Ducks Steal Away at BYU

PROVO, Utah – No. 11 Oregon set a school-record with nine stolen bases and pounded out 14 hits to pull away from BYU, 9-3, Monday at Miller Park.
 
Oregon (21-4) led 3-0 going to the bottom of the fifth, but BYU (19-7) tied the game by scoring three runs with two outs. The Ducks answered quickly with four runs in the sixth and added two more in the seventh to win for the 14th time in the last 15 games.
 
Seven of the Ducks' nine stolen bases came in the last three innings when Oregon scored seven times and included a double steal of second and home plate. Allee Bunker, Hanna Delgado and KK Humphreys each stole two bases, while Ariel Carlson, Rachel Cid and Paige Sinicki had one steal a piece.
 
"Coming in here to get the win to end the week against a really good BYU team that we could see again in the postseason was huge," said associate coach Sam Marder.
 
How it Happened: Sinicki hustled her way around the bases in the second inning to score the Ducks' first run. She bunted for a base hit and stole second. Vallery Wong then hit a hard chopper that the pitcher couldn't handle, and as the ball rolled toward first base, Sinicki came all the way around and beat the throw to the plate.
 
Oregon scored another run in the third. Delgado, who extended her hitting streak to 12 games with a double in the first inning, singled up the middle with one out. Humphreys hit a single to advance Delgado to second and scored when Jasmine Williams hit the Ducks' third consecutive single of the inning.
 
In the bottom of the third, BYU got two runners on with two out, but Jordan Dail came out of the pen in relief of Stevie Hansen to get the strikeout for the final out of the inning.
 
The Ducks plated another run in the fifth inning, but could have had more. Humphreys reached on a bunt single and stole second. Williams reached on an error by the shortstop and then Humphreys scored when the second baseman couldn't handle Carlson's grounder. The Ducks had runners on first and third with no outs, but could not cash in for more runs.
 
BYU took advantage of that in the bottom the fifth, scoring three runs with two outs to tie the game at 3-3. Raegan Breedlove took over in the circle with two runners on and induced a groundout to Bunker to end the inning.
 
Oregon reclaimed the lead with four runs in the top of the sixth. Cid singled and pinch-runner Gabby Herrera went to third when Bunker followed with a double. Delgado's third hit of the game scored Herrera with the go-ahead run. Humphreys then singled to score Bunker to make it 5-3.
 
The Ducks next pulled off a double steal, with Humphreys taking second base and Delgado, who stole second base earlier in the inning, stealing home on the play.
 
Williams hit a sharp single up the middle to plate Humphreys for her second RBI of the game and a 7-3 lead.
 
Oregon scored two more runs in the seventh inning. Wong walked and moved to second on Kai Luschar's second hit of the game. Cid reached on a fielder's choice that forced Luschar at second. Cid then stole second with Bunker at the plate. Bunker reached on an error by the third baseman that scored Wong. Cid then scored on Delgado's RBI ground out.
 
Noteworthy: The previous Oregon record for stolen bases was eight against North Texas on Feb. 12, 2011. Bunker extended her hitting streak to 16 games. Delgado now has 14 multi-hit games this season. Delgado and Humphreys had three hits Monday, while Bunker, Williams and Luschar had two hits. Breedlove threw 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up her second win of 2022.
 
Quotable
Associate Head Coach Sam Marder
"Our defense was so solid. They saved us a couple of runs. When we can put up a couple of runs and have our defense throw up zeroes, it's just a huge momentum shift for us."
 
On Deck: The Ducks host California for a three-game Pac-12 series beginning Friday 6 p.m. at Jane Sanders Stadium.
 
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