The Oregon softball team won its eighth game in a row on Saturday night, taking down No. 7 Arizona State 9-1 in seven innings in Tempe, Arizona. The high quality pitching and barrage of power hitting from the No. 3 Ducks (34-6) was too much for Arizona State (33-7) to handle.
Senior Gwen Svekis continued to take her power hitting to another level. She hit two solo home runs — one in the second and another in the fifth inning. Her 13 total home runs make her the Pac-12 leader.
Immediately after Svekis launched her second homer, Mary Iakopo went deep. It was the eighth hit of the game for Oregon, and Arizona State’s starting pitcher, Breanna Macha, was replaced immediately after. Oregon had 13 total hits.
Miranda Elish (14-1) pitched all seven innings, gave up only four hits, struck out 12 and walked zero batters. Just a few weeks removed from throwing her first perfect game, the sophomore has been playing some of the best ball of her career. She credits it to a change in pitching mentality.
“Last year I was just a lot of down and hard, and sometimes I wouldn’t even hit my spots,” Elish told the media before the series began. “But now I really just focus on the quality pitches coach White talks about a lot.”
Senior DJ Sanders also contributed heavily to run-ruling Arizona State. The shortstop had an RBI-double in the third inning and hit a solo home run to left field in the seventh.
The Sun Devils’ lone run came in the fifth inning, when freshman Deane Chatman homered to center field.
The Ducks, under Mike White, have swept the season series against Arizona State for the past three years. Oregon will look to continue that trend tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m.
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