Within moments of the start of the second game in Sunday’s double-header between Oregon and Oregon State at Howe Field, a rain delay forced both teams to clear the field. There were two outs in the bottom of the first and Oregon had runners on second and third.
Minutes after the brief delay, Hailey Decker hit a three-run homer that put the Ducks up 3-0 and set the path for the team’s scoring in the final game of the weekend series against the Beavers.
Oregon dominated the afternoon game with a 9-0 run-ruled win over Oregon State.
“We play in the rain all the time…all the time,” Oregon’s Cheridan Hawkins said. “Practice in the rain, play in the rain…I don’t think it was really a factor.”
The Ducks now move to 23-3 overall and 3-0 in Pac-12 play; the Beavers are 19-9, 0-3.
Oregon’s Janie Takeda chalked up her third home run of the year with the second three-run homer of the game. This time, it was a third-inning shot to center, bringing the score to 8-0.
The Ducks had three hits in the fourth and added on one more run, producing the game’s eventual final score of 9-0.
“We hit the ball well right from one through nine,” Oregon head coach Mike White said. “We had a lot of people who contributed and did a great job. In just the last game we had four hits from the bottom three hitters…anytime you do that, you’re going to be tough.”
Hawkins pitched a two-hitter into the fifth. She pitched all three wins in the Oregon State weekend series and is now 11-2. The junior has allowed only four earned runs in 73.1 innings this season.
Aside from allowing the Beavers to score zero runs, the Ducks also committed zero errors. “It is one of the few zeroes I appreciate,” White laughed.
Despite sweeping Oregon State in all three games in the series, Oregon coaches feel the team has yet to perform at the level that would allow them to win against some of the best teams in the country.
“Overall, we’ve got to play a lot better than that if we want to beat the top teams in the conference and the nation,” White said.
Next up for the Ducks is a trip to Salt Lake City for a three-game series against Utah on Mar. 21 – 23.
Follow Sarah Scrivens on Twitter @sarahescrivens