Softball Recap: Oregon Ducks vs Minnesota Golden Gophers – Game 1

The #4 Oregon Ducks traveled east to kick off the 2nd half of Big Ten play against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday afternoon, after falling to Loyola Marymount on April 7th. The game started off slow for the Ducks’ bats, only mustering one hit in the first 2 innings of play. But leading off the 3rd inning, right fielder Dezianna Patmon decided that was enough of that, and kicked things off with a solo home run to left field, giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead. And once the lid was off, there was no turning back. Oregon would use a ton of “small ball” to plate 7 runs in the 4th inning and take a commanding 8-0 lead. The trend would continue in the 5th inning, with the Ducks pushing 5 more runs across, and after which the game would be called 13-0 in 5 innings of play. The pitching was also fantastic once again, allowing just two hits in 5 innings. Absolutely brilliant, as it’s been all season.

It was a wonderful way to start off the back half of conference play, even if Minnesota isn’t the fiercest opponent. But regardless of record, you have to win every game you can. Especially as the newcomer in the conference, which places a pretty big target on your back to begin with, but even more so if you’re dominating your new conference in year one (ask the football team, they went through it too). The Ducks continue their series at Minnesota on Saturday, April 12th, at 11 AM.

‘Sco Ducks!