The No. 25 Oregon Ducks (11-7) defeated the Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers (2-8) 10-2 on a run-rule following a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 6th inning. The Ducks picked up their second win over the Mountaineers in the Jane Sanders Classic after winning the first game 17-0 on Thursday.
Just a day after being held hitless and scoreless, the Mountaineers’ Abigayle Perry was able to get on base in the 1st after being walked. She was advanced to third base before reaching home on a sacrifice groundout to open the scoring in the game. Despite the run, the Mount was still held hitless in the inning, relying on sacrifices to get Perry home.
Oregon made sure to respond quickly in the bottom of the 1st. Kai Luschar hit a leadoff triple before being brought home one batter later on a single from Ariel Carlson. The parade of hits would not stop there as Vallery Wong earned her spot on base, then Alyssa Daniell hit a single to bring Carlson home.
A couple of failed bunt attempts from the Ducks allowed the Mountaineers to earn two outs, before a single to left field from Emma Kauf finally broke through the defense again to bring Wong and Daniell home. Mount Saint Mary’s was finally able to end the inning, but the Ducks had a 4-1 advantage heading into the top of the 2nd inning.
The Mountaineers were finally able to get their first hit of the weekend in the 2nd via a double from Laurenne Gallagher that was enough to bring home Lia Festa — who had been walked earlier in the inning. That prompted a pitching change from Oregon after Elise Sokolsky allowed two runs and two walks in just 1.1 innings pitched. Taylour Spencer came in to take Sokolsky’s place. Spencer was able to get the next two batters out, ending the inning for Mount Saint Mary’s.
The bottom of the 2nd saw the Ducks go right back on the offensive. Two walks put two runners in perfect position to capitalize on a double from Wong that plated Luschar and Carlson. Unfortunately for Oregon, a double-play resulted in the inning ending early with the score 6-2.
The scoring for both teams stalled in the next few innings. Through the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings, Spencer did not allow a hit, and the only Mountaineer to get on base did so after being hit by a pitch. However, the Ducks were unable to capitalize on the opportunity to extend their lead, totalling just two hits in the bottom of the 3rd and 4th innings.
The bottom of the 5th inning finally saw Oregon get back on the board with KK Humphreys leading off the frame with a single and eventually scoring after a fielding error allowed her to advance home. The run brought the score to 7-2 in favor of the Ducks.
Mount Saint Mary’s was able to get a single in the top of the 6th, but was unable to do anything with it as the pinch runner was caught stealing, then two straight outs ended the inning.
In the bottom of the 6th, Carlson and Daniell both reached on their second hits of the day. The game ended in walk-off fashion on a home run from Humphreys, her third home run of the Jane Sanders Classic. The home run brought the final score to 10-2 as Oregon won on a run-rule.
Sokolsky earned the win for the Ducks, but it was Spencer who did the brunt of the pitching work. She pitched 4.2 innings and allowed just one hit in her time on the mound. She also recorded two 1-2-3 innings to help Oregon secure another win.
The Ducks take on the Maryland Terrapins later on Friday at 3:00 p.m. Oregon lost to Maryland 7-3 in its first game of the 2023 season.
