The Cal Golden Bears again showed why they hold the top ranking in the country by taking two of three games from the 14th-ranked Oregon Ducks in Pac-12 softball this weekend at Howe Field.
After splitting the first two games of the series — an 8-1 Cal victory on Friday and a 1-0 Oregon win on Saturday — it was all Cal in Sunday’s rubber match. The Bears (42-3, 13-2 Pac-12) scored five runs in the third and five more in the sixth to give the Ducks (32-11, 9-7) their most lopsided loss of the season, 10-0, in six innings. It was the first time in 2012 that Oregon fell victim to the 10-run rule. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205417663@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=245&SPSID=4374@@ @@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/Softball/Standings.aspx@@ @@http://www.calbears.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/042212aaa.html@@
“They’ve played a good schedule and they’ve beat a lot of good teams,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “You don’t get to be No. 1 without doing some great things.”
The Bears broke out of a 10-inning scoreless drought by batting through the lineup en route to a five-run third inning. Facing a somewhat fatigued starter in Oregon’s Jessica Moore, who tossed her 21st complete game of the year on Saturday, Cal drew an uncharacteristic four walks in less than three full innings.
Moore was nearly flawless on Saturday, needing just 92 pitches to go the distance with eight strikeouts against one walk. But it was a different story for the 22-game winner early on Sunday. After walking the bases loaded, freshman right-hander Karissa Hovinga came on in relief and promptly surrendered a two-out, two-run double to Cal freshman Danielle Henderson. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205417663@@
Cal added to its lead on the ensuing at-bat when starting pitcher Jolene Henderson (24-1), the older sister to Danielle, roped a two-run single of her own to push the lead to 5-0.
Both Moore and Henderson had difficulty finding their rhythms with a noticeably inconsistent strike zone, and White believed that led to Moore’s early exit.
“That was part of the issue,” White said. “She had some battles there trying to find out where it was at and then got frustrated and it got to her.”
Hovinga held the Bears scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings before Cal belted three home runs in four at-bats to effectively put the game out of reach midway through the sixth. Ashley Decker (2 for 3, three RBI) and Breana Kostreba (1 for 3, two RBI) each hit two-run home runs in the inning, while the Pac-12’s leader in round-trippers, Valerie Arioto (1 for 2, two runs), hit her 20th of the year — a towering solo shot over the left-field fence.
By the time all was said and done, Cal outhit the Ducks 11-3 and put up the highest single-game scoring total for an Oregon opponent this season. The previous high was eight runs, which Cal scored in Friday’s victory.
Henderson won her second game of the weekend on the strength of six strikeouts against one walk and didn’t allow a hit after Kaylan Howard and Janie Takeda’s back-to-back singles in the bottom of the third inning. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205417663@@
A scary moment followed Takeda’s single, when senior shortstop Kelsey Chambers came to bat and fouled a pitch off her eye and was shaken up in the batter’s box for several minutes. Chambers, one of only two players to start in every game for Oregon this season, left the game with the medical staff and did not return.
“Hopefully she’s going to be OK,” White said. “It’s not a concussion — I think that’s the worst thing, or any kind of fracture in the orbital (bone) — because for her that would be a career-ending injury because it’s her senior season.”
Oregon has been plagued with injuries this season. Starting third baseman Courtney Ceo suffered a season-ending knee injury against Utah last weekend, while freshman outfielder Alyssa Gillespie (shoulder), sophomore infielder Lauren Kotz (back) and senior pitcher Samantha Skillingstad (back) have all seen their seasons come to an early end.
Filling the void at shortstop will likely fall on the shoulders of Lindsey Chambers, Kelsey’s twin sister, who has seen a lot of time on the infield during her four-year career. Freshman Jamie Rae Sullivan could also see some time at shortstop, White said.
“We’ll just have to go from there,” he said. “We’ve got to do the best we can with what we have and most of our players have seen time this year, so it’s not like we’re putting in somebody who hasn’t seen any time.”
Top-ranked Cal cruises to 10-0 victory over Oregon in Pac-12 softball
Lucas Clark
April 21, 2012
0
More to Discover