The No. 2 Ducks made history on Sunday at Howe Field in sweeping Arizona State for the first time since 1989.
Cheridan Hawkins threw a complete game, allowing five hits and striking out six to power Oregon to a 4-3 win over the No. 19 Sun Devils, completing a three-game sweep.
“That last one was a little close, but we won, and that’s all that matters,” Hawkins said.
The Oregon (35-5, 13-2 Pac-12) offense got started early, striking first in the bottom of the first. Nikki Udria got aboard on a walk, stole a base and Jenna Lilley drew a walk. With the bases loaded, Geri Ann Glasco drew a one-out walk with the bases loaded to score Udria.
An ASU (27-15, 5-6) fielders choice scored Lilley to give the Ducks an early 2-0 lead.
“We kind got outside of our game a little bit,” head coach Mike White said of the game. “We took too many good pitches and swung at some bad ones. It’s tough to do against a pitcher of that quality. … A sweep is a sweep.”
The Ducks tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second after Lauren Lindvall clubbed a lead off solo home run. A sacrifice fly by Jenna Lilley scored Alyssa Gillespie, pushing the Oregon lead to 4-0.
Lindvall was 2-of-3 from the plate on the afternoon, improving her average to .383 on the year. Her solo homer gives the Ducks at least one home run in the last seven games.
In the bottom of the third and top of the fourth, both the Ducks and Sun Devils went 1-2-3 as ASU’s Breanna Macha recorded her first scoreless inning.
In the top of the sixth, ASU’s Chelsea Gonzales blasted a two-run homer on a 0-2 count off of Hawkins to cut the Oregon lead to 4-2.
“You could feel the momentum starting to shift,” White said. “Because we kinda didn’t do anything. Didn’t do anything. And then all of a sudden, they go: ‘Hey. It’s the fifth or sixth inning. We’re only down by four runs.’ This game can change awfully quickly, we’ve seen that. Maybe that’s a bit of a wake up call.”
ASU got on the board again in the top of the seventh when Bethany Kemp knocked a solo home run to lead off the inning. Hawkins promptly shut down the remaining ASU batters, forcing a ground out, a fly out and a strike out to end the game.
Hawkins’ ERA is now 1.11 after throwing 91 pitches and giving up three earned runs on Sunday.
“She’s starting to mature as a pitcher,” White said, who suggested that a couple of years ago, giving up homers late would’ve rattled her.
The Ducks will be back in action this week at Hillsboro, Oregon when they make up last week’s doubleheader against Portland State on Tuesday.
“You always want the sweep,” Hawkins said. “Every win counts in this conference. If you can sweep, we always are going for that.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne