Kaylan Howard and Kailee Cuico@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=245&SPSID=4375@@ each hit home runs to lift the No. 17 Oregon softball team to an 8-5 victory over No. 14 Stanford Thursday night in Palo Alto, Calif.@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&KEY=&SPID=245&SPSID=4374@@
With the win, Oregon improved to 24-7 overall and 3-3 in Pac-12 play. Stanford dropped its third-straight contest to fall to 27-9 on the year and 1-6 against conference opponents.@@http://www.pac-12.org/SPORTS/Softball.aspx@@
Oregon jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Cuico hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring fellow sophomore Courtney Ceo,@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4375&SPID=245&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204963981&Q_SEASON=2011@@ who singled earlier in the frame.
The Ducks added two more runs in the top of the third, thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of junior second baseman Kaylan Howard. Howard leads Oregon with seven round trippers so far this season.@@https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf8/823858.pdf?ATCLID=205360891&SPSID=4376&SPID=245&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
With Oregon out front 3-0, Stanford responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to one run. The Ducks answered with a single run in the fourth and three more in the fifth to go ahead 7-2 before the Cardinal added two more runs in the bottom of the inning and one more in the sixth.
A one-run seventh inning put the Ducks on top 8-5, which proved to be the winning margin as junior pitcher Jessica Moore@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4375&SPID=245&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=204763349&Q_SEASON=2011@@ retired the side in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
Moore (17-5) tossed her 16th complete game of the year and finished with five strikeouts against three walks.@@http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-softbl/stats/2011-2012/ore1.html@@ All five of Stanford’s runs were earned; while the Cardinal out-hit the Ducks 11-9, they committed three errors defensively.
Stanford starter Teagan Gerhart (22-5) struck out three, walked two and five of the eight runs she allowed were earned.@@see above@@
Cuico (2 for 3, four RBI) and left fielder Allie Burger (2 for 3) each recorded multiple hits for Oregon, while five other players hit safely in the victory.@@see above@@
Game two of the three-game series is scheduled to begin tonight at 7 p.m.@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=245&SPSID=4374@@