The 13th-ranked Oregon softball team rode the arm of freshman
Alicia Cook to a home victory against Portland State in the first game of a doubleheader, but the Ducks couldn’t finish the sweep against the stingy Vikings, losing game two 6-5 Sunday. The two games were the first ever played in February at Howe Field.
Cook, a native of Elmira, overcame first-inning jitters in game one to throw a three-hitter complete game with an impressive 12 strikeouts — tying the third highest total ever at Oregon — in the Ducks’ 2-1 victory over the Vikings.
“I thought Cook pitched spectacular,” Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “Twelve strikeouts in her first home appearance is
pretty great.”
The right-hander started the game shaky after giving up back-to-back doubles to Portland State’s Kimi Daniel and Mandy Hill, which gave the Vikings (2-4 overall) an early 1-0 lead.
Oregon (6-4) responded when freshman left fielder Lovena Chaput drove a 2-2 pitch down the right-field line for a double, followed by a drive off the right-center-field wall by shortstop Breanne Sabol for an RBI double, scoring Chaput and tying the game at one apiece.
The hot-hitting Suzie Barnes ignited Oregon’s game-winning run when she singled to lead off the fifth inning. Chaput laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Barnes to second base. Barnes went to third on Sabol’s second hit of the game and scored on Beth Boskovich’s deep sacrifice fly to right field.
Cook (3-1) finished up the game allowing only one hit after the first inning and only two runners to get on base.
“I was definitely nervous,” Cook said of pitching in front of her friends and family for the first time in college. “The last time I pitched, I didn’t really have a good game … The ball was moving better today, and I had better spin.”
In the second game, a slugfest broke out with the Vikings coming out the victors.
Oregon took an early advantage in the bottom of the second inning when Erin Goodell singled in Dani Baird, but Portland State left fielder Laura Segall threw out T.J. Eadus at the plate when she tried to score from second base.
Barnes then ripped an RBI triple that hit the very top of the fence and bounced back — inches from a home run. The extra-base hit gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead.
Portland State battled back in the top of the fourth when Kayla Lewis lined an Amy Harris pitch over the left-center-field wall for
a game-tying, two-run homer. Lewis came into the game hitting below .100, but went 2 for 3 with a double and a home run in the
second game.
In the bottom half of the inning, Barnes stepped up for the Ducks again and blasted a two-run homer over the center-field fence to give the Ducks a 4-2 lead. The home run was Barnes’ team-leading fourth of the season and her fourth within one week.
The Vikings bounced back with three runs in the top of the fifth inning when Alayna Petersen blasted a three-run home run over the left-field fence to give Portland State a one-run lead at 5-4.
Oregon fought back, picking up a run to tie the score at five in the bottom half of the inning from a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a wild throw by Portland State catcher Rose Rutledge trying to toss out Boskovich at third base.
No one scored again until the seventh inning when Ani Nyhus, who came in to relieve Harris in the sixth inning, gave up a lead-off double to Whitney Olsen. Cook then came into the game for the Ducks and threw out the first
hitter she faced, who laid down a sacrifice bunt.
Portland State’s Daniel got jammed with an inside fastball from Cook, but hit enough of it to drop the ball into right field, giving the Vikings the lead for good at 6-5.
Oregon got a runner on second base with one out in the final
inning, but Boskovich and Ashley Richards both struck out to end
the game.
“Sometimes it comes down to who wants it more, and it was pretty apparent they did,” Arendsen said. “We have some work to do before we are a good ball club.”
