Sophomore Kailee Cuico and junior Samantha Pappas@@names checked@@ hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to lift No. 12 Oregon to an 8-0 victory over Seattle in nonconference softball Wednesday afternoon at Howe Field. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205423057@@ @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=245&SPSID=4374@@
The Ducks (36-12) scored a single run in the second, four more in the fourth and three more in the fifth to send the visiting Redhawks (15-30) home with their eighth-straight loss. Oregon also completed a come-from-behind victory in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, 10-8, and finished with 18 hits on the day. @@http://www.goseattleu.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=18200&SPID=10765&SPSID=89861@@
“It seems like when one or two of our hitters have taken a day off, we’re coming through with other hitters,” third-year head coach Mike White @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=3758490@@said. “In our first game Kailee didn’t get any hits and Kelsey (Chambers) got a couple, then this last one Kailee got a couple. We’ve had a different hero stepping up each day and that’s important for us, because it’s hard for someone to do it every day.” @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4373&SPID=245&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=3758490&Q_SEASON=2011@@
With a 1-0 lead after three full innings, Oregon exploded for four runs in the bottom of the fourth on the strength of a two-run home run off the bat of senior left fielder Christie Nieto@@http://www.lockerpulse.com/NCAA/Oregon/@@. Nieto’s seven home runs on the year trails only senior shortstop Kelsey Chambers (eight), junior second baseman Kaylan Howard (nine) and Cuico (nine) for the team lead.@@http://www.lockerpulse.com/NCAA/Oregon/@@
In the decisive fifth inning, Chambers drew a walk to open the frame before Cuico sent a 1-1 pitch sailing over the right field fence to push the Ducks ahead 7-0. On the ensuing at-bat, Pappas — Oregon’s second leadoff hitter with a .374 batting average on the year — drove a 2-1 pitch over the same fence to seal the victory in walk-off fashion. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/softball/stats/2012/HTML/lgplyrs.htm@@
Freshman right-hander Karissa Hovinga@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Karissa+Hovinga@@ (12-3) threw a one-hit shutout to pick up her second win of the day, needing just 42 pitches to retire 15 of the 17 batters she faced.
“It was just a different attitude,” White said. “Both defensively and offensively.”
Pappas (3 for 3) and Nieto (2 for 2, three RBI) each had multiple hits for the Ducks.
Game one
In Wednesday’s opener, Seattle used a four-run second inning to take an early lead, and then added two more runs in the fifth and sixth innings to claim an 8-4 advantage heading into the final frame.
Hovinga held Seattle scoreless in the top of the inning before the Ducks rallied for six runs with no outs in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win.
Chambers roped a walk-off single over the center fielders’ head to score Janie Takeda@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Takeda@@ and Howard, giving Oregon a 9-8 come-from-behind victory. Chambers finished the game 2 for 3 with two walks, three RBIs and a run scored, while sophomore catcher Alexa Peterson went 3 for 4 with a run scored and four RBI, including a two-run home run in the decisive seventh inning.
Hovinga gave up 10 hits over seven innings of work — her eighth complete game this season — and struck out four and walked four more.