Coming off series losses to UCLA and Washington, the Oregon softball team got back on track as they beat Stanford on Friday in a 2-1 pitching duel. They walked it off in the seventh despite a questionable call and Stanford playing the game under protest.
Brooke Yanez started on the mound for the Ducks, with her ERA creeping over 2.00 for the first time all season. She struck out the side in the first inning, but allowed a solo home run with two outs as the Cardinal took a 1-0 lead.
Haley Cruse beat out an infield single to lead off the Ducks’ first half of the first. Hanna Delgado followed with what appeared to be another infield single, but was called out for being out of the batter’s box. Allee Bunker followed with yet another infield single, but was also called out for being out of the batter’s box.
Oregon threatened in the second with a walk and a single but left two stranded. Yanez walked a batter in each the second and the third, but escaped both innings unscathed.
The Cardinal collected back-to-back singles in the fourth, but Yanez recorded two strikeouts to hold the deficit at 1-0. The Ducks, meanwhile, went down quietly in the third and fourth.
Alyssa Brito was hit by a pitch to begin the fifth, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Lexi Wagner walked to bring up the Ducks’ best hitter, Cruse, with two runners on.
Cruse hit a liner to right field that the Cardinal right fielder took a bad read on, resulting in a game-tying double. Nothing else came of it though, and the Ducks went to the sixth inning with a 1-1 ball game.
Both teams went down in order in the sixth. The Cardinal put up some tough at-bats against Yanez in the top of the seventh, but Yanez induced two infield lineouts and a strikeout to complete her seventh inning of work.
Alyssa Brito led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, making it her third base hit of the game. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Wagner struck out to bring up Cruse once again.
Stanford elected not to pitch to Cruse, putting her on with an intentional walk. Hanna Delgado then hit a bouncer past first base that appeared to be a walkoff single. The Stanford dugout argued that the ball was foul, much to the dismay of the fans at Jane Sanders Stadium.
The Ducks celebrated their win anyway, with Stanford players remaining on the field while the umpires discussed the call. Eventually, the umpires signaled that Stanford was protesting the call, and then spent a long time talking to Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi. Oregon players cheered while Stanford fans booed.
The Cardinal players gathered on the mound and in the dugout as the umpires went to review the call. The fans grew restless as the umpires took about 25 minutes to make a call. They finally made their decision, electing that Oregon did, in fact, win.
Upon video review, the first base umpire did appear to initially call the ball foul. This would presume that the game should have continued, despite the fact that Oregon immediately celebrated their win.
Regardless, the Ducks came away with a bizarre 2-1 victory, although the game is still officially under protest by Stanford.
Oregon will play game two of the doubleheader approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
