Diamond Ducks: Baseball falters in finale, softball shows signs of life

It was almost the perfect start to May for Oregon on the diamond in Eugene. Almost.

Although Oregon softball completed their sweep of Oregon State to go out winning on Senior Day, Oregon Baseball couldn’t hang onto a large lead over Cal in their series finale against the Bears, keeping them from a sweep of their own.

To start the day, Oregon Baseball looked to finish off the California Golden Bears after winning the first two games of the series. Following a seven-game winning streak, the Ducks had run into a three-game losing skid before the Cal series, and a sweep would have boded well for them heading into a four-game series with National Title contender Oregon State, who bested Oregon 4-2 last week.

Everything appeared to be on track until Cal exploded for eight runs in the final three innings then halted a potential comeback from Oregon in the ninth to steal the game 9-8 against a Ducks team that had just found their way into the nation’s Top 25.

Softball, however, finally found a groove against the Beavers this series after struggling mightily through the month of April. Following the baseball game, they finished off Oregon State with a 4-2 victory in the final home game for Seniors Jasmine Williams, Jordan Dail, and Hannah Galey. All three players were honored in a ceremony following the game.

The Ducks now head south to Palo Alto to wrap up the regular season with a series against the Stanford Cardinal, and need another series sweep to keep any postseason hopes alive after an absolutely brutal stretch in which they fell below .500 in conference thanks to a slew of series against ranked opponents whom they nevertheless often underperformed against.