Nevada has its own Jordan in the clutch

Nevada's softball team rode the strong right arm of sophomore Jordan McPherson to the Western Athletic Conference championship last week.

The Wolf Pack (33-31) hope McPherson still has some magic in her right arm when they face Oregon State (38-13) in the first round of the NCAA Regionals today at 4 at the Oregon State Softball Complex.

McPherson is coming off an amazing performance at the WAC tourney in Fresno. She went 5-1 and didn't allow an earned run in 41 innings.

"What she did is not done by a lot of people," Nevada coach Michelle Gardner said after Tuesday's practice. "Jordan is on a roll, and the rest of us are just following her.

"If I told her that I wanted to take her out last week, she probably would have punched me."

McPherson, who was just sitting a few feet away, just smiled.

"I played travel ball, and they (the teams she played on) rode me a lot," McPherson said. "I didn't feel like I threw 41 innings. If they had told me to get out there for another game, I would have done it.

"I was definitely exhausted on Sunday and I was a little sore. I'm ready to go again. Throwing three games in a row doesn't affect me. My team needed me and I wanted to be the one to get the job done."

Oregon State's batting average is almost .300, and the Beavers have several hitters over .300, including Mia Longfellow (.331), DeAnn Young (.323), Brianne McGowan (.302) and Adrienne Alo (.316).

When you're on a roll like McPherson is, all the batters are the same, and she is at the top of her game. Instead of throwing two pitches for strikes, she now throws six. She's 22-20, but she lost nine times by one run and three other times by two runs.

She credits being able to throw more pitches for strikes and the coaching of first-year pitching coach Melanie Meuchel, younger sister of Pack assistant Matt, for her improvement over last year when she went 11-15 with a 2.75 ERA.

"She has been able to spend more time with me," McPherson said. "I've always thought that if you stay mentally strong you can get through anything."

While McPherson has been stingy with runs, it would certainly be beneficial if the Pack can get three or four against McGowan, the ex-Wooster star, who has a 1.33 ERA.

Two of Nevada's starters - Brittany Puzey and Cindy Elkins - know all about McGowan. Puzey faced her many times during her career at both Carson and Douglas, and Elkins came from Wooster, and played with her for at least one year. No doubt the duo will pass on some knowledge. Gardner knows all about her, too.

"I have a lot of scouting reports on Brianne & Co.," Gardner said. "Brianne is a very good pitcher and good hitter. We're going into this game playing pretty great ourselves.

'We know what Brianne is about. She works very hard. She does a lot of good things. We have to go out there and play good defense, and put the ball in play. We need Jordan to stay on a roll. She's gotten enough rest hopefully."

Oregon State isn't the only team Nevada has to worry about.

Portland State and Baylor face off in the other first-round game. Portland State beat Nevada three times this year - 2-1, 2-0 and 3-1. McPherson was the losing pitcher each time. Nevada didn't play Baylor this season.

"We lost three times to them (Portland State)," Gardner said. "We definitely want to face them again. I think we're better now than when we played them before. Baylor is a Big 12 team. That's a strong conference and they're a strong team."

Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281