It appears the No. 4 Oregon softball team has officially put its slow start behind itself.
After losing three of six games earlier in the year, the Ducks (26-4) have rebounded with 18 consecutive wins, tying the program record. The latest one, an 8-0 victory over Stanford (11-14) in six innings, came Saturday afternoon.
Cheridan Hawkins was dominant against Stanford once again, throwing 5.0 innings and giving up two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. With the win, Hawkins improves to 10-2 on the year.
“She’s getting people to swing and miss a lot, which is good,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “We’re going to have one of the better hitting teams in the country coming in next week.  … so we are going to need her at her best.”
Jenna Lilley was hit in the face by a pitch and lay bleeding on the dirt for several minutes before she was helped off by the coaches and training staff. Lilley was taken to Riverbend Hospital. As of Saturday night, doctors don’t believe she’ll need surgery, according to GoDucks.com
“They took her to the ER but we don’t really know of any information yet on what’s happening or how she’s doing,” White said after game. “We know she’s swollen but hopefully she’s good — our thoughts and prayers are with her.”
For the third consecutive game, the Ducks struck first by scoring two runs in an inning.
After a scoreless first inning for Oregon, Lauren Lindvall hit a two-out, two-RBI double to the right field fence to score Sammie Puentes and Janelle Lindvall. Puentes was the offensive star, going 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI.
The offense took an inning off before the Ducks scored two runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
“I thought we had better discipline today. We knocked that pitcher out that we only got three hits off last time, so we did a pretty good job there,” White said.
In the fourth inning, the Ducks took advantage of an error by Stanford’s pitcher, which scored Puentes and Cherish Burks.
The fifth inning saw Koral Costa and Geri Ann Glasco hit back-to-back doubles to start the frame. Puentes drove in Glasco with a single to give the Ducks a 6-0 lead.
Oregon finished the game in the fifth inning when Costa doubled home Nikki Udria, before coming around to score on a throwing error. Costa went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI.
Oregon returns to action when it faces No. 16 UCLA for a three-game series starting Friday at Jane Sanders Stadium.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka