Oregon softball’s final conference series of the year got off to a rocky start on Thursday evening, as the No. 14 Bruins used a nine-run outburst in the sixth inning to vanquish the No. 12 Ducks and seize hold of third place in the Pac-12 standings. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205425883@@
Oregon (37-15, 11-9 Pac-12) managed just three hits on the night and found itself shut out for the second time all season. Conversely, UCLA (36-16, 12-10) pounded 11 hits — seven of which coming in that fateful sixth inning, when the Bruins batted around the order — as lefty starter Jessica Hall flummoxed the Ducks at the plate through five dominant innings. @@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/ucla-w-softbl-mtt.html@@
“It turns pretty quickly on you, the game can,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “1-0 game, and all of a sudden it’s 10-0. We made some mistakes up over the plate, and they capitalized.”
It looked like a pitcher’s duel early on, with both teams drawing blanks on the scorecard through the first four innings. Indeed, it took until the fourth inning for Oregon to register a hit, when shortstop Kelsey Chambers reached base on an infield single. With the Bruins’ formidable hitting lineup also struggling to solve Duck starter Jessica Moore, UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez was forced to make some adjustments. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=245&SPSID=4375@@
“She kind of shut us down; we were getting the ground balls, getting the double plays, kind of falling into her game,” Inouye-Perez said. “So we had to do something a little different.” @@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/inouye-perez_kelly00.html@@
The adjustment turned out to be in the form of small ball, and indeed, UCLA’s first breakthrough came as a direct result of a bunt single by shortstop Kellie Fox. Second baseman Talee Snow followed with a double, breaking the scoreless tie and giving UCLA a lead it would not relinquish.
“That’s something we look to do as an offense is try to make adjustments and kind of figure out what’s happening in the game,” Inouye-Perez said. “The strike zone, what the pitcher’s strengths are, and that is the key.”
The Ducks managed their second hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth, as center fielder Janie Takeda lined a single off of Hall into centerfield. Yet even when Moore and second baseman Kaylan Howard made sharp contact, a Bruin was right there to make the catch. Luck, it seemed, was not on Oregon’s side. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=245&SPSID=4375@@
“I think we hit two or three line drives at people that could have been difference makers,” White said. “Jess (Moore) hit one, the one inning we hit three balls hard. Not much you can change about that, other than maybe try to hit it not at them.”
The game was truly lost in the top of the sixth inning, which once again began with a crafty bunt single down the third base line. After Moore walked the next batter, a double from first baseman Dani Yudin brought in UCLA’s second run. A single made it 3-0, and the onslaught had begun — all on the heels of that bunt. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205425883@@
“When you play back like that, you’ve gotta expect the bunt and we just weren’t quick enough to go out there and get it,” White said. “Catcher’s gotta come and make that play, or the pitcher’s gotta come and get it. The corners are pretty deep. We didn’t make the play, and we weren’t quick enough to recognize it.”
Moore was removed from the game after walking in a sixth run, but reliever Karissa Hovinga gave up a grand slam on just her second pitch, to UCLA’s Samantha Camuso, effectively ending any chance of an Oregon comeback. By the time Hovinga finally induced a groundout to end the inning, 13 UCLA batters had been to the plate and Oregon faced the prospect of an mercy rule loss.
The Ducks managed one more hit in the bottom of the sixth, but a deep flyout to right field by catcher Alexa Peterson officially ended the game and gave UCLA an early series advantage.
“To get (game) one is always big,” Inouye-Perez said. “You always want to be able to get game one in a three-game series.”