired all 21 Vikings that stepped to the plate, recording the first perfect game of her collegiate career in a 3-0 Ducks win.

Elish struck out a career-high 16 batters in a performance that had her coaches, teammates and many in attendance at Jane Sanders Stadium buzzing following the third ever perfect game in the program’s history.

“It was really cool. It was really special,” Elish said. “On that last pitch when I had [Kaela Morrow] down 0-2, I was like, ‘You got this.’”

Elish surely had it on Tuesday. There’s dominant, and then there’s what the sophomore put together versus Portland State.

In the front-end of the doubleheader — an 8-2 Oregon win — the Vikings scored its two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Any momentum that Portland State may have hoped to take from the end of game one into the start of game two hit a brick wall when Elish stepped into the circle.

“Her ball was really moving. She was hitting locations in and out,” head coach Mike White said. “I wouldn’t want a bat in my hand against her tonight.”

Portland State concurs. Just putting the bat on the ball could be considered a win for any Vikings batter that stepped into the box. Elish struck out at least two batters in each of the seven innings, which included seven in a row and 10 of the last 11 batters she faced.

With Elish getting the number of swings and misses that she did, the Ducks defense behind her didn’t have much work to do.

However, they came up big when it counted. With two outs in the top of the sixth, the Vikings’ Hannah Self hit a tough chopper to second baseman Lauren Lindvall that had the potential to find its way through the infield. Lindvall, though, was able to field it cleanly and record the out, end the inning and keep Elish’s bid for a perfect game alive.

“Lauren Lindvall on that one really saved my butt,” Elish said.

As dominant as Elish was from the start, the Oregon bats weren’t giving her any support for much of the game. The Vikings’ Emma Detamore had a nice outing of her own, and kept Oregon scoreless through the first four innings.

“You always get worried that they could get one lucky hit, or a home run pops out of the ballpark and all of a sudden you get a loss,” said White.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Oregon offense was able to give Elish the run she needed when Alexis Mack roped a two-out, RBI single up the middle to score Lauren Burke to give Oregon the 1-0 lead.

A two-run home run from April Utecht in the bottom of the sixth inning put Oregon up 3-0 and gave Elish some insurance.

Insurance that Elish appreciated, but didn’t need on Tuesday. With three outs to go, Elish finished the deal in a manner that was almost inevitable — striking out the side.

Good morning. Good afternoon. Good night.

#BREAKING: Oregon sophomore @elish_miranda throws her first career perfect game in 3-0 @OregonSB win over Portland State. Elish struck out a career high 16 batters. pic.twitter.com/3pcj03fioc

— Cole Kundich (@ckundich) April 4, 2018

“That last strikeout felt awesome,” Elish said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. Every game is a special game because I’m on the field with my best friends.”

Game 1: Oregon 8, Portland State 2

Before Elish put together a historic performance, Maggie Balint threw the ball well in the Ducks 8-2 win over Portland State in the front-end of Tuesday’s doubleheader.

Balint went the distance, giving up two runs in seven innings. It was her first complete game since a 5-1 Oregon win on March 3.

The Ducks put baserunners on throughout, and the applied pressure resulted in runs crossing the plate. A two-RBI single from Mack got the Oregon offense rolling in a four-run second inning. The Ducks tacked on a run apiece in the third and fourth inning, and two more in the bottom of the sixth.

Oregon hosts Arizona in a three-day series starting Friday at Jane Sanders Stadium.

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In two prior instances this season, the Ducks had their match decided in a third set decision. Oregon lost both matches.

Third time’s the charm.

With Saturday’s match at Washington tied 3-3, freshman Riki Oshima pulled off arguably his biggest win since arriving to Oregon to give the Ducks a big road win over its conference rival.

Armando Soemarno did not play, and thus, the Ducks doubles lineup was shaken up.

Ty Gentry and Simon Stevens — who regularly have played in the No.3 spot — shifted up to No. 2 and came away with the 6-1 win. Shortly after, the No. 36 pair of Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold came away with the 6-4 victory to clinch the doubles point for the Ducks.

Oregon didn’t hold the lead for long, though, after Akihiro Tanaka (7-5, 6-2) and Simon Stevens (7-6(2), 6-1) each losing in consecutive sets to put the Ducks down, 2-1.

Laurent did his job at the No. 1 spot. That was the case again on Saturday, with the Frenchman coming away with the 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 80 Mitch Stewart to tie the match at 2.

Gentry has been putting together quite the 2018 season, but the sophomore didn’t have it all versus Washington, dropping a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 decision to Jack Davis to put down Oregon 3-2.

With its backs against the wall, the Ducks needed two wins in its remaining matches. Clissold delivered on his end, storming back to win in three sets, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 over Amit Batta.

All eyes then shifted to Oshima, who pulled out the three-set win over Alexis Alvarez, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 to give Oregon the 4-3 win over its Pacific Northwest opponent.

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