Mia Camuso was supposed to bunt. Instead, she ignored her coach’s sign and hit a walk-off single up the middle to keep Oregon softball’s perfect season going.
It was scoreless for seven-and-a-half innings at Jane Sanders Stadium in the final game of Oregon’s series against Arizona State. But finally in the eighth inning, the drought ended. Oregon won the game in walk-off fashion in its first extra innings game of the year, beating the Sun Devils 1-0 to keep the team’s undefeated campaign alive at 33-0.
“I actually kind of messed up. I was supposed to do a sacrifice bunt,” Camuso said. “I knew that I couldn’t leave my teammates out there so I took my best shot at that pitch.”
The game had a familiarity to the Ducks’ 1-0 win over BYU on Thursday, when pitchers Maggie Balint and Oregon escaped a pitching duel with the Cougars’ McKenna Bull. This time it was a combination of Megan Kleist and Maggie Balint against Arizona State’s Dale Ryndak.
“It was a pitcher’s duel,” head coach Mike White said. “Three pitchers threw really well. Ryndak really kept us off balance.”
Megan Kleist returned to the circle after pitching the first 2.2 innings on Saturday in Oregon’s 8-4 win. Freshman pitcher Miranda Elish, who entered in relief of Kleist yesterday, batted ninth in the order today as the Ducks’ designated player.
Oregon had an early chance to score in the second inning with the bases loaded, but Danica Mercado could not convert the three baserunners to runs as she grounded out to first to end the inning.
Arizona State had a loaded bases situation of its own in the fifth but squandered the chance to score with a flyout from Skylar McCarty to Lauren Lindvall kept the game deadlocked at zero.
Kleist allowed only four hits and finished the day with four strikeouts and two walks in 7.1 innings. Balint entered in relief with a runner at first and one out.
“I think it was her location,” White said. “She came out throwing strikes and that makes it much easier on our defense.”
Balint struck out the first batter she faced and got the Ducks safely to the bottom of the seventh thanks to a strong throw from Lilley across the diamond to Camuso to get an out.
Oregon could not provide a run in the seventh and the game went to extra innings, the first time this season the Ducks have played beyond seven.
The Ducks got out of the top of the eighth unscathed and got the job done in the bottom half of the inning thanks to Camuso’s walk-off single.
“We’re hanging tough,” White said. “Our top three hitters didn’t get a hit today. Not very often you get a win when you’re top three hitters don’t get a hit. We found a way, scratched it out.”
Oregon takes on Portland State in a double header on Tuesday April 4.
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow