Oregon softball began its final regular season series at Stanford with a 9-2 victory over the Cardinal on Thursday night in Palo Alto, California. After losing three out of four games in April, Oregon has now won eight straight.
The Ducks’ bats came alive in the sixth inning as they put together a five-run inning after they entered the inning behind 2-1. Danica Mercado started off the strong hitting with a double. Soon after, Alexis Mack singled Mercado to third. Mercado scored on an error which also put runners on second and third
Shannon Rhodes then put Oregon on top with a double to left field which scored two runs and gave Oregon a 4-2 lead. Oregon scored two more runs after a Stanford pitching change and ended the inning leading 6-2.
Rhodes finished the day with one hit and a game-high three RBIs. Mia Camuso also contributed two hits and drove in two runs
Oregon scored the first run of the game in the third inning when Jenna Lilley stole home. But Stanford answered with two runs of its own in the fourth inning to jump ahead.
After the fourth, though, the Ducks took over. Megan Kleist and Oregon’s defense stifled Stanford for the remainder of the game, allowing zero hits or runs. Kleist finished the game with seven strikeouts and only allowed five hits
The Ducks plated three more runs in the seventh inning to take a 9-2 lead and put the game out of reach.
Oregon will play its second game against Stanford on Friday.
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03