For a few brief moments, it looked like the Oregon softball team would play with some fire in the series finale after getting run-ruled by Washington the day before. But Oregon had to deal with Taran Alvelo, the Pac-12 strikeout leader, and only collected three hits, and none past the second inning.
No. 7 Washington (25-6, 3-3 Pac-12) swept Oregon (12-15, 0-6 Pac-12) in the Pac-12 home opening series, run-ruling the Ducks in five innings for the second consecutive game, winning 8-0 off an explosive second inning. The Ducks are now on a 12-game losing streak.
Jordan Dail (9-8) pitched just 1.2 innings before being replaced by Maggie MacGrandle. It was a rare outing for Dail, who has thrown 115.4 innings this season, the most in the nation. The next closest is Taylor McQuillin of Arizona at 96.1 innings.
Alvelo (13-4) leads the Pac-12 in strikeouts with 146, and was steady all night, pitching five innings with five strikeouts, no walks and just three hits. Alvelo is averaging 10.35 strikeouts per seven innings, which second in the nation.
The Huskies put on a scoring clinic in the second inning, posting six runs on three hits. They got two on with no outs after Taryn Atlee singled, then Kaija Gibson walked on four pitches. Dail nearly got out of the inning unscathed, striking out Madison Huskey, and forcing Nawai Kaupe to pop out to, but then Washington loaded the bases after Amirah Milloy forced the count full and walked to load the bases.
Dail walked in Bates for the first run of the game. The frustration showed for Dail, who then hit Morganne Flores on the first pitch to walk in another run. Sami Reynolds tacked on two more runs with a single to left field, knocking in Bates and Milloy to make it 4-0 lead. Noelle Hee then hit a line drive up the middle to bring in Reynolds and Flores. Gibson hit a solo homer into the bleachers to make it 7-0 by the third inning.
Washington put two runners in scoring position with one out in the fourth inning. MacGrandle walked Bates, then Flores singled to center field. Both runners advance on a groundout to first base. Hee sent a grounder to Sievers, but couldn’t pick up the ball and didn’t make the throw to first. Bates came across to score, making it an 8-0 game.
Early on, Oregon started innings well, but could not figure out a way to bring runners home. The Ducks wanted to swing on Alvelo from the get go, and Cherish Burks lead of the first inning with a single over the first base side. After Alee Bunker popped out on a bunt, Shaye Bowden singled to right field, and Burks reached third base. But Washington escaped in the inning when Haley Cruse popped out on the infield and Rachel Cid struck out swinging.
The Ducks need something to change if they are to have any chance in conference play. They will play one game against Pacific in Stockton, California, on Wednesday before heading to Stanford for a three-game series on Friday.
Follow August Howell on Twitter @howell_august
