The No. 15 Oregon softball team capped an undefeated weekend at the Bayer Cropscience Classic in Fresno, Calif., with a 6-0 win over San Diego State on Sunday afternoon. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205395900@@
The Ducks (18-3) have won nine straight games, including all five in Fresno, and will play their home opener on Tuesday evening against No. 1 Alabama at Howe Field. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=245&SPSID=4374@@
On Sunday, Oregon jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, then added two more runs in the sixth thanks to junior Samantha Pappas’ second home run of the season going over the left field wall. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205395900@@
Fellow junior Jessica Moore (12-2) was credited with the win after striking out two and scattering three hits in her second shutout of the season.
Oregon opened the weekend with victories over Butler (6-0) and Classic host Fresno State (5-4) on Friday, then topped Connecticut (9-3) and Purdue (9-1) on Saturday morning.
Freshman pitcher Karissa Hovinga was credited with her second shutout of the season against Butler in the tournament opener. Hovinga struck out six, walked three and gave up four hits in her fourth complete game of 2012. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205394894@@
Sophomore catcher Courtney Ceo (3 for 4) and Pappas (3 for 3) were the only Ducks to record multiple hits in that outing.
Later that night, sophomore Alexa Peterson hit a two-out, two-run single in the seven inning to help the Ducks to a narrow victory. It proved to be the last time the Oregon would be challenged for the weekend. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205395063@@
The Ducks combined to score 24 runs on 33 hits over their final three games, and few players were more impressive at the plate than Pappas and Ceo. @@I did the math@@
Pappas concluded the tournament batting .667 (8 for 12) with eight RBI, four runs and four walks. Ceo batted .500 (10 for 20) with seven runs scored from the leadoff position. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=245&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205395900@@