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Eugene, Ore. • The Oregon Ducks will tear down their tiny, antiquated softball stadium at the end of the season.

BYU would be delighted to light the first stick of dynamite.

The Cougars fell to 0-7 all-time against the Ducks at Howe Field when Oregon blasted the Cougars 8-0 Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The game was called with two outs in the bottom of the sixth due to the eight-run mercy rule after Oregon's Cheridan Hawkins threw a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts.

"In my opinion, she is as good as there is in the country, and she showed that today," BYU coach Gordon Eakin said.

Hawkins, a hard-throwing junior, threw 78 pitches, including 55 strikes. BYU was 21st in the country with a .335 team batting average coming into the game.

"We're not a bad hitting team," Eakin noted, "and she made us look like a bad hitting team. I tip my cap to her."

"She's the best pitcher we've faced this year," said BYU catcher Sydney Broderick, who doubled in the fifth inning.

BYU (39-12), seeded fourth in the four-team Eugene Region, faces No. 3 seed Fresno State (40-15) at 3 p.m. MST Friday. The winner of that game plays again at 6 against the loser of the noon contest between top seed Oregon (47-6) and No. 2 seed North Dakota State (44-9).

Oregon, ranked first and second in the two major polls, is seeded second overall in the NCAA tournament. The Ducks collected 11 hits against BYU, but the Cougars threw out two runners at the plate and almost made some tough plays in the field that would have lowered Oregon's hit count.

"We found some holes," Oregon coach Mike White acknowledged. "We did a Yogi Berra thing: We hit 'em where they ain't."

Oregon led only 2-0 before the fifth inning when they collected five runs on four hits, two hit batters and a walk.

McKenna Bull (34-10), tied for the NCAA Division I lead in victories, hit a season-high four batters and walking four in five innings. The sophomore out of Weber High School gave up 10 hits and seven runs.

Eakin said pitchers have to go inside at times to keep Oregon batters honest. The Ducks came into the game ranked third nationally with a .368 team batting average. —

Oregon 8, BYU 0

R BYU center fielder Gordy Bravo's 13-game hit streak ends

• BYU's McKenna Bull hit a season-high four batters

• Oregon's Cheridan Hawkins throws one-hitter with 12 strikeouts