Oregon’s trail to Oklahoma City started on Friday evening, and Ayanna Shaw was at the reins. A fourth inning rocket of a grand slam into The Bob sent Jane Sanders Stadium into a frenzy. The five run fourth inning was all the Ducks needed to take Game 1 of the Regional.

The No. 4 seed Oregon Ducks started the Eugene Regional off Friday night against a familiar foe: the Idaho State University Bengals. Both teams faced off against each other back in February when playoffs were just a small, blurry speck in the distance. Both forged their way back to Eugene for a rematch with Oregon taking it 5-1.

Taylour Spencer got the nod on Friday. Before the game, news on Lyndsey Grein was that she is considered day-to-day with an eye infection. She took the field for introductions not in uniform and with a huge wide pad of gauze over her left eye. 

Spencer (3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 K) dealt into the top of the fourth. She ended her day with four strikeouts, three of them looking, and pitched her way out of a couple tough jams. A one-out single to left field ended her gritty night.

“I loved Taylour setting the tone, even though we gave up one run in the first inning, it’s going to happen,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “What I love is how she got out of the jam, and she just got better as every inning went (on).”

Idaho State got on the board fast. Alyssa Yee roped a leadoff double and Ava Brown drove her home with a well placed single over Kaylynn Jones head into center field. Spencer gave up another single, but struck out two to end the frame only conceding the one run to the Bengals.

Stefini Ma’ake got the first knock for the Ducks with a textbook ground ball up the middle. But, just as in the first, the Ducks went quietly. 

Oregon got a great opportunity in the bottom of the third. Two walks to Katie Flannery and Elon Butler, then Amari Harper was hit by the pitch to load the bases with one out. Emma Cox beat a groundball to the second baseman Belle Navarrete who started the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. The Ducks got nothing from the one out gift they were presented. 

“We hit some balls really hard that just didn’t go our way,” Lombardi said.

Elise Sokolsky took over with a runner on and one out in the top of the fourth. She got two outs, the last on a nifty glove flip from Jones to Taryn Ho at second to beat the runner.

“I’ve said it before, I’d put my defense against anyone else in the country. That’s just how much I trust them,” Sokolsky said.

The rest of Sokolsky’s night was lockdown. She picked right up where Spencer left off and finished the night with 3.2 innings pitched, five strikeouts and no hits on the evening. 

“We always talk about taking it one game at a time, so that was my main priority tonight,” Sokolsky said. “I was just trying to think pitch by pitch, what do I need to do to get us back in the dugout.”

Another golden opportunity came the Ducks way the next inning. Ma’ake drew a walk (her third walk of the season), Jones bunted and Rylee McCoy laced a single to center field. Bases loaded again, this time with all three outs to work with.

Ayanna Shaw sent a missile out to The Bob in center field. She got every last stitch of her second home run, an absolute laser into the Eugene night sky. The defibrillator went off and The Jane was surging with life. 

“I was just trying to look for a pitch over the plate,” Shaw said. “If I saw it over the plate I was swinging.”

They loaded the bases again in the inning and Cox made sure to get at least one in this time with a sacrifice fly to right. 

Sokolsky closed the game out and secured the Ducks 5-1 win in their first game of the Eugene Regional.

The Ducks are back tomorrow at 2pm to play Mississippi State University. The game will be broadcast via KWVA (radio) and does not yet have a TV broadcast.