Softball Stuns No. 9 Huskies, 9-8, 6-4 to Win the Series!

[Charles Fischer]

Oregon beating the Bastard Huskies at any sport is sweet, it is especially nice when they are ranked in the top-10, as Our Beloved Ducks were No. 24th ranked.  It must have been fun at "The Jane" today, and more details are forthcoming. Winning clutch games Saturday and today!

 

[Charles Fischer]

Six-Run Fifth Keys Comeback Win       

 

EUGENE, Ore. – For four and two-thirds innings Sunday, Washington ace Ruby Meylan kept No. 22 Oregon off the scoreboard as the Huskies built a 3-0 advantage into the fifth inning during the series-deciding game three.

 

But the ninth-ranked Huskies gave the Ducks an opening – in this case an error at shortstop that allowed Kai Luschar to reach base – and Oregon took advantage with six two-out, unearned runs to rally for a 6-4 come-from-behind victory in front of 1,985 fans at Jane Sanders Stadium.

 

“The PAC is tough,” said coach Melyssa Lombardi. “To come in and get one from a team that’s ranked top-10, we want to win the PAC. In order to win the PAC, we have to beat teams like Washington and find a way to win the series."

 

“What I was really excited about was, if you looked at each game, we got better and better as the series went on, which to me is a really good sign,” said Lombardi.

 

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Alyssa Daniell came through with the biggest hit of the series, a bases-clearing double that tied the game at 3-3. Emma Kauf followed with another double that scored Daniell for a 4-3 advantage. Freshman Katie Flannery then hit her first career home run at Jane Sanders Stadium, a two-run shot that made it 6-3.

 

The Huskies wouldn’t go quietly, loading the bases in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Morgan Scott got the final five outs to save her second game in a row as the Ducks won the series, two games to one. It was the first series win for Oregon (22-13, 9-5) over Washington (26-7, 10-5) since a sweep in 2018.

 

“It feels amazing,” said Daniell, a Happy Valley, Ore., native. “This team deserves it. This team works hard every single day. We know what we are capable of, and we are very happy it showed today.”

 

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How it Happened: Washington opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run home run by Alana Johnson in the top of the first. The Huskies got a runner on following the home run, but Vallery Wong threw the runner out at second to end the inning.

 

The Huskies added a run on an Oregon throwing error in the top of the second for a 3-0 lead.

 

After that, it was an outstanding effort in relief from Elise Sokolsky, who kept the Huskies scoreless for four innings. Sokolsky scattered five hits over four innings to improve to 5-1 on the season. She struck out four, including the final out in the third and fourth innings.

 

Oregon’s rally in the fifth inning began with Paige Sinicki’s double. After Luschar reached on an error, Hanna Delgado’s ground out to the right side moved both runners up a base. Ariel Carlson was then called out on a third strike penalty assessed for not entering the batter’s box in a timely fashion for the second out of the inning.

 

Meylan then plunked Wong on the first pitch of her at-bat to load the bases.

 

“When I saw (Carlson) walk off, that fired me up,” said Daniell, after the bat was taken out of the hands of Carlson, the Ducks’ RBI leader. “I was thinking there was no way I would let that go. That at-bat was for Ariel, for Val, it was for everyone. That fired me up.”

 

Daniell laced a 2-0 pitch into left center to drive in all three runners. Kauf jumped on a 2-2 pitched and doubled to almost the identical spot as Daniell in left center. Daniell scored easily with the go-ahead run.

 

Flannery also drilled a 2-0 pitch to left center, but hers soared over the outfield wall and just like that, the Ducks went from a 3-0 deficit to a 6-3 lead.

 

“They aren’t allowing the moment to get too big,” said Lombardi. “If past at-bats that didn’t go their way, they can let it go and move on to the next."

 

“Think about the times this year where someone hasn’t gotten their way in the first couple at-bats, but they stayed the course and came up big in their last at-bat,” said Lombardi. “They are really, really starting to understand when we talk about staying neutral and having the ability to reset, you could really see that today.”

 

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Sokolsky struck out the first Washington batter she faced in the top of the sixth, but back-to-back hits prompted a call to the pen for Scott. She walked pinch-hitter Jadyn Glab on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases, but then retired both Rylee Holtorf and Avery Hobson on swinging strike threes to end the inning.

 

The Huskies again kept the home crowd on edge in the top of the seventh. Scott yielded a leadoff single but retired the next two batters. Olivia Johnson singled and Jillian Celis walked as Washington loaded the bases for the second consecutive inning. Sydney Stewart ripped a line drive to the right side that Daniell dove at and knocked down, but Stewart reached as a run scored to make it 6-4.

 

“I know my role and I know what my job is and I wasn’t going to back down to anyone,” said Scott. “I knew they had good hitters, but I had better abilities. Today it was all about spinning the ball.”

 

With the tying run at second, Scott induced Giselle Alvarez to hit a chopper to Sinicki at short, who fired across the diamond to Daniell for the final out of the game. It was Scott’s third save of the season and her second in as many days.

 

“As we kept going into the weekend, we kept getting better with what we were doing,” said Lombardi. “(Scott) came in and she was not going to be denied."

 

“Last night even, and today, she was not going to be denied,” said Lombardi. “She came in today and knew exactly what she wanted and was able to execute it.”

 

Quotable

Winning pitcher Elise Sokolsky on the top of the seventh inning

“From the dug-out it was intense, but there was never a doubt in my mind we weren’t going come out on-top. I know Morgan, I know my defense. I knew they weren’t going to let that win slip away from us.”

 

Pitcher Morgan Scott on being a part of her first series win against Washington

“It feels amazing, especially for this program. This is my second year here and being able to go against the top dogs is a great feeling.”

 

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Coach Melyssa Lombardi

“These guys played hard for each other all weekend long. You can really see that. You can see their confidence. You can see them wanting to do well for each other.”

 

Notable: Oregon scored 14 of its 18 runs in the series with two outs … Delgado had a hit in all three games and extended her hitting streak to six games … Luschar stole her team-leading 19^th base of the season, while Carlson swiped her 11^th bag of the year … Kauf and Luschar both had two hits on Sunday … Duck pitchers stranded 11 Huskies on base on Sunday.

 

On Deck: Oregon hits the road for a four-game trip through Arizona. The Ducks will play Grand Canyon in Phoenix on Wednesday (6 p.m., ESPN+), before a three-game series at Arizona that begins Friday (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network).