Yanez Deals Shutout in Opener at Cal
BERKELEY, Calif. – Brooke Yanez tossed her sixth shutout of the season, striking out 12 while scattering four hits to lead No. 11 Oregon to a 2-0 win over California in the series opener Thursday. The reigning NFCA National Pitcher of the Week picked up her 12th complete game win of the year and extended her scoreless innings streak to 19.2 straight frames dating back to last weekend.
How it Happened: Oregon (34-15, 12-10 Pac-12) gave Yanez all the offense she would need by breaking through for a pair of runs in the fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Deijah Pangilinan singled and moved to second on an error to lead off the inning, before Haley Cruse cashed her in one batter later with a line drive double to left center. Maddie Hopper delivered the second run of the frame with a pinch-hit RBI infield base hit with two outs to score Cruse and double the lead.
From there, Yanez (19-5) would continue to shut down the Bears offense over the final three innings, retiring the side in order in the bottom of the fifth before working out of trouble in the sixth and seventh. She gave up a double to start the sixth, but got a pop up and strikeout to end the inning, then ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts after Cal (17-17, 3-9 Pac-12) put a pair of runners on to bring the potential winning run to the plate.
The Ducks also had a handful of opportunities over the first four innings but couldn't cash in. Cruse opened the game with a single and got as far as third base before being stranded, while in the third inning Oregon left Cruse and Bunker on after both reached with base hits.
Notable: Yanez struck out double-digit batters for the eighth time this season … In her last four appearances covering today's game and the Arizona series, she has 31 strikeouts with a 0.27 ERA in 25.2 innings … Yanez now has 227 strikeouts on the year, moving her into eighth place on UO's single-season strikeouts list … Cruse went 3-for-4 and is 10-for-14 with four RBIs and a pair of runs scored in the last four games … She has either scored or driven in six of the team's last eight runs … Cruse has also reached base in 12 of her last 16 plate appearances dating back to her last time up against Arizona on May 7 … She moved into sixth place alone on Oregon's career runs scored list with 150.
On Deck: The Ducks continue their series with Cal with a doubleheader Friday beginning at 12 p.m. on the Cal Live Stream-4 or KWVA 88.1 FM.