Oregon softball evened the series against Stanford with a 2-1 win on Saturday.
After losing to Stanford 3-1 in an extra inning on Friday night, it was the Ducks that took control of the game late in this one.
Morgan Scott started inside the circle for the Ducks. Through seven innings she recorded four strikeouts and only allowed four hits.
“Before this weekend I had a talk with [head] coach [Melyssa] Lombardi about coming out and playing the way I know how to play,” Scott said. “I needed to check myself and get my mentality of, ‘I’m not a contact pitcher, I’m a strikeout pitcher and I’m more power than anything else.’”
Scott had allowed the Cardinal to score two late runs in the eighth inning on Friday to steal the win. This time, she only allowed them to record two hits after giving up the initial run in the first.
The Cardinal started with another strong offensive inning. A single to second base scored a runner, but the Ducks kept the damage minimal. Scott recorded three strikeouts in the first.
KK Humphreys hit a double to the wall to start the Oregon offense. Allee Bunker batted in the run to tie the game in the first.
The Oregon defense and pitching didn’t allow any hits or runs in the next four innings. It was in a good position to take the lead but similar to the loss on Friday, it failed to capitalize with runners on bases.
Bunker took the game into her own hands. A solo home run to left field gave the Ducks the one-run lead.
“You’re going to compete every pitch and at times it’s not going to go your way,” Lombardi said. “But as long as each one of them is competing, it’s going to go for somebody. So just stay patient and keep competing. Keep competing, keep fighting and that’s what I thought they did today.”
Oregon were close to scoring more runs, but an overturned call dampened their rally. With a runner on third, Allison Benning pinch-hit. It appeared as if she had batted in another run, but the umpires called it an incorrect lineup card and put an out on the board instead.
It came down to the Oregon defense. With two outs and a runner on third, Paige Sinicki made the leaping catch for the final out.=
Oregon and Stanford finish the season series on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
