Oregon Ducks softball allows season-high 9 runs in Game 1 super regional loss to Kentucky

EUGENE -- Megan Kleist has rarely looked human this year.

The Pac-12 pitcher of the year had compiled a 21-5 record with a staggering 0.92 ERA to boot in over 165 innings pitched this season.

Entering Thursday's opening game of the Eugene Super Regional against No. 16 seed Kentucky, Kleist hadn't allowed more than three earned runs in a game all season.

But Kentucky, which run-ruled opponents in three consecutive games to get to Eugene, didn't care about the stats and made Kleist, and the rest of the Oregon Ducks' pitchers, look ordinary for the first time in a long time.

The Wildcats hit three home runs, two off the bat of Abbey Cheek, to take Game 1 of the Eugene Super Regional 9-6 on Thursday at Jane Sanders Stadium. The nine runs are the most Oregon has given up since a 10-7 loss to Arizona during the 2017 season. The loss also snapped the Ducks' 16-game win streak.

Top-seeded Oregon (50-8) now faces elimination and must win on Friday to keep its season alive.

"It's a big gut check," said Oregon head coach Mike White. "We've been in some tough games, tough situations but I don't think we've down by three or four runs in a game all year.

"We got punched over pretty good right there."

The decisive punch came in the fourth and was both the loudest, and quietest, play of the game.