Charles Fischer

I had to bump this up as I thought we would get more entries! Where are all of you?

Ducks Finish L.A. Sweep with Small Ball, Long Ball LOS ANGELES, Calif. – No. 18 Oregon swept two games in the UCLA Tournament using both small ball and the long ball on Saturday. The Ducks scored runs in six different innings to defeat UC San Diego 10-2 in the early game and then got home runs from KK Humphreys and Hannah Galey to top Loyola Marymount 4-1 in the afternoon. “That was awesome,” said Vallery Wong, who not only watched Humphreys’ big fly from third base, but also laid down a sacrifice RBI bunt in the first game Saturday. “I knew it was coming. I told KK as soon as she got up to bat she was ready and that she was going to hit the ball hard and she did that. It was just a great part of the game to do that and I was really excited for her.” The Ducks went 5-0 on the opening weekend of the season. How it Happened (Game 1): The Ducks scored two runs in the first inning, one in the second, four in the third and then added single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. “I loved how we kept scoring inning after inning,” said coach Melyssa Lombardi. “Even if it’s just a couple, we’re constantly getting runs and putting pressure on the opponent.” The small ball against UCSD began in the second inning when Wong executed a sacrifice bunt to score Allee Bunker from third. “It felt really good,” said Wong. “Executing for my team feels really awesome every time.” The Ducks saw additional productive outs in the third inning. Wong scored on a sacrifice fly from Jas Williams before Kai Luschar scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Paige Sinicki. Two of Oregon’s last three runs against UCSD came via the sacrifice. Wong scored on a Tehya Bird sacrifice fly and Hanna Delgado came home on Ariel Carlson’s sacrifice fly. Bunker went 4-for-4 with three RBI against UCSD, while Delgado was 2-for-3 and scored three runs. Wong and Galey were also 2-for-3 in the first game. Stevie Hansen started against UCSD and went 3.1 innings before coming out after yielding a home run in the fourth. Jordan Dail (2-0) came on in relief and struck out six in 3.2 innings to pick up her second win of the weekend. How it Happened (Game 2): The Ducks found themselves behind for the first time all weekend when Loyola Marymount strung together two hits and took advantage of Makenna Kliethermes’ wild pitch to plate the game’s first run. The Lions kept the Ducks at bay until the pivotal fourth inning. Wong reached on an error before Williams doubled to right center, giving Oregon runners at second and third with one out. Humphreys then sent the first offering she saw from Logan Caymol over the wall in left for her first home run of the season. “KK’s got great power,” said Lombardi. “KK’s a great hitter so it was nice to see her come up big for us.” One out later, Galey smashed an opposite-field blast out to right centerfield for her first homer of the year. The 4-1 lead was all Kliethermes (2-0) needed. After the first inning, she gave up no runs and just two hits over the final six innings to wrap up the weekend with her second complete game of the season. In three games, Kliethermes struck out 21 batters with one earned run on six hits allowed in 15 innings. Noteworthy: Bunker matched her career high with four hits. Oregon’s pitching staff finished the weekend with a 1.08 earned run average and 40 strikeouts. Quoteable Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi “I thought overall our pitchers did a great job in giving us an opportunity to win every single game this weekend.” On Deck: Oregon heads to the Lone Star State to face Texas State Thursday in San Marcos before a three-game series at Baylor.

Still no Brooke Yanez, and I have to assume she must be injured?

Yep, it was stopped after five innings.

Details later after the second game; in the first game Stevie Hansen got the start at pitcher, with Jordan Dail coming in to close. Allee Bunker went 4-4 hitting with 3 RBIs!

Yep. Lanning Laws: "That Won't Last a Week at Oregon" by Charles Fischer of FishDuck

I noticed that too, and while she is not the player Graves said she would become....she is helping the Ducks and the sport with her play and her honorable conduct. It makes me proud...

Good topic ICAMEL! I see four wins on the low side and seven on the high side...so yes, I think we can get to 20 wins, but if it is just four wins...we would also have 11 losses at that point and double-digit losses never look good.

This is quite an impressive group that Coach Lanning as assembled, and this is a good article discussing them. I would put Lupoi as No. 1 though... Ranking Dan Lanning's Six Most Important Staffing Hires With the Oregon Ducks by Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire

In my conversations with Bulldog fans...even they admit that their program is hard, and they lose a lot in transfers. Five-star players and high four-stars leave the Georgia program on a regular basis as many cannot adjust to the life of not being coddled and given preferential treatment. (You saw high profile players transfer out of Athens this year too) So yes, some Oregon players may find that they are no longer at the top of the pecking order, and must fight to retain it--and don't want to. I don't think it will be a ton of players, but I do think we will be very disappointed with some that decide the new culture is too demanding.

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Oregon’s pitching staff continued to impress, while the offense awakened in the second game of the Ducks’ doubleheader sweep of CSUN Friday at Matador Diamond. Jordan Dail overcame a rocky start to pitch the Ducks to a 9-3 win in the opener. The offense erupted in the nightcap as home runs from Ariel Carlson and Tehya Bird powered Oregon (3-0) to a 16-0, five-inning, victory over the Matadors (0-3). “Little bit of a slow start and you can see as the game went along we picked it up,” said head coach Melyssa Lombardi. “I liked the amount of runs that we scored in the last inning of the first game and I felt that inning just took us right into the next game.” How it Happened (Game 1): Dail (1-0) allowed base hits to the first two CSUN batters but retired the next three Matadors to keep CSUN off the board. She allowed only one more hit, a two-run homer in the sixth. Dail had six strikeouts and walked just one in six innings to keep CSUN at bay until the Ducks pulled away with five runs in the top of the seventh. At the plate, Terra McGowan set a career high with four hits, including a career-best three doubles. Jasmine Williams, making her first appearance since the 2020 season, went 2-for-3 with two RBI and scored two runs. Freshman Paige Sinicki added three hits, while Hannah Galey had two. How it Happened (Game 2): After a slow start at the plate in game one, the Ducks got on the board early and often, scoring 14 runs in the first three innings. In the seven-run second, both Ariel Carlson and Tehya Bird smashed two-run home runs out to left field. Carlson went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Sinicki and Williams were productive at the plate for the second straight game. Sinicki only had one hit, but scored three times and drove in two runs. She also stole two bases. Williams went 1-for-3 with three RBIs. Hanna Delgado and Vallery Wong also had two hits in Oregon’s season-high 15-hit attack. Noteworthy: Freshman Stevie Hansen made her season debut in the circle in game two and struck out seven in three innings pitched to earn the win. Raegan Breedlove struck out two over the final two innings to preserve the shutout. The 16 runs were the most scored by the Ducks since had 16 against Portland State on March 7, 2021. McGowan’s four hits were the most by a Duck since Allee Bunker had four at Oklahoma State on Feb., 29, 2020. Quotable Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi “We need to start games the way we’re finishing games.” On Deck: Oregon’s tour of greater Los Angeles concludes Saturday. The Ducks will face UC San Diego in a neutral site game at Loyola Marymount at 9 a.m., followed by a game at LMU the Lions at 11:30 a.m.

I will post the official press release later as it will have more information, but freshman Paige Sinicki got on base eight straight times over the last two days? Freshman pitcher Stevie Hansen had eight strikeouts, and Raegan Breedlove came in to close and only gave up one hit. What a start!

I agree with you, and apparently the new S&C from Ole Miss has really won over the players already. Lanning does not talk about physicality all the time like you-know-who, but I think his defenses were physical enough... It will be very interesting to see how many injuries occur during this next season. Wilson Love at Ole Miss

There will be more details later, but Oregon won the first softball game 9-3 where Jordan Dail got the start, and Makenna Kliethermes finished up. The star of the game was catcher Terra McGowan, who had three doubles, four hits, and four RBIs! You can listen to the next game that will begin at about 3:00 PM by going to the schedule, and then clicking on listen and then clicking on "Stream 1," and then with the window that comes up...click on the arrow on the left. You can start another tab/window and come to the schedule and then click on "Live Stats" and check on the scoring/action.

Right off the bat...the issue is that we really do not want to face an opponent from the other two Power Conferences that are among their best. I would prefer to save that for a bowl game or the Playoff.

SWD1...you are new and this is information, a perspective, we have not heard and really needed as Oregon fans. THANK YOU. Please do post often, and WELCOME! Great stuff--thanks again.

Hello my FishDuck Friends, For those who want to play...give me the items below and let's take a shot at it for fun! Since the Rams defense is being featured often...let's structure the tiebreakers in that direction. If you do not have all the tiebreaker items...the entry does not count. 1. Game score and winner? 2. How many passing yards the Bengals have? 3. How many rushing yards the Bengals have? 4. How many turnovers for the Bengals? 5. How many sacks do the Bengals suffer from the Rams? Mr. FishDuck: Rams, 38-31, 294, 118, 3, 6 No. 58 Justin Hollins for the Rams

It used to be my FishDuck Friends, that every week you had the conference standings published in the local paper, but not now. Add the other major sites don't publish them, so perhaps I should do this once a week? It helps to know... The women and the men are tied for second? Whew! Wouldn't have thought that in mid-December! Pac-12 Womens Basketball Standing TEAMS CONFERENCERECORD OVERALLRECORD LAST GAME NEXT GAME STANFORD RANKED2 STANFORD 10-0 19-3 W 82-59 ORST VS UTAH2/11P12M CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION OREGON RANKED24 OREGON 8-3 15-7 W 83-30 WSU @ OREGON STATE2/11P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION ARIZONA RANKED6 ARIZONA 7-3 17-3 W 73-61 ORST @ ARIZONA STATE2/11P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION UTAH UTAH 5-4 14-7 W 91-69 USC @ STANFORD2/11P12M CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION WASHINGTON STATE WASHINGTON STATE 6-5 14-8 L 30-83 ORE VS UCLA2/11P12L CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION UCLA UCLA 5-5 10-7 W 59-54 CAL @ WASHINGTON STATE2/11P12L CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION ARIZONA STATE ARIZONA STATE 3-3 11-8 W 55-49 ORE VS ARIZONA2/11P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION OREGON STATE OREGON STATE 4-5 11-8 L 59-82 STAN VS OREGON2/11P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION COLORADO COLORADO 4-6 15-6 W 66-43 WASH @ CALIFORNIA2/11P12B CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA 1-4 10-6 L 54-59 UCLA VS COLORADO2/11P12B CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION USC USC 2-9 9-12 L 69-91 UTAH @ WASHINGTON2/11P12W CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION WASHINGTON WASHINGTON 0-8 5-11 L 43-66 COLO VS USC2/11P12W CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION Pac-12 Mens Basketball Standings TEAMS CONFERENCERECORD OVERALLRECORD LAST GAME NEXT GAME ARIZONA RANKED4 ARIZONA 11-1 21-2 W 72-60 WSU @ WASHINGTON2/12P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION UCLA RANKED12 UCLA 9-3 17-4 W 79-70 STAN @ USC2/12ESPN CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION OREGON OREGON 9-3 16-7 W 68-60 STAN VS CALIFORNIA2/12P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION USC RANKED21 USC 9-4 20-4 W 74-68 PAC VS UCLA2/12ESPN CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION WASHINGTON WASHINGTON 8-4 13-9 W 87-64 ASU VS ARIZONA2/12P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION WASHINGTON STATE WASHINGTON STATE 7-4 14-8 L 60-72 ARIZ VS ARIZONA STATE2/12ESPNU CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION STANFORD STANFORD 7-7 14-10 L 60-68 ORE @ OREGON STATE2/12P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION COLORADO COLORADO 6-7 14-9 W 86-63 ORST VS UTAH2/12P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION ARIZONA STATE ARIZONA STATE 3-9 7-15 L 64-87 WASH @ WASHINGTON STATE2/12ESPNU CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA 3-11 10-15 W 63-61 ORST @ OREGON2/12P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION UTAH UTAH 2-12 9-15 L 77-80 ORE @ COLORADO2/12P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION OREGON STATE OREGON STATE 1-10 3-18 L 61-63 CAL VS STANFORD2/12P12N CLICK TO SHOW MORE INFORMATION

My friends, Coach Lombardi made mention of a freshman, Paige Sinicki, who stood above all and was challenging former starter Jaz Sievers-Williams for the shortstop position before the season. Well, I was surprised to learn the the freshman was the starter. So what does she do? At her first at-bat...she hits a two-RBI single at two outs! I guess the Ol' Ball-Coach knows what she's doing! "Greatness and weakness emerge early." Kliethermes K’s 15 in 3-0 Win Over Ole Miss FULLERTON, Calif. – Makenna Kliethermes struck out 15 batters and allowed just one hit in No. 18 Oregon’s 3-0 season-opening win against Ole Miss Thursday night at Anderson Family Field. “I thought Makenna threw an unbelievable game for us,” said coach Melyssa Lombardi. “She struck out 15 and really did a great job of taking care of business on the mound.” How it Happened: Kliethermes struck out seven batters in row, setting down the side in order in the second and third innings, en route to matching her career high in strikeouts. At the plate, Paige Sinicki came through with a two-out RBI single in the top of the first to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead. After Terra McGowan led off the game with a single, Allee Bunker hit into a fielder’s choice. After Bunker stole second, Hanna Delgado then chased her to third with a single to center field. Ariel Carlson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. One out later, Sinicki came through in her first bat as a collegian by driving a pitch up the middle as both Bunker and Delgado came around to score. Oregon added an insurance run in the sixth inning. With two outs, McGowan walked and Bunker singled. Delgado then delivered with her second hit on the night, a line drive single to right center, to score McGowan. After Kliethermes’ no-hit bid was broken up by an infield single by the Rebels’ Bre Roper to lead off the top of the seventh, she walked Aynslie Furbush to bring the tying run to the plate. The junior from Wardsville, Mo., regrouped to strike out the next three Ole Miss batters to seal the victory. “It was a lot of fun,” said Kliethermes. “My team had my back the whole time. It was just great to come out and start our season with a win.” Noteworthy: Sinicki went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a stolen base in her debut. Delgado and McGowan also had two hits on Thursday. Thursday was Oregon’s eighth-straight season-opening win. Both Oregon and Ole Miss were NCAA Regional finalists last season. Oregon scored all three of its runs with two outs. Last season, the Ducks scored 47.6 percent of their runs with two outs. Kliethermes’ 15 strikeouts were the most by a Duck since Brooke Yanez fanned 15 against Oregon State on April 1, 2021. Quotable Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi “I thought they stayed poised. I could feel a little nerves. It was our first game, but I liked how they stayed poised and they did enough. Three runs was the number that we needed tonight and we got it.” On Deck: Oregon traverses to Northridge, Calif., to face CSUN in a doubleheader starting at noon on Friday (ESPN+). And Lombardi says Sinicki is fearless when fielding...

So now there is a transfer too? Quite a package deal that would be! (Maybe this is why some scholarships are held back?)

Ducks Win Fourth Straight EUGENE, Ore. — De'Vion Harmon scored a season-high 21 points and Will Richardson got hot down the stretch as the Oregon men's basketball team won its fourth straight game Thursday night, 68-60 over visiting Stanford in Matthew Knight Arena. Richardson was scoreless for the first 30 minutes Thursday, but Harmon picked him up along with post N'Faly Dante, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Up 14 at one point, the Ducks saw Stanford get within five in the final minute, but Oregon (16-7 overall, 9-3 Pac-12) closed out Thursday's win with much less drama than Saturday's nail-biter at Utah. "We won last game and we learned from that win; you can learn from wins, you can learn from losses," Harmon said. "We handled that situation a lot better. … That's how we have to finish games out if we want to win, if we want to go deep." Richardson, who hit a three-pointer for a 57-47 lead with 4:27 to play, assisted on a bucket by Franck Kepnang for a 63-55 advantage with 1:10 left. He then had two crucial rebounds at Stanford's end in the final minute. Richardson was fouled after each and made all four free throws, helping the Ducks avenge a 72-69 loss at Stanford back on Dec. 12. "I'm glad we got it back," Dante said. "It was a good one."file:///C:/Users/CHARLE~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif How It Happened: The Ducks were slow to find their offensive rhythm, but Dante broke through for their first bucket three minutes into the game. Jacob Young and Harmon followed with three-pointers, and Oregon led 10-4. After Stanford closed within 14-12, two buckets each by Dante and Harmon put the Ducks up 22-14, and Harmon hit a three-pointer for a 25-19 lead. Rivaldo Soares closed out the first half with a three-pointer and Oregon led 32-24 at the break. The Ducks opened the second half on an 8-2 run, with Dante putting back a miss by Richardson and then throwing down a dunk that made it 40-26. Oregon then went cold, and Stanford scored second-chance points on consecutive possessions to cap a 12-1 run and get within 41-38. At that point Richardson was 0-of-8 shooting and Oregon had missed nine straight shots as a team, but Richardson broke both cold streaks with a bucket for a 43-38 lead with 10 minutes left. A three-pointer by Quincy Guerrier got the lead back to double digits at 54-44, and Richardson answered a Stanford three-pointer with one of his own to make it 57-47. The Ducks led 59-47 when Stanford scored on four straight trips, the last three of those three-pointers to get within 63-48. But the Cardinal missed on their next two trips and Richardson grabbed both rebounds before sealing the game at the free-throw line.file:///C:/Users/CHARLE~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif "Although he didn't shoot the ball well, I thought he did a lot of other things pretty good," UO coach Dana Altman said. Who Stood Out: Harmon hit his season-high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, overcoming four turnovers in part due to 3-of-6 three-point shooting. Richardson ended up with 12 points, all in the final 10 minutes, and added six assists with four rebounds. Guerrier had seven points with six rebounds, and Kepnang teamed with Dante to give the Ducks a combined 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in the post. "We've got a lot of guys that can get a bucket," Harmon said. "And Will still had 12, with six assists and no turnovers; that shows he affects the game in other areas."file:///C:/Users/CHARLE~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif What It Means: The Ducks learned from a win Saturday at Utah, handling the final minute Thursday with much more poise. They'll look to do the same after this one, after some mix-ups on defensive switches freed up the Cardinal on the late three-pointers, and after Stanford finished with a 37-30 edge in rebounds. "We just gotta keep eliminating defensive mistakes," Altman said. "And we gotta get tougher on the boards." Up Next: The Ducks host California on Saturday (1 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

Whoa! One of the freshmen was the 3rd rated HS pitcher in the nation last year with an ERA of .13! Is that even possible?

Good gosh...Makenna Kliethermes had 15 strikeouts with only ONE hit? Whew! Surprising that the ace in Brooke Yanez did not start, so there must be some strategy between the opponents and Lombardi's plans for Yanez. Remember when we only had Jordan Dail as the only pitcher in Coach Lombardi's first year? She is still on the roster as a fifth-year COVID senior!

I am not going to post the link since it is behind a paywall, but an article today in the Register-Guard in Eugene was quite informative about the upcoming Softball team. While they do not return as many starters as in the past, Coach Lombardi referred to being the deepest in talent and depth than prior years. She spoke of the incoming freshmen, but also some transfers we will see. She felt that while the experience was not there yet, there is more overall talent than before. Jaz Sievers (now Williams) is back at shortstop after taking a year off to have a child and get married. She is playing sharp, along with Ariel Carlson, who has come out of the hitting slump from last year. Apparently she was killing the ball in fall scrimmages. The pitching staff is SEVEN deep, and I do not ever recall that before! And they referred to a strong bond built within the team...so it should all be fun to watch! Go here for the roster and here for the schedule.