University of Oregon
36-20
Missouri
50-11
No. 8 Tigers Slip Past No. 20 Ducks 1-0 in Super Regional Opener
05/30/10 | Softball
* A boxscore and play-by-play are located in the LINKS box to the right, and updated season/career stats are available via the link above.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – In its first NCAA Super Regional appearance ever, the University of Oregon softball team (36-20) lost a hard-fought 1-0 decision in its series opener at No. 8 Missouri (50-11) Saturday afternoon.
The Big 12 Tournament runner-up Tigers scored their lone, unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, Lisa Simmons hit a soft single up the middle, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored on an infield single to third base that was followed by an errant throw to first base.
On the mound for Oregon, freshman Jessica Moore (16-12), pitched her 14th complete game of the season, struck out five, allowed only four hits and walked none.
“I thought I hit my spots pretty well,” Moore said, “they just converted on a couple miscues and unfortunately all they needed was one run. We'll be ready to come back tomorrow and give it our all.”
At the plate for UO, six batters each collected one hit – freshman right fielder Samantha Pappas (1-for-1, 2 walks), sophomore shortstop Kelsey Chambers (1-for-3), freshman second baseman Kaylan Howard (1-for-3), senior first baseman Carlyn Re (1-for-3), junior designated player Kaitlin Vitek (1-for-3) and junior catcher Ashley Kivett (1-for-3).
In the team comparison, UO held advantages in hits (6-4) and runners left on base (8-2), but also made two errors, the second of which allowed the game's only run to score.
The Ducks' best chance to score came in the fifth inning when it put runners on second and third with no outs after its eighth and ninth hitters, Kivett and Vitek, reached via a single and double. However, a fly-out to left and strikeout made it two outs, and after an intentional walk to Pappas, an infield ground-out ended the inning.
Kivett's double was her eighth in 88 at-bats this season – fourth-most on the team overall – and best by far on the team per at-bat ratio compared to UO's category leaders who have 11, 10 and 9, respectively, in at least 152 at-bats.
Oregon also loaded the bases in the second inning with one out after a single by Kelsey Chambers, an error by the shortstop on a grounder by Howard, and a single to third base by Re. However, a line-out to the third baseman and fielder's choice to the shortstop ended the threat.
“It was frustrating that we didn't execute like we should have, but we're not panicking,” Kivett said. “We've come back and played really well after losses before and I'm confident we can do it again."
On defense, the Ducks turned their fourth ground-ball double play of the season in the fourth inning when after a lead-off single, a grounder to Howard, and a flip to Chambers cleared the bases.
On the Duck single season charts Saturday, Pappas climbed into a tie for seventh all-time in total bases (107), while Moore upped her UO strikeouts record to 237 and moved into a tie for most pitching appearances in a season (40). Senior center fielder Neena Bryant also moved up the career list in games played into a tie for fourth place (232).
For Missouri, sophomore Kristin Nottelmann (23-7) struck out three, walked two, and allowed six hits in her 14th complete game of the season.
At the plate, the Ducks kept USA Softball Player of the Year candidate Rhea Taylor (0-for-3) off the base paths after she entered the game ranked top 10 nationally in hitting (seventh, .457) and stolen bases (fifth, 45).
Four Tiger hitters claimed one hit each – the All-Big 12 First Team pair of Jenna Marston (1-for-3) and Ashley Fleming (1-for-2), and Simmons (1-for-2) and Gina Schneider (1-for-2).
“It was a good old-fashioned fast pitch game with a lot of pressure,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “Hats off to Missouri - they played a great game defensively, especially their shortstop on a lot of balls up hit up the middle. Their pitcher came through in the clutch, and got some big outs when she had to. We had runners in scoring position several times, but just couldn't get the big hit. That's the way it goes sometimes. I'm proud of the way my ladies battled at the plate. I thought we made her work pretty hard when we had nobody on, but we just didn't do the same when we had runners in place. Tomorrow we'll have to come back out and have a better game offensively. Jessica Moore pitched a fantastic game for us. It's just a hard way to lose.”
Looking ahead in the best of three series, the two teams return to action at University Field Sunday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, and a would-be third game would be held immediately after. The game(s) will be broadcast live by ESPN / ESPN3 (TV) and locally in Eugene by the Oregon Sports Network by KSCR (1320 AM).
A NCAA tournament bracket is available at the www.NCAAsports.com website, and a link to live stats for Sunday's games is available at the www.MUtigers.com website at the http://www.mutigers.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/10-softbl-supers.html URL address.
LINESCORE
#9 Missouri 1, #20 Oregon 0 (May 29, 2010 at Columbia, Mo.)
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Oregon.............. 000 000 0 - 0 6 2 (36-20)
Missouri............ 000 010 X - 1 4 1 (50-11)
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Pitchers: Oregon - Moore, Jessica and Kivett, Ashley. Missouri - Nottelmann and Christopher. Win-Nottelmann(23-7) Loss-Moore, Jessica(16-12) T-1:53 A-1765. Weather: 84, winds 4 mph from East
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nottelmann (23-7)
L: Moore, Jessica (16-12)
Batting:
2B: Kivett, Ashley 1
SH: Fuiava, Monique 1
Base Running:
CS: Pappas, Samantha 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Simmons 1
