After earning three close victories via stellar pitching in the Hawaii Bank Invitational, No. 5 Oregon played its most complete game of the tournament on Saturday.
With two great pitching performances supported by an offensive explosion, the Ducks defeated Montana (6-0) and Hawaii (17-0) for an undefeated 5-0 showing. With the wins, Oregon upped its record to 14-0 to begin the 2017 season.
Game 1: Oregon 6, Montana 0
For the second day in a row, it was Danica Mercado, Gwen Svekis and Nikki Udria who ignited Oregon’s offense. Mercado and Svekis jumpstarted the offense with singles in the first inning before Udria scored Mercado on a fielder’s choice.
After an unearned run in the second inning, Udria helped Oregon open up the game in the fifth inning. With a runner on, Udria blasted a pitch deep over the right-center fence to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead.
Oregon scored its final runs of the game in the seventh inning when Shannon Rhodes notched an RBI single before the sixth run came across the plate on a Montana error.
Maggie Balint earned her second win of the tournament after throwing 6.0 innings, surrendering three hits with five strikeouts. For the tournament, Balint threw 13.2 innings, giving up two runs while earning a save.
Game 2: Oregon 17, Hawaii 0
Megan Kleist completed her tournament with a no-hitter in the final game. Kleist, who entered the game with a victory in the invitational already, threw 5.0 innings with six strikeouts and no walks. With the win, she’s a perfect 5-0 on the season.
To compliment Kleist and her performance, the offense exploded for a season-high 17 runs on 14 hits. Of the 14 hits, eight of them went for extra-base hits. Five were home runs.
Mercado went 3-for-3 with two RBIss and two runs while Mia Camuso went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Alexis Mack added three runs while Rhodes went 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI.
The Ducks scored four runs in the first inning, two runs in the second, four runs in the fourth and seven runs in the deciding fifth inning.
Freshmen Haley Cruse and Rhodes both hit their first career home runs in the game. April Utecht hit her first home run of the season.
The Ducks head to Colombia, Missouri next to play in the Missouri Invitational. The Ducks open the three-day innovational with games against Maryland and Missouri.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka