Ducks Finish Off Sweep at Cal

BERKELEY, Calif. – Oregon's offense got off to a fast start before the pitching locked it down the rest of the way in a 3-1 win over California to complete a four-game road sweep of the Bears.
 
The Ducks finish the regular season 37-15 overall and 14-10 in Pac-12 play and will learn their NCAA Tournament fate during Sunday's selection show (6 p.m., ESPN2).
 
How it Happened: The Ducks jumped ahead early on once again, scoring in the top of the first to go up 1-0. After Hanna Delgado doubled with one out, Rachel Cid cashed her in two batters later with a two-out RBI single to left field. Cal answered with a run in the bottom half to make it 1-1.
 
Oregon reclaimed the lead with a pair of runs in the second, capitalizing on some Cal mistakes to take a 3-1 lead. Shaye Bowden reached on an error to lead off before Maddie Hopper doubled and Alyssa Brito was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Deijah Pangilinan drew a bases loaded walk to force home Bowden before Vallery Wong plated Hopper with a sacrifice fly to right field.
 
The Oregon bats went quiet the rest of the way, but the pitching staff shut down the Cal offense over the final six innings. Samaria Diaz relieved starter Brooke Yanez in the fourth and worked three scoreless innings before Raegan Breedlove came in to pick up the save in the seventh, getting a ground-ball double play to end the game.
 
What It Means: Oregon currently sits in fourth place in the Pac-12 standings, with the potential to finish third in the conference if UCLA beats Arizona this afternoon. The Ducks are the only team in the conference to complete their entire conference schedule, playing all 24 conference contests in addition to the nonconference back end of the doubleheader each weekend. Oregon played 36 of its 52 games this season against Pac-12 opponents.
 
Notable: The sweep was Oregon's first road Pac-12 sweep since taking all three games against Cal in May of 2018 … Cid finished the weekend 7-for-12 with a homer and five RBIs … She also ended the series with a .643 OBP and three runs scored … Oregon pitching combined to post a 1.25 ERA with 31 strikeouts to just six walks over the weekend … Diaz did not give up a run over 6.2 innings with eight strikeouts, while Yanez fanned 20 batters while posting a 0.51 ERA in 13.2 innings … The Ducks improved to 21-7 on the year in games decided by three runs or less.
 
On Deck: The Ducks will find out their postseason road during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN2.