Story by: Dylan Reubenking
EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 3 Oregon Ducks softball team dominated the Loyola Marymount Lions 6-0 Saturday at Jane Sanders Stadium to sweep the three-game series.
Junior left-hander Jordan Dail stepped into the circle for her first appearance in 20 days and her first start in 26 days. The rust was evident early as she struggled to find the strike zone, yet she still retired the first four batters she faced.
“It took me a minute to settle in, but once I did and I started to kind of feel like my old self out there, I was excited just to have another opportunity to get another inning or two whenever it was needed,” Dail said.
Dail ran into some trouble in the second inning as she allowed two Lions to reach base, including the first Lions’ hit in the last eight innings. She also allowed a runner in scoring position in the third, but she escaped both innings without allowing a Lion to touch home.
In the bottom of the third, the Ducks’ offense brought some support for Dail, exploding for six runs and six hits, including a two-run home run from Mya Felder. All six runs were scored with two outs in the inning.
“I liked the urgency that our offense had,” Ducks’ Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “I think this team has showed all year that we like to score a lot of runs with two outs.”
Dail retired five of her final five batters faced and finished with two strikeouts, one walk, and five hits over four scoreless innings. She struck out multiple batters for the first time since March 8, 2020. It was her longest outing since pitching five innings on Feb. 13 against Weber State.
Senior right-hander Samaria Diaz finished off the Lions, replacing Dail in the fifth and striking out five batters over three scoreless innings.
Dail was excited to go for four innings, as she had only pitched 7.2 innings this season leading up to this start.
“I love this game so much, and I feel like I’ve put so much into it,” Dail said. “To be able to go out there and get a couple extra innings more than what I’ve been getting lately was awesome.”
She said that it was refreshing to face different batters in the box rather than her own teammates.
“I feel like I’m facing my own teammates three times a week, and I’m tired of seeing them,” Dail said. “It was nice to finally see a foreign face in that batters’ box and be like ‘okay, they haven’t seen me yet.’ Any time I can face any team in the country besides my own team, it is easier than practice.”
The Ducks improve to 23-1 this season and re-enter conference play on a 14-game winning streak. The No. 3 ranked team in the country will travel up the Willamette River to Corvallis to face the Oregon State Beavers for four games beginning April 1.
Postgame Audio
Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi
Senior RHP Jordan Dail