With the score tied 8-8 heading into the start of the second half, it was anyone’s game.

Then, California scorched Oregon lacrosse with five straight goals to start the second half and later win the game 15-13 over Oregon, despite a comeback attempt from the Ducks with under seven minutes left in the game.

The Ducks were riding high after an upset win over No. 14 USC 18-11 on Senior Day in Eugene last Sunday, but Cal’s second-half scores were enough to hold off Oregon as the Ducks head on to their final two games of the regular season.

Cal scored the first goal of the game but Oregon managed to score a pair of goals to get one of only two leads the team would have all game. The Golden Bears’ biggest lead of the first half was only 8-6 before the half finished 8-8 following back-to-back goals for Oregon to end the first half-hour of play.

Junior Shannon Williams had half of Oregon’s eight goals on six shots at halftime with senior Jill Zubillaga scoring two of the Ducks’ first-half goals.

After Cal scored the first five goals of the second half, the Ducks tried to cut down on the deficit with a goal of their own by senior JoJo Hesketh to make it 13-9 Cal. But, the Golden Bears had a response of their own just minutes later as the teams began to trade off goals until Zubillaga’s third goal of the night made it 14-11 Cal, forcing the Bears to call a timeout. The goal completed Zubillaga’s fifth straight hat trick for the Ducks.

As the Ducks drew closer though, Cal made one more push to take the game out of reach from the Ducks, beating Oregon 15-13. Zubillaga and Williams each finished the game with five goals.

Oregon next takes on Stanford on Sunday ahead of its final game of the season on April 20 at Colorado before the Ducks head back to Boulder for the Pac-12 Tournament starting on April 26.

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow

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The bases were loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning when Arizona’s errors came.

Pitcher Taylor McQuillin threw back-to-back wild pitches, allowing two runners to score, giving Oregon softball a 6-0 lead. Moments later, an error by Arizona’s shortstop allowed freshman Shaye Bowden to reach first while another Oregon run scored.

Then, senior Gwen Svekis doubled down the left-field line to bring Bowden around to third. Oregon needed just one more run for a run-rule win and a series sweep. That came with one swing of the bat from freshman Mary Iakopo, who blasted a three-run home run to right field to win the game 10-0.

“It didn’t even feel like it went over,” Iakopo said. “I just thought one out was going to be a pop fly.”

The No. 5 Ducks (32-6, 7-2) trounced No. 9 Arizona 10-0 in a run-rule win to sweep the Wildcats at Jane Sanders Stadium for Oregon’s first series sweep of the season. Behind big bats and strong pitching, the Ducks faced little trouble from Arizona all weekend long, outscoring the Wildcats 23-2 on the weekend.

“We had a plan and we committed to it fully as a team,” head coach Mike White said. “I think it’s the first time all year we really committed to the plan we had, and I was pleased to see it pay off. Now, hopefully it’ll give us some confidence to stick to our plan and do what we need to do.”

Junior Megan Kleist got the start in the circle. She lasted five innings, throwing 10 strikeouts while allowing just one hit and two walks. Kleist threw several 1-2-3 innings, including the first and the fifth, which had fives strikeouts over the six outs. She had seven strikeouts through the first three innings.

In the top of the sixth, Kleist was replaced by Miranda Elish, who, earlier in the day, completed Saturday’s game which was postponed due to weather. Elish faced four batters in the one inning she played in the earlier game.

Elish and the Ducks retired the first and only three batters that she faced — two via strikeouts and one on a ground ball.

“[Elish] threw more pitches than I wanted her to,” White said. “To tell you the truth, going into the postseason we might need that.”

With the Ducks up 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, senior DJ Sanders stepped into the batter’s box.

On a 2-2 count, Sanders, who hit the NCAA-high 29 home runs last season, caught it perfectly as she roped a line drive way over the left-field wall to give Oregon a cushion lead of 4-0.

Iakopo started in place of Mia Camuso at first base while fellow freshman Lauren Burke got the nod at designated player.

“Every now and then you just get into a funk and you need to see it from the other side of the field,” White said. “I think Camuso will probably be out there next week and hopefully she’ll create some urgency there.”

Oregon now shifts its focus on a road trip to Tempe, Arizona, to play Arizona State before hosting nonconference opponent Oklahoma in a one-game matchup.

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow

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The winds were howling and the rain was pouring, yet on Saturday versus Arizona, the Ducks remained steady.

It took extra effort on Sunday to complete the game, in which No. 5 Oregon beat No. 9 Arizona on a wild pitch that allowed Shannon Rhodes to trot home to win the game for the Ducks.

The rain proved to be too much for the game to finish on Saturday with the Ducks leading the Wildcats 5-0 through five innings. Oregon went on to complete the game on Sunday, beating Arizona 8-0 in six innings ahead of the third and final game of the series.

Gwen Svekis didn’t waste any time following up her two home-run performance on Friday night. The senior delivered a two-out RBI single to bring home Jenna Lilley to put the Ducks up 1-0.

Oregon continued the two-out rally. Mary Iakopo followed Svekis with an RBI single of her own. Iakopo advanced to second and Svekis scored on a throwing error by Ashleigh Hughes to give Oregon the 2-0 lead. Eugene native Lauren Burke then brought the crowd to its feet with an RBI triple to left center to drive home Iakopo and give Oregon the 3-0 lead.

As the Ducks’ two catchers, Svekis and Iakopo have been complementing each other all season on the defensive side of the ball. On Saturday, though, it was their bats that especially worked well together.

After the duo hit back-to-back singles in the first inning, Svekis and Iakopo smoked back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fifth inning to put the Ducks up, 4-0. The Ducks made it 5-0 as Lauren Lindvall singled, scoring Cherish Burks.

Miranda Elish had 10 strikeouts through the five innings.

But, the rain and wind proved to be too much for the game to finish on Saturday and the final bits of the game would be played on Sunday.

The Ducks took care of business quickly with Elish returning to the circle to strike out three batters in the sixth while allowing a two-out double.

In the bottom half of the inning, Oregon finished things off with Rhodes’ walk-off wild pitch as the Ducks run-ruled Arizona 8-0.

Oregon and Arizona faced a quick turnaround with the next game starting at 3 p.m.

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow and Cole Kundich @ckundich

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In the first home outdoor meet of the season for Oregon, there was a lot of rust to shake for many of the Ducks. But, that still didn’t stop many of them from winning their events.

Oregon men’s and women’s track and field both won the Pepsi Invitational at Hayward Field on Saturday, despite heavy rainfall and constant wind. The men came out on top with 171 points with BYU coming second in 160. The women won with 185 points while Washington State and BYU tied for second with 152 points each.

“Three of my throws would have been PRs,” thrower Maddie Rabing said after setting a personal best 194-feet-10-inches in the hammer throw, the fourth best throw in Oregon history.

Rabing wasn’t alone among Ducks to get personal bests in the bad weather. Rieker Daniel won the men’s 200-meter dash while setting a personal best 21.02 seconds, and Sebastian Barajas won the men’s shot put with a PR throw of 55-11.

While the conditions did not provide much chance for personal bests, the Ducks did manage to find ways to make the most of the meet.

The women’s 4×100-meter relay featured two Oregon teams — team A and B. Oregon’s A-team placed first while the B-team finished second.

“The B team is a bunch of kids who have been here,” sprinter Ariana Washington, who was on the A-team, said. “It’s always good to have more than one team that can surround each other and give tips and everybody’s perspectives.”

Washington, who was the second leg in the relay-winning team that finished 43.92 seconds, says she plans to continue to be the second leg as she attempts to bounce back from what she views as a down season for her.

“They come, and when they do come you accept it and you learn from it and you move on,” Washington said. “It is what it is and there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

The women’s 200 featured five Ducks who ran the race in dominant fashion, taking the top five places with Venessa D’Arpino leading the way ahead of McKenzie Dunmore in second. D’Arpino also won the 100 meter while later anchoring the 4×400-meter to end the day.

“Long day, but it felt good,” D’Arpino said.

D’Arpino wasn’t the only Oregon athlete to take the first place spot in multiple events as Tristan James swept the men’s triple jump and long jump.

The Ducks move on to three more meets the weekend of April 19, with the Bryan Clay Invitational, Beach Invitational and Mt. Sac Relays.

Single event Oregon winners:

Maddie Rabing (women’s hammer throw), Rieker Daniel (men’s 200), Orwin Emilien (men’s 400), Braxton Candy(men’s 110 hurdles), Keera Stephen (women’s 100 hurdles), Susan Ejore (women’s 800), Briyahna DesRosiers (women’s 400), Venessa D’Arpino (women’s 100 and 200), Sebastian Barajas (men’s shot put), Tristan James (men’s triple jump and long jump), Kiana Phelps (women’s discus), Chaquinn Cook (women’s triple jump) and Rhesa Foster (women’s long jump).

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow

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Stepping onto the college diamond for a freshman can be daunting.

Under the lights, in front of several thousand fans with television cameras surrounding them, they play with and face some of the best players in the country.

When Oregon softball’s freshman catcher Mary Iakopo stepped up to the plate against Weber State on March 9, she had the bases loaded with the Ducks up 3-1. With the swing of her bat, Iakopo launched a grand slam – her first home run at Jane Sanders Stadium.

“It’s a great feeling,” Iakopo said after that game. “Haven’t had a packed stadium like this – never played in front of a stadium this big. It was a great feeling to have so much support from everyone.”

As a freshman, Iakopo has the difficult task of getting play time for the Ducks with an experienced catcher in front of her: senior Gwen Svekis. However, Oregon has found a way to rotate the two of them with Iakopo being a part of 34 games while Svekis has played a role in 35 games.

Iakopo plays as a designated player more often than as a catcher, leaving Svekis as the go-to catcher, helping Iakopo along to be the natural successor.

One day after her grand slam, Iakopo had another big play, but this time she was behind the plate.

Montana had a runner on first, and as the Grizzlies attempted to advance their runner to second, Iakopo quickly responded with a throw across the diamond to pick off the baserunner.

“Mary has a cannon of an arm, and we’ve been dying for someone who can show it off, and it was great for her to come out and throw one down there,” White said. “I think DJ [Sanders] almost didn’t get there it was that quick. It was a great throw.”

In the circle that evening was junior Megan Kleist, who retired the other 20 batters she faced that night in a no-hitter win.

Kleist has seen several catchers while at Oregon, including Janelle Lindvall — current senior Lauren Lindvall’s sister — and Svekis. Now with Iakopo coming into the rotation behind the plate, just how different are the two catchers?

“I don’t think there’s anything really different,” Kleist said. “Mary has learned so much from Gwen this year. She’s almost like a clone.”

For Svekis, she doesn’t buy the comparison.

“I think Mary and I are completely different players,” Svekis said. “I challenge her to do some things the way I do them and she challenges me to do some things the way she does them, so in that way maybe we have some moments of mirroring each other.

“But we’re completely different players.”

The upside of having Iakopo, along with fellow freshman Shaye Bowden, is there will be experience under their belts, especially in Iakopo, who is in line to be the starting catcher next season when she’s just a sophomore.

“Super proud where she’s going,” Kleist said. “And I’m excited to see where she goes for the next four years.”

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow

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Oregon men’s basketball freshman Troy Brown Jr. announced on Tuesday that he will become a professional, forgoing his college eligibility.

“I know my time was very short, but I’ve made a ton of memories and friendships that will last a lifetime,” Brown said on Twitter. “I would like to thank everyone at the University of Oregon for all they’ve done to help me get to this point.”

pic.twitter.com/BCqzsveSuR

— Troy Brown Jr (@Troy_Brown33) April 3, 2018

Brown, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged 31.2 minutes over his 35 games for Oregon. He shot 44.4 percent from the field while averaging 11. 3 points per game.

The Las Vegas native was a five-star recruit for Oregon and had the task of filling a Final Four sized void left by the team before him.

In several mock drafts, Brown is listed as a first round choice. Last season, Jordan Bell, Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks all were picked in the second round of the NBA Draft while Chris Boucher was picked up by the Golden State Warriors on a two-way contract. All four have played in the NBA this season.

Fortunately for the Ducks, Brown looks to be the only non-senior leaving for the NBA Draft as fellow freshman Kenny Wooten tweeted on March 21 that he would not enter the draft and will return to Eugene for his sophomore season.

Oregon will add four freshmen next season, including five-star Bol Bol, five-star Louis King, four-star Will Richardson and four-star Miles Norris as the Ducks look to make the NCAA Tournament after falling short this season.

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow

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Oregon men’s basketball freshman Troy Brown Jr. announced on Tuesday that he will become a professional, forgoing his college eligibility.

“I know my time was very short, but I’ve made a ton of memories and friendships that will last a lifetime,” Brown said on Twitter. “I would like to thank everyone at the University of Oregon for all they’ve done to help me get to this point.”

pic.twitter.com/BCqzsveSuR

— Troy Brown Jr (@Troy_Brown33) April 3, 2018

Brown, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged 31.2 minutes over his 35 games for Oregon. He shot 44.4 percent from the field while averaging 11. 3 points per game.

“Troy called me shortly after 1 p.m. today and informed me that he has decided to declare for the NBA Draft,” head coach Dana Altman said in a statement. “I told Troy we fully support his decision, and wish him the best.

“We really enjoyed working with Troy this year. He is a terrific young man and we look forward to the next chapter of his career in the NBA.”

Brown is the is the first Duck to declare for the NBA Draft following his freshman season.

The Las Vegas native was a five-star recruit for Oregon and had the task of filling a Final Four sized void left by the team before him.

In several mock drafts, Brown is listed as a first round choice. Last season, Jordan Bell, Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks all were picked in the second round of the NBA Draft while Chris Boucher was picked up by the Golden State Warriors on a two-way contract. All four have played in the NBA this season.

Fortunately for the Ducks, Brown looks to be the only non-senior leaving for the NBA Draft as fellow freshman Kenny Wooten tweeted on March 21 that he would not enter the draft and will return to Eugene for his sophomore season.

Oregon will add four freshmen next season, including five-star center Bol Bol, five-star small forward Louis King, four-star shooting guard Will Richardson and four-star power forward Miles Norris as the Ducks look to make the NCAA Tournament after falling short this season.

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow

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Tied at one with loaded bases, a full count and two outs, senior DJ Sanders faced the payoff pitch in the top of the eighth.

She reached down on her swing and sent the ball flying over the left-center field fence, hitting a grand slam and giving Oregon a 5-1 lead in extra innings.

Tie game.
Extra Innings.
Two Outs.
Full count.
Boom.#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/QntVHHAuI2

— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) April 1, 2018

That lead was preserved in the bottom of the inning as the No. 5 Ducks (27-6, 4-2) defeated No. 25 Oregon State 5-1 in the rubber match of their series on Saturday in Corvallis. Behind a complete eight-inning game from junior pitcher Megan Kleist (10-4), the Ducks earned their second series win in a rubber match in Pac-12 play.

Kleist allowed six hits and one run over the eight innings while throwing five strikeouts. Her ERA now sits at 0.91 on the year.

The one run came in the form of a McKenna Arriola solo home run in the third inning to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead.

Oregon responded in the fifth when Laruen Burke hit an RBI single to score Cherish Burks and tie the game.

After leading the NCAA last season with 29 home runs while playing for Louisiana, Sanders has struggled to find her deep ball on a frequent basis after hitting seven home runs in nonconference play. Sanders’ last home run came when the Ducks beat LSU 4-0 on Feb. 23.

With the Ducks’ win over the Beavers, Oregon keeps its series win streak — which dates back to 2012 — alive against Oregon State. Oregon takes on Portland State in a doubleheader on Tuesday April 3 in Eugene before Arizona comes to Jane Sanders Stadium for a three-day series starting April 6.

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow

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For the first time in the Oregon women’s basketball program’s history, a Duck has been selected to the AP’s All-American first team.

On Monday, sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu earned that honor. She joined South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson, UConn’s Katie Lou Samuelson, Louisville’s Asia Durr and Mississippi State’s Victoria Vivians as members of the AP All-American first team. Ionescu is the only underclassman of the five.

Fellow Oregon sophomore forward Ruthy Hebard was listed as an honorable mention. The only other Pac-12 player featured is UCLA’s senior guard Jordin Canada, who made the third team.

Ionescu has posted six triple-doubles in her sophomore season giving her ten for her career, an NCAA record. The sophomore also claimed the Pac-12 Player of the Year award and Pac-12 Tournament MVP after a 36-point performance in the championship game against Stanford to claim Oregon’s first-ever Pac-12 Tournament championship.

This season, Ionescu is averaging 19.5 points, 7.9 assists and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Oregon plays in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight round on Monday at 6 p.m. PT against Notre Dame as the Ducks look to make the Final Four for the first time in program history after successfully making the Elite Eight two seasons in a row.

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With the clock counting down in the first half, Oregon junior guard Maite Cazorla had the ball in hand with her back toward the hoop.

She turned away from Minnesota’s Kenisha Bell, turned back around and found Oregon sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu open. Ionescu looked at the clock, dropped her shoulder to look like she would drive, instead stepping back behind the 3-point arc and launching a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Both teams began to head for the locker rooms but the referees called them back to the court because Ionescu was fouled. She missed the and-1 free throw, but still had 22 points with five rebounds and seven assists at the half with the Ducks leading 51-36.

“I’m still bummed I missed the free throw,” Ionescu said.

Ionescu failed to complete a triple-double one game after recording her 10th of her career. But, she set a Pac-12 record for single-season assists — now 284 — while still collecting 29 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as she led the No. 2 seed Ducks to a 101-73 win over No. 10 seed Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament second round.

The second round game was also Oregon’s 3-point record holder and Eugene native Lexi Bando’s final game at Matthew Knight Arena. She scored 11 points in her final game at Matthew Knight Arena.The win advances the Ducks to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row after never making it to that stage ever before.

By the end of the first quarter, it was evident that Ionescu would at least come close to yet another triple-double as the sophomore posted eight points, four rebounds and four assists.

Ahead of the game, the Ducks expected a fast tempo from Minnesota, and they got just that. The Gophers came at the Ducks but Oregon managed to box Minnesota out of the paint thanks to Ruthy Hebard, who finished the night with 10 rebounds while also claiming 22 points.

Guard play was a key for both teams, using four-guard systems. Cazorla was set to have her work cut out for her with Bell running the Gopher offense. Cazorla kept Bell to 14 points after Bell posted 26 in the Gophers’ first round win over Green Bay on Friday.

A big part of Oregon’s dominating performance was freshman Satou Sabally’s play. At 6-foot-4, Sabally towered over all but one of Minnesota’s players — 6-foot-5 senior Bryanna Fernstrom. Fernstrom saw limited minutes in the Gophers’ loss.

Oregon’s second half started off hot. The Ducks scored 12 of the first 15 points of the third quarter, five of which belonged to Sabally. Oregon outscored Minnesota 31-14 in the third quarter to hold an 82-50 lead going into the final quarter.

“When you look at them statistically,” Minnesota head coach Marlene Stollings said. “The closest you can compare to them on paper is UConn.”

The Ducks coasted through the fourth quarter with many of their bench players seeing action while starters were rested.

Oregon was outscored by Minnesota 23-19 in the fourth as Oregon went on to win the game 101-73.

Oregon will play the winner of Ohio State and Central Michigan, who play on Monday. That Sweet 16 game will be on March 24 in Spokane, Washington.

For head coach Kelly Graves, who coached Gonzaga for 14 years, there’s a coming home feel, but his focus is on the Ducks.

“I’m just excited because we have the chance to move on and like Sabrina said, win another two-game tournament,” Graves said.

Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow

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