Although it was a win, it wasn’t a very pretty one.
Led by a dominating performance by Cheridan Hawkins in the pitcher’s circle, the Ducks’ offense caught up in the end of the game as No. 2 Oregon defeated BYU 8-0 in six innings.
“We didn’t exactly light the ball up but we found some holes,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “We did the Yogi Berra thing — we hit it where they ain’t.
Oregon had some base-running mistakes early on that limited its offensive production early on.
Janie Takeda and Koral Costa were both thrown at home in separate innings while Danica Mercado was picked off at second base that ended a rally.
Hawkins improve to 28-3 on the year with the win. She threw six innings, gave up one hit and one walk while striking out 12 BYU batters.
“I think my mindset coming into the game was just try to be aggressive and hit my corners and make the ball move,” Hawkins said.
“From my advantage point, everything was working for (Hawkins),” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “Not only is she a talented pitcher, she’s a competitor — in my opinion, she’s as good as anyone in the country.”
The Ducks, led by Costa and Nikki Udria, pounded out 11 hits and stole two bases in the victory.
Costa went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI’s while Udria went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI’s. Takeda and Mercado each added two hits apiece while Geri Ann Glasco chipped in two RBI’s.
Oregon started off the game with a run in the first inning when it took advantage of two walks and two hit-by-pitches to get the run across the plate.
The Ducks struck again in the third inning on a RBI single by Glasco to take a 2-0 lead.
The Ducks nearly ended the game in the fifth inning when they scored five runs on four hits, but Oregon left two runners on base. Costa and Udria both had RBI doubles in the inning.
With a 7-0 lead entering the sixth inning, Hawkins struck out the side to bring Oregon back up to bat with a chance to win it.
With runners at first and second with two outs, Costa blooped a single right over the third baseman’s head that allowed Decker to score to seal the run-rule win.
“I think we did a very good job of letting the (BYU) pitcher do the work and us taking it from there,” Costa said.
Oregon plays North Dakota State tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. The winner advances to the championship of the Eugene Regional on Saturday at 1 p.m. while the loser plays in an elimination game later Friday at 5 p.m.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter: @Ryan_Kostecka