EUGENE, Ore. — After Dezianna Patmon crushed a three-run, walk-off homer deep into the Eugene night to send her Ducks to the super regionals, the senior said her reason for doing so was simple.
“I wasn’t hanging up the cleats today.”
Patmon’s homer to lift Oregon (51-8) past Stanford ensured that her career wouldn’t come to an end on Sunday night. The Ducks had entered the day backed into a corner after losing what Lombardi called the “driver’s seat game” by a devastating 14-1 score on Saturday, the biggest margin of defeat in her seven-year tenure leading Oregon. With their season on the brink, the Ducks had to beat the Cardinal twice in a row to stay alive. And that’s exactly what they did, run-ruling them 15-5 to force a winner-take-all final game of the regional that Patmon would end with one swing…