The Jane Sanders Stadium crowd of 2,019 knew exactly what the moment meant.
With the Ducks up 5-1 and Utah down to its final out, the crowd rose to its feet. Out in center field, senior Koral Costa allowed herself to soak it in. Why not, she thought — she’ll never be a part of a Pac-12 championship team again.
The bleachers began to rumble with noise. Hawkins then delivered the pitch. Utah’s Maddie Roth lined out to Geri Ann Glasco in right field and the celebration began. The Ducks drenched Mike White in ice water and silly string flew through the air.
On Friday night, Oregon won its fourth Pac-12 title in four years with a 5-1 win over Utah. That matches the Pac-12 record. UCLA had four-straight titles from 1988-1991.
Hawkins pitched a complete game for the Ducks, allowing five hits and striking out four Utes. She said the win is all the more special in the team’s first year at Oregon’s state-of-the-art stadium.
“You break this baby in with a championship,” Hawkins said with a smile. “Who doesn’t like that? That trophy is going to sit beautifully here. I’m so excited about that.”
Said Head coach Mike White: “I’m happy for our seniors, to win a ring, a championship, all four years — that’s unbelievable. We’ve set the standard pretty high.”
Oregon’s eight seniors will depart Eugene having won four-consecutive Pac-12 titles. That, Hawkins said, is no small feat.
“There are eight seniors, but it takes all of us to win this game,” Hawkins said. “There is nobody more important and nobody less important on this team. I think that’s really important to recognize.”
The Ducks scored first. Lauren Lindvall drove in the game’s first run. Utah responded with its lone run of the game in the third inning. The Utes’ Kay Kay Fronda doubled, scoring Kristen Stewart.
Oregon added two insurance runs in the fifth inning when Geri Ann Glasco doubled, scoring Nikki Udria and Jenna Lilley. That made the score 3-1. The Ducks put the game away when Alyssa Gillespie hit a towering home run to left center, giving Oregon a comfy 5-1 lead heading into the final inning of play.
The Ducks left seven runners on base and had 10 hits against the visitors.
“Getting 10 hits off that pitcher — I was pretty happy about that,” White said. “We just couldn’t score, but that’s what good defense does.”
Hawkins said capturing the title in front of the home fans made it more memorable. It also serves as a “thank you” to all the donors who made the stadium possible.
“It’s hard to say thank you for such a large donation,” Hawkins said. “I feel like winning a Pac-12 championship just says thank you a little bit. We still have a lot of thank you’s left, though.”
Costa said winning four-straight Pac-12 titles was always the goal when she first arrived in Eugene. But perhaps it wasn’t until after Oregon’s first title in 2013 when that appeared realistic.
“It was always a goal, but after the first ring, we saw it physically on our hand,” Costa said. “We said we can definitely do this. We can do four in a row.
“We can make history here.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne