For the first time since the 2019 season, Oregon opened Pac-12 play at Jane Sanders Stadium on Friday against Utah. The Ducks (17-1) continued their impressive start to the season, downing Utah 5-2.  

The No. 4 Ducks have been on a tear. Their past five games have all ended in run-rule victories.

The Utes (9-5) resumed play after an extended break due to postponed games related to inclement weather. Before rolling into Eugene, Utah hadn’t played a game in over two weeks, its last coming on March 1 against Arizona State. 

Oregon’s Brooke Yanez struggled early on the mound, giving up two runs on two hits in the opening inning, giving the Utes a 2-1 advantage early. 

After a brief rain delay, Makenna Kliethermes took over for Yanez and immediately stopped the bleeding. A strikeout followed by a groundout stranded a pair headed into the third inning. 

“I honestly was a little nervous because I’ve never played in the Pac-12,” Kliethermes said. “You always hear these big things about how great the Pac-12 is and it was incredible to be out there and just play in it. It was an amazing feeling.”

Rachel Cid stepped out from the dugout with two outs and bases loaded, but couldn’t get anyone to come across home plate. Cid’s fly out to right field was caught with a Utah dive that resulted in Oregon coming up empty once again. 

Haley Cruse had a chance to tie in the fourth to impact the game as she did against Sacramento State. Cruse hit a solid fly out straight down center field, but was caught just before the fence. 

Utah gave up two straight base runners at the bottom of the fifth with Hannah Delgado’s single up the middle and Alle Bunker’s bunt that advanced Delgado to third. Oregon’s offensive momentum caused Utah to replace Mariah Lopez with Hallie Morris on the mound. 

Mya Felder’s left field sacrifice fly allowed Delgado to bring a run home, tying it all up at two runs a piece heading into the sixth inning.

Oregon needed an offensive push, and they got it late in the game from Delgado. The freshman pulled through in her debut Pac-12 game with the first triple of her career in the bottom of the sixth. Her triple brought in two runs for the Ducks, ballooning their lead to 4-2.

“When I’m in a situation where I’m supposed to clutch up, I just try to relax myself and have the mindset of knowing I can do it and I can get the job done,” Delagado said.

Immediately after, Bunker’s RBI single to second base brought Delgado to home plate, extending Oregon’s lead to 5-2 with one out remaining. 

Oregon’s late surge ensured the win, the Ducks’ eighth in a row.

This year, conference play looks a little different. Teams play four game series that include doubleheaders on one day, with the second game designated as a non-conference game. The Utah series continues on Saturday, March 20, with a doubleheader that will not count towards the conference record. 

Follow Carly on Twitter @carlyebisuya.