Softball Splits Doubleheader Friday
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon kicked off its weekend homestand against Stanford on Friday with a walk-off win in the opening game of a doubleheader, taking the Pac-12 Conference matchup before dropping the nonconference nightcap.
"Loved how they fought in the first game," UO coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "Second game, you could see us putting pressure on the pitcher, but … we needed to get to that pressure sooner. We didn't get there soon enough."
Game 1: No. 6 Oregon 2, Stanford 1
Brooke Yanez (15-4) got back in the win column with seven innings of one-run ball, and Hanna Delgado doubled in Hannah Galey in the bottom of the seventh to give the Ducks a walk-off win.
How It Happened: Yanez, whose last win was April 9, allowed a solo home run in the first inning but settled in from there. She struck out seven and scattered four hits while walking two, going seven innings in a win for the ninth time this season.
After missing out on a couple early opportunities to even the score, Oregon finally did so in the fifth. Alyssa Brito was hit to open the inning and took second on a sacrifice bunt. After a one-out walk put two on, Haley Cruse lofted a line drive down the first-base line that carried over the right fielder's head to the wall.
Brito was the catalyst again in the seventh. After she singled to lead off the inning, Galey was inserted to pinch run. A sacrifice bunt moved her to second, and a two-out intentional walk to Cruse but the bat in the hands of Delgado. She chopped a ball up the line that got past the first baseman, bringing Galey sliding in across home plate for the winning run.
There was confusion among the umpiring crew regarding whether the ball was fair or foul, leading Stanford to protest after the home plate umpire made the final call of a fair ball to end the game. The protest was adjudicated during a lengthy delay, after which Oregon was determined to have won.
"My approach was just to relax and get my pitch, and battle as much as I could," Delgado said. "I thought it was fair from my view; obviously it's hard for me to watch from my position as a runner."
Game 2: Stanford 3, No. 6 Oregon 1
After the teams traded runs in the fifth inning, the Cardinal scored twice in the sixth and Oregon was unable to take full advantage of some opportunities late in a game that didn't count toward the Pac-12 standings.
How It Happened: Makenna Kliethermes faced just one over the minimum through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. With a runner on second and two out, another razor-thin fair-foul call went Stanford's way, with a ball up the third-base line ruled fair for a run-scoring single.
Rachel Cid led off the bottom of the fifth with a single for Oregon, and Brito followed with a double. Mya Felder reached on an error to plate Cid and put runners on the corners with none out, but the Ducks weren't able to further capitalize.
"We're getting our runners (in scoring position)," Lombardi said. "We've gotta find a way to cash in."
The Ducks paid the price in the top of the sixth. After a sparkling defensive play to open the inning by the UO shortstop Brito, diving to her right to snare a line drive in the hole, the Cardinal chased Kliethermes with a triple that just eluded the glove of diving UO center fielder Deijah Pangilinan. Samaria Diaz entered and allowed an RBI single to give Stanford the lead, and three batters later another RBI single made it 3-1.
Allee Bunker reached on a one-hit single in the bottom of the sixth before being erased on a double play. The Ducks mounted a two-out rally in the seventh on a double by Felder followed by Gabby Herrera being hit by a pitch, before the Cardinal escaped the jam to end the game.
On Deck: After rescheduling the nonconference matchup to Friday due to potential inclement weather later in the weekend, the two teams are scheduled to play a single game Saturday at 1 p.m.