Oregon star Allee Bunker struck out twice against Oklahoma State on Friday, after having only 10 total in the 2022 season. She was bound to have a breakout performance, and she delivered against No. 25 Ole Miss. Bunker led Oregon with four RBIs in its 9-3 victory Saturday.
The Ducks were 1-2 in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge going into the matchup. They were coming off a disappointing 3-0 loss against No. 3 Oklahoma State on Friday night.
Morgan Scott started on the mound for the Ducks. Scott dominated for the first six innings, giving up one run while striking out five.
Oregon started the game with a two-run first inning. KK Humphreys scored first on a hit from Alyssa Daniell. Daniell advanced to second base on the play, and then third following an Ole Miss error. A Terra McGowan RBI increased the lead to two for the Ducks.
Ole Miss got its first run in the fourth inning. Savana Sikes scored off a Mikayla Allee RBI, but the inning ended there with Allee tagged out for the third out. Ole Miss was able to keep the score close, trailing 2-1.
Oregon scored a run of its own in the fifth off an RBI from none other than Bunker. This time it would not allow Ole Miss to close the gap, with three strikeouts in a row.
The Ducks left no room for doubt after dominating the sixth inning. Vallery Wong had her first RBI and triple of the season. Following a hit and steal by Ariel Carlson and a Humphreys walk, the Ducks had the bases loaded. Bunker was at bat and hit a three-run double.
Ole Miss was forced to make a pitching change, but a Daniell RBI gave Oregon five runs in the sixth.
The Ducks got one more run in the game, following a Carlson RBI. Ole Miss would not quit though, as it scored two more runs in the seventh. The two runs occurred after Stevie Hansen came on the mound for Scott with runners on first and second and allowed both to score. Ole Miss was looking to find its rhythm as it headed into the second game of its doubleheader against Wisconsin.
Oregon will look to finish the tournament with another win in its game against North Dakota State Sunday at 6:30 a.m.
