By Charles Martindale

Friday was a mixed bag for the Ducks, who were held to just one run by Minnesota in the opener of their doubleheader. It would be just their fourth loss of the year, and would snap a five-game win streak. In the nightcap, Oregon bounced back in a big way, totaling 10 more runs in the first inning against Cal Poly SLO than they had in their previous five. The win brought the Ducks to 3-1 in the Judi Garman classic from Fullerton, CA.

Tonight, Oregon takes on both San Jose State and Loyola Marymount university. They play their final game Sunday before returning to Eugene. San Jose State’s season got off to a disastrous start last month, opening the year 0-5 by a combined score of 56-2. Since then, the Spartans have gone 6-3 in unranked play, and lost their first game in the Judi Garman classic to Fullerton. Sophomore righty Lacie Ham leads the team in strikeouts and innings pitched, while the inconsistent offense has been provided by freshman Ahmiya Noriega, who hit .474 with a pair of home runs last weekend, and Alyssa Graham, one of the top performers for SJSU last year as well. Jenessa Ullegue has been another go-to in the circle for Tammy Lohmann’s team. At 8:00, Oregon shifts their focus to the LMU Lions. LMU is 7-11 on the year and 1-1 from Fullerton so far. Taylor Fitch leads the team in average and is second in OPS, while Morgan DeBord has hit five home runs through just 18 games. DeBord and Fitch are both slugging over .600, but nobody else in the lineup for the Lions is slugging even .500. Jenna Perez has been the workhorse in the circle, leading the team with 10 starts. Her ERA is a solid 3.22, and she’s struck out 83, 60 more than anyone else on LMU’s roster.

Oregon’s objective in the classic remains the same: play good ball against a host of teams ranked below them, and that opportunity arises twice again on Saturday in Fullerton.

KWVA’s Ryan Milano has both calls on 88.1 FM.