Oregon softball dropped its sixth straight game, losing to No.16 Arizona State Sunday afternoon. With the loss the Ducks have now been swept in back-to-back series. 

“We have got to decide where we’re going to go from here,” second baseman Allee Bunker said. “We’ve made a decision as a team, we need to make a change.” 

The Ducks struck first, scoring two runs in the first inning. Hanna Delgado and Allee Bunker led off with two singles. Terra McGowan scored Delgado on a double into left center, then Bunker scored on an Ariel Carlson ground out to third. 

Stevie Hansen, pitching for the second straight day after throwing arguably her best five innings of her college career the previous night, started the afternoon with the same precision. She held the Sun Devils scoreless through the first two innings. In the third, after walking three in a row to load the bases, Jazmine Hill homered off Hansen for the second straight game, giving ASU the lead and ending Hansen’s afternoon. 

“She [Hansen] is a freshman who is coming in and throwing a lot of innings for us,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “There is plenty of time, but we’ve got to move.”

The Ducks responded, and repeatedly made insufficient cuts into the Sun Devil lead, scoring with aggressive baserunning. After a leadoff double in the third by Rachel Cid, Gabby Herrera replaced Cid on second base and scored on a Terra McGowan single. McGowan would advance to second on a passed ball and Carlson walked, but the Ducks would strand both as KK Humphreys and Vallery Wong struck out, Jas Williams fouled out to the catcher.

In the fourth inning, Raegan Breedlove took the pitcher’s circle for the Ducks. After a leadoff lineout, two singles put runners on for Cydney Sanders who then homered to left center, growing the Sun Devil lead to 7-3.

Once again the Ducks would make up some of the distance in the fourth and sixth, scoring one in the bottom of the fourth, but never sparked a run large enough to catch up to the high powered ASU offense. 

“It’s really tough when we are coming from behind all the time,” Bunker said. “You can’t just step in the box and feel free, there is always something on our backs.”

In the fourth, Delgado reached base on a one out single and advanced to third on a Bunker double. Delgado reached home on a Cid sacrifice fly, but the Ducks once again stranded runners as McGowan fouled out to first, stranding Bunker. 

Makenna Kliethermes pitched well for the Ducks, striking out six and allowing two hits in 3 2/3 innings. She escaped in the sixth inning, striking out Hill to end the inning with Sanders on third.

“I’m a huge fan of Makenna,” Lombardi said. “She moves the ball really well, she knows how to change speeds… I’m all for it.”

In the sixth, Bunker hit a two run shot with Delgado on base to cut the ASU lead to 7-6. That home run was just the Ducks’ sixth in the last nine games. During this stretch, Oregon’s opponents have hit 16. 

“It’s very hard to defend if we can’t keep the ball in the yard,” Lombardi said. “It’s about working ahead… and being consistent.”

With the loss the Ducks fall to 24-11, and 4-8 in the Pac-12. They’ll look to bounce back Thursday, April 14 at the University of Arizona in Tucson.