The Oregon State University softball team came out flat to end the Civil War Series.

The Beavers dropped Sunday’s game against the Ducks 8-0 in just five innings in Eugene. Senior pitcher Taylor Cotton took the mound for the 21st time for the Beavers, but could not withstand Oregon’s hot start. The Ducks jumped out to a 3-0 start with an impressive home run from Ducks’ center fielder Shannon Rhodes in the first inning at the sold out Jane Sanders Stadium.

Redshirt senior infielder Sammi Noland did not believe the notoriously difficult atmosphere in Eugene had anything to do with the Beavers dropping the series.

“We’ve been there,” Noland said. “It’s fun to play in front of that. Some people froze up a little bit. I think we were pretty tight this weekend—that’s postseason atmosphere. We need to adapt to that a little better.”

Junior shortstop McKenna Arriola was disappointed following the Beavers loss to the Ducks.

“We felt really good coming in, we just didn’t bring it,” Arriola said. “We didn’t make adjustments quickly enough and learn from our mistakes. All we can do is learn from it and go to the next series.”

Sammi Noland is hoping her team can bounce back this week following the difficult Civil War.

“Obviously, it’s a tough one,” Noland said. “We’ve got to figure some things out at practice this week, but we’re hoping to bounce back.”

After starting pitcher Taylor Cotton struggled against the Ducks, the Beavers made a pitching change. During the third inning, while the Beavers remained scoreless, they switched to freshman Nerissa Eason. Eason made an immediate impact in the third inning, when she only allowed one runner on base.

“I think we should utilize all our pitching staff because that keeps them off-balance too, with the new pitchers coming in every two innings,” Arriola said.

The Beavers will head to Portland on Wednesday for an out of conference game against Portland State before heading to Utah this weekend to face the Utes. While the Beavers never scored against the Ducks on Sunday, Sammi Noland hopes the team can improve their chemistry this week in practice.

“We’ve got some work to do there (in the bullpen) too,” Noland said. “It’s going to take the whole staff. Taylor can’t do it by herself. I think we’ve got to learn to work together a little bit more.”