Oregon’s second day at the Cardinal Classic saw its bats jolt to life. Game 1 was a close battle; the Ducks used three pitchers and were tied late in the game after Cal State Fullerton put together a comeback.

Head coach Melyssa Lombardi’s squad, though, opened up Game 2 quickly and never took its foot off the gas. Starting pitcher Taylour Spencer (5 innings, 10 K, one walk, one hit, no runs) had a career performance in the circle as Oregon cruised past the University of Kentucky in just five innings. 

Game 1: Oregon 5-4 Cal State Fullerton

Maddie Milhorn got her first start of her collegiate career and sent the Titans down in order with two strikeouts and a groundout to start the game.

The Titans, though, got on the board first with a solo homerun to center field from Sarah Coccillos to start the second inning. Milhorn put two on with two out following a hit-by-pitch and an error, but neither came around to score.The Ducks got runners at second and third in the bottom of the second inning; but a strikeout and a groundout ended the Ducks chances, and the Titans were still ahead 1-0.

Milhorn was replaced by Elise Sokolsky after two singles in the second frame. With runners on the corners, the Titans scored on a bunt down the third base line. 

Catcher Emma Cox got the Ducks a much-needed second out when she backpicked the runner at second base. At the end of the top of the third, the Titans were ahead 2-0.

The Ducks broke free in the bottom of the third. A bases-loaded walk from Elon Butler and a sacrifice fly from Rylee McCoy tied the game. Ayanna Shaw singled putting the Ducks ahead 3-2. Shaw then got in a pickle in between first and second base, Butler broke home from third and scored before Shaw was tagged out: 4-2, Oregon.

Lyndsey Grein came in to replace Sokolsky. Grein was great coming out of the bullpen, working her way through the Titans’ lineup and not allowing the offense to get going. 

The Ducks offense was also stagnant. Though they had worked strong at bats, and gotten runners on, Oregon was unable to convert anything into runs. 

The Titans tied the game up 4-4 in the top of the sixth with a two run home run for Annika Sogsti. The first runs scored for the Titans since the third inning.

Oregon bats came alive in the bottom of the inning. A base hit from Braiesey Rosa and a bunt from Shaw set up a nice opportunity for the Ducks. Amaral knocked in Rosa to give the Ducks 5-4 lead. Though Oregon had no outs, the one run was all it got.

The Titans ended the game the way they started: one-two-three, this time at the hands of Grein. The 5-4 win means that Oregon swept Cal State Fullerton.

Game 2: Oregon 9-0 Kentucky

For the first time this weekend, Oregon was the away team — and it got the scoring going early. Kaylynn Jones beat out an infield single, and Amari Harper ripped a double that scored Jones from first. Harper advanced from second to third on a foul ball fly out from Butler, then scored on a sacrifice fly from McCoy. The Ducks led the Wildcats 2-0. 

Taylour Spencer took the circle for Oregon. Spencer brought her success from the NFCA Leadoff Classic, where she struck out nine and only gave up three runs through three appearances, to California as she started out the game with two strikeouts. 

The Oregon bats stayed hot in the second: Amaral reached on an error, advanced to second on a Cox single. A Katie Flannery flyout in foul territory allowed Amaral to advance to third, who scored on a Jones single to advance the Ducks’ lead to 3-0.The Ducks loaded the bases to begin the third. Rosa singled into left, Butler and Legg (pinch runner for McCoy) scored: 5-0 Oregon.

Oregon wasn’t done, Cox plated Shaw from third on a sacrifice fly. Flannery followed up with another RBI single. The Ducks bludgeoned the Wildcats in the third as they crossed the plate four times and increased their lead to 7-0.

Spencer kept the Wildcats at bay. She had five strikeouts through the first three innings, and managed to keep Kentucky hitless until the third when the Wildcats finally broke through with an Allie Blum single.

The fourth saw the Ducks score again. Shaw singled with two outs and got to third on a double steal after a passed ball. Rosa reached on a fielding error, and Shaw scored: Oregon increased its lead to 8-0.

Cox led off the top of the fifth and promptly launched a solo shot to center field. Oregon scored in each of the five innings and led the Wildcats 9-0. 

If a team is up by at least eighty through five innings, the game would end due to the NCAA run rule. If Spencer could hold the Wildcats to less than two runs in the bottom of the fifth, the game would end.

Spencer set a new career high with 10 strikeouts, shut the Wildcats down and the game ended 9-0.  

Oregon plays its first ranked opponent in No. 13 Stanford tomorrow at 12:00 pm. Radio broadcast is available through KWVA.