A home run by junior center fielder Neena Bryant wasn’t enough to push Oregon (13-23, 2-7 Pacific-10 Conference) past Oregon State Saturday at Howe Field, losing 2-1 to end the Civil War series for the year with a 1-2 record against OSU.
Bryant’s fifth home run of the season came on a 1-1 pitch in the fourth inning, a solo shot over the left-field wall that ended scoring for both teams for the rest of the game.
Oregon State (20-19, 3-6 Pac-10) scored both its runs in the top of the fourth inning. Audrey Roderfeld hit a solo home run to left field as well, and Deann Young singled in OSU’s Tarah Black with two outs later in the inning.
Both runs came off Oregon senior Melissa Rice, who fell to 0-5 this season in her first Pac-10 start of the season. Freshman Samantha Skillingstad relieved Rice for the final 3.1 innings, striking out three batters and giving up no runs on two hits. On the hill for Oregon State, Eugene native Kelly Dyer threw five innings with five strikeouts and one run.
In the loss Bryant stole her 23rd base of the season, which moves her into a tie for fourth place all-time for UO with 60 career stolen bases. Her home run also moved her up that all-time list. It was her 25th career home run, which moves her into a tie for sixth and one home run behind fifth place.
On Friday afternoon, Oregon won 3-2 behind home runs by senior Sari-Jane Jenkins and junior Blair Williamson that came in the first inning. Normally a slap hitter who uses her speed on the bases, Jenkins’ home run was her third in four games.
Jenkins did not record a hit Saturday, which leaves her one hit behind second place all-time in UO history, and eight hits behind the leader.
Williamson is also undergoing a power surge, with her two-run shot that drove in sophomore Monique Fuiava being her third homer of the season in her last seven games.
The Beavers didn’t score until the fourth inning behind strong pitching by Skillingstad, who moved into ninth place all-time in innings pitched in a season. After her work Saturday, she is still four innings short of tying Alicia Cook for seventh place with 125 innings.
Oregon’s other loss to the Beavers this season was another one-run game, a 2-1 loss on March 21 that served as the team’s Pac-10 season opener.
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