The No. 18 Oregon Ducks (18–6) had their nine-game winning streak snapped on Saturday afternoon against the Nevada Wolf Pack, dropping the first of two games by a final score of 8–5.
The Ducks fell behind 5–1 early on, but managed to crawl back into it with a four-run third inning. However, Nevada was able to bounce back with a three-piece of its own in the top of the fourth.
Oregon’s Kaylynn Jones and Amari Harper were able to stay hot, with Jones going 2-for-4 with a single and double, and Harper finishing 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. However, one big name went quite well at the plate, and it seemingly played a huge role in the team's performance.
Right fielder Elon Butler finished the game 0-for-1 with three walks. While she reached base three times, her 13-game hit streak was snapped at the hands of the Wolf Pack. Butler, a senior right-handed hitter, led the Ducks' offense in batting average, hitting .466 to start the season.
When the slug in Butler’s bat is not present, it is vital that her production is picked up by someone else, and that wasn’t the case against Nevada. Center fielder and leadoff hitter, Ayanna Shaw, finished 0-for-4 while leaving two runners on base. The bottom of the order went a combined 1-for-6 in the contest.
The second game wasn’t much different in terms of offense, minus the fact that the Ducks held on against the Sacramento State Hornets, winning 2–1.
The two runs scored both came on errors from Hornets’ third baseman Madison Evers-Lyles, allowing Butler, who reached on a fielder’s choice, to score from first base, and later on, Katie Flannery to walk it off.
Nonetheless, it was an incredibly sloppy performance from the offense, as the Ducks only finished with two total hits, courtesy of Harper and later Rylee McCoy, who put the winning run on with a single.
It is clear that the team rallies around Butler, as she not only serves as the best offensive player, but also the one that players rely on to keep the chemistry up.
When the Ducks scraped by against Sacramento State on Friday, Jones said that Butler rallied the team together to calm nerves. It proved to work, as Oregon extended its then-winning streak to nine games.
It seems as if when Butler plays well, which she has for the majority of the season, the rest of the team is fueled up from it. After all, during her 13-game hit streak, the Ducks went 11–2. When Butler lights up the stat sheet, so does the rest of the team.
“Elon brought us into reset,” Jones said. “After that, we knew we had that game.”
Oregon wraps up the Jane Sanders Classic at 12:30 p.m. in a matinee showdown against the same Nevada Wolf Pack team that snapped the winning streak they had coming into today.
It will be the last non-conference game for the Ducks until April 22, when they host the Oregon State Beavers in the third and final Civil War game of the season.