Recapping the 2021 Oregon Softball Regular Season

The Ducks finished third in the Pac-12, marking the ninth time in the last 10 seasons that they have finished third or better in the conference.

Author:
Dylan Reubenking
Publish date:
May 17, 2021 8:46 PM EDT

After the COVID-19 pandemic shortened their 2020 season before conference play began, the Oregon softball team enjoyed a solid 2021 season, finishing third in the Pac-12. The Ducks closed out the regular season with a four-game sweep of California last weekend to finish with an overall record of 37-15 and 14-10 in conference action.

Oregon steamrolled its non-conference competition early in the season, winning all nine of their games in February — including a win over No. 1 UCLA on Feb. 28 — outscoring their opponents 61 to 10. After falling to UCLA on March 1, the Ducks rattled off 15 straight wins, including the first four games in conference play.

In April, the Ducks ran into a couple of buzzsaws in UCLA (ranked No. 2 at the time) and Washington (ranked No. 6 at the time), losing three of four in each four-game series. The Ducks stumbled against two more Pac-12 powerhouses, losing three of four against Arizona State (ranked No. 12 at the time) and splitting a four-game series with Arizona (ranked No. 7 at the time).

Overall, the Ducks finished 14-10 in conference play, including going 6-1 in the first seven games and 8-9 the rest of the way. Oregon went 6-12 against ranked opponents and 31-3 against unranked opponents.

The Pac-12 released its postseason awards Sunday. Six Ducks captured All-Pac-12 honors, two landed a spot on the All-Freshman Team, and two earned an All-Defensive Team selection.

Alyssa Brito, Freshman, INF - Second Team All-Pac-12; All-Freshman Team; All-Defensive Team
Allee Bunker, Junior, INF - First Team All-Pac-12; All-Defensive Team
Haley Cruse, Senior, OF - First Team All-Pac-12
Hanna Delgado, Freshman, OF - Third Team All-Pac-12
Terra McGowan, Junior, C - Second Team All-Pac-12
Brooke Yanez, Junior, LHP - First Team All-Pac-12

The Ducks got a big boost prior to the start of the season when seniors Haley Cruse and Samaria Diaz announced their returns for a fifth season as the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility for spring athletes whose seasons were cut short due to the pandemic.

Cruse and Diaz played a big role in the team’s success this season. Cruse led the Oregon offense in average (.382), OPS (1.070), hits (63), doubles (14), slugging (.618), on-base percentage (.452) and stolen bases (19).

Diaz was one of three Oregon pitchers — including Brooke Yanez and Makenna Kliethermes — that pitched almost 87% of the Ducks’ innings this season (338). Diaz struck out 85 batters and recorded an ERA of 3.10, but Yanez was the true ace of the Oregon rotation this season.

Yanez pitched a whopping 161 innings with a 20-5 record and 2.09 ERA. She struck out 235 batters and walked 43 in her 33 appearances (27 starts). She was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week three times this season, including in each of the final two weeks of the regular season.

Six Pac-12 schools — Oregon, UCLA, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, and Stanford — earned bids to the NCAA Tournament. Despite ranking No. 11 in the NFCA Poll heading into the final regular season series against California, the Ducks did not earn a top 16 seed in the tournament.

They will be the No. 2-seeded Texas State in the Austin Regional Friday at 4:30 PM PT on ESPN3. Stay tuned for a preview of the NCAA Tournament matchup with the Bobcats.

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