The Oregon Ducks have been on the road the majority of the season so far, and even though the first two homestands at Jane Sanders are against top-five teams in the country, they were hoping that the comfort of being home would be on their side.
But it wasn’t.
After snapping Stanford’s 21-game winning streak in the previous game, Oregon softball lost its fourth conference game 3-2 following the Cardinal’s Alana Vawter’s complete game.
“We wanted to be on the other side of this,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “But, we aren’t worried. Whenever something bad happens, something good comes out of it.”
Stevie Hansen, who is currently leading the Pac-12 and is third in the NCAA with 12 wins so far this season, pitched 4 1/3 innings while allowing three hits and pairing it with one run and one strikeout. Raegan Breedlove entered the game to relieve her, but she only lasted 1 2/3 innings after giving up five hits and two runs.
Morgan Scott, a transfer from UNC Greensboro, closed the game by allowing one hit and a strikeout.
Stanford threatened to score in the top of the second after putting two runners on with a double and a hit by pitch, but the Cardinal’s infield flies ended the threat. Oregon responded by scoring its first run of the game after back-to-back singles from Ariel Carlson and Hanna Delgado.
Carlson stayed busy in left field as she recorded the majority of Oregon’s outs, including three straight pop flies in the top of the first inning.
The Cardinal started the bottom of the third inning with an error by shortstop Emily Young that put KK Humphreys on base, but the Ducks couldn’t advance runners past second base despite two singles and a warning track pop-up by Carlson.
Delgado opened the bottom of the fourth inning with a triple down the right field line, and Vallery Wong was able to bring her home to add one more run to their lead.
“I think I tracked the ball a lot better today,” Delgado said. “Not overthinking it and letting my mind run free really helped.”
Delgado’s 3-for-3 performance helped the No. 19 Ducks stay competitive against No. 7 Stanford, but after the fifth inning, it didn’t matter.
Stanford’s center fielder, Taylor Gindlesperger, started the following inning with a triple to center field. Immediately after, Hansen threw a wild pitch that brought her home and was pulled out of the game. Once Breedlove entered, Stanford was able to make strong contact with a double that turned into a triple after an error in left field and a single to tie the game. Second baseman Allee Bunker ended the damage with a routine double play.
The Ducks continued to put runners on base throughout the rest of the game, but struggled to advance them. Stanford took the lead in the top of the sixth, and Oregon wasn’t able to respond.
“We had plenty of opportunities,” Lombardi said. “This game showed that the little things matter.”
Oregon softball will continue to settle in at home with a three-game series against No. 3 UCLA. First pitch is on Friday at 6 p.m.
