Monique Fuiava belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to push No. 21 Oregon past the No. 15 California Golden Bears for the third time in as many days Sunday afternoon at Howe Field.
After freshman Samantha Pappas was intentionally walked for the second straight at-bat, Fuiava drove a 2-1 pitch over the center-field fence to seal the Ducks’ 8-6 victory. Fuiava found herself in almost an identical situation when Pappas was intentionally walked with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Fuiava was unable to drive her in.
“It feels good,” Fuiava said of her home run. “I don’t mind if teams keep on doing that because (Pappas) is a good hitter, so she deserves all the respect she gets. I just need to come through for my team.”
The Ducks (29-6, 5-1 Pac-10) extended their perfect home record to 11-0 this season, using a plethora of round-trippers to do so.
Oregon jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when senior center fielder Neena Bryant sent her third home run of the year sailing over the left-field fence. Cal responded with two runs of its own in the top of the second before Pappas put the Ducks back out in front with a three-run homer.
The Las Flores, Calif., native is now tied for eighth all-time for single season home runs by an Oregon player with 11.
With Cal then trailing 4-3 heading into the top of the fifth, sophomore Jamia Reid, the Pacific-10 Conference leader in hits and stolen bases, scored from first base off teammate Jace Williams’ double that reached the left-field fence to tie the game. The Bears then retook the lead when starting pitcher Valerie Arioto crushed her 10th home run of the year with a two-run shot.
“You don’t try to hit home runs — they happen,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “I think we hit the ball very hard yesterday and we only had two hits, but at least we hit it hard. Today we got the ball lifted a little bit and they went out.”
Oregon junior catcher Kaitlin Vitek led off the next inning with a single before being driven in by sophomore shortstop Kelsey Chambers’ sixth home run of the season to tie the game at six. Following scoreless innings in the seventh and eight, Cal came to bat in the top of the ninth at the top of its order, but Oregon freshman pitcher Jessica Moore recorded three straight ground ball outs to send it to the bottom of the ninth.
Oregon found itself at the top of the batting order as well, but freshman Allie Burger and Bryant both went down quickly, bringing Pappas back to the dish. At this point in the weekend, 23-year Cal head coach Diane Ninemire had seen plenty of Pappas and elected to put her on first base, leaving Fuiava with another opportunity to win it.
“I think Mo really took it to heart and said, ‘Hey I’m going to make you pay this time,’ and she did,” White concluded.
Vitek, who replaced regular starter Ashley Kivett behind the plate following a shaky performance Friday night, had the biggest breakout weekend for the Ducks. Her solo home run on Saturday afternoon — her first of the season — was one of only two hits for Oregon on the day, though it proved pivotal in the Ducks 1-0 win. She also recorded a timely hit late in the game on Friday night in Oregon’s 6-5 victory that also lasted nine innings. For the weekend, Vitek batted 4 for 6, while Fuiava went 6 for 12.
The series sweep was monumental for a team that went just 3-18 in conference play a year ago, and should give Oregon a boost of confidence as it heads into another key matchup when No. 1 Washington comes to town on Thursday.
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