The exodus from the Univ. of Oregon appears to be continuing as Justin McLeod of Justin’s World of Softball is reporting today that NFCA 1st Team All-American pitcher Megan Kleist is reportedly leaving the Ducks program.
The reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Kleist is a two-time All-American and was a finalist for the USA Softball National Player of the Year and as a junior in 2018 went 21-7 with a 1.32 ERA and in 179 2/3rd innings had 221 K’s and limited opponents to a .173 batting average.
The Wisconsin native, who was a member of the Firecrackers-Rico team in 2014-15 and was ranked by Extra Inning Softball’s Brentt Eads as one of the top 100 players in the Class of 2015, is the latest to leave Oregon.
When former head coach Mike White left to take the Univ. of Texas head position this summer, three former Duck players followed him to the Big 12 school–NFCA 2nd Team All-American pitcher Miranda Elish, utility player Lauren Burke, and outfielder Shannon Rhodes–and two others announced they’d be leaving as well: infielder Alyssa Pinto and catcher Mary Iakopo.
As noted by Justin McLeod, “Kleist is the fifth all-American nationwide to transfer to a new school this fall, joining Elish; Giselle Juarez; Katie Prebble; and Kendyl Lindaman.”
“The Ducks are left with a fraction of their 2018 PAC-12 championship-winning roster that also earned the #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.”
Maggie Balint, a junior who went 7-1 with a 2.11 ERA in 59 2/3 innings, is the only returning pitcher with significant experience although the Ducks did a significant transfer in Jordan Dail from Virginia Tech.
