The Oregon Ducks defeated the Oregon State Beavers 14-6 on Saturday afternoon in Eugene to sweep the doubleheader and move to 15-1 on the season.
The last time the Beavers were in Eugene in 2020, they swept the Ducks in a heartbreaking three-game series..
Samaria Diaz got the ball for the Ducks coming into the game with a 3-0 record and a 0.40 ERA. She continued her dominance with a brisk 1-2-3 inning in the first.
Mariah Mazon toed the rubber for the Beavers coming off a perfect game in her last start against Sacramento State. Today would be a different story for Mazon however.
Haley Cruse led off the inning by reaching on an error and quickly got in scoring position when she stole second. Allee Bunker knocked her in with a frozen-rope double to the right-field wall.
Bunker moved to third on a passed ball, as OSU head coach Laura Berg started to fire up her bullpen. Two walks to the next two batters rattled Mazon and loaded the bases for Terra McGowan who hit a slow taper to third that Beaver third baseman Grace Messmer couldn’t handle. Bunker scored, and the bases remained loaded.
Next up was Mya Felder, and on the second pitch of the at-bat, the sophomore came inches away from a grand-slam to right field. Instead, two runs were scored, and Mazon was removed from the game after just recording one out.
Berg turned to Trystan Melancon in hopes that she could stop the bleeding. Lexi Wagner had different plans, however, as she provided the knock-out punch of the inning with a three-run blast to make the score 7-0, Ducks, after just an inning.
The Beavers crawled back in the second inning with back-to-back home runs from Frankie Hammoude and Missy Nunes to make the score 7-2. OSU’s bench screamed with joy as their team looked to be right back in the game.
Later in the inning, Messer hit a double to the right-field wall and was eventually scored on an Ashton Zeiher double that just tipped off Wagner’s glove in right field. 7-3 Ducks.
Oregon got one of those runs back in the second with a Bunker solo home run to left field to make the score 8-3.
The Beavers continued to provide trouble for Diaz and the Ducks however as they had second and third with no outs after a single, error, and wild pitch from Oregon. Diaz was removed from the game in the third, marking her worst outing of the season.
Makenna Kliethermes took over and was greeted by a Hammoude single to left field to make the score 8-4. Nunes walked to load the bases for the Beavers with no outs, and a great chance to tighten the deficit. Kliethermes rose to the occasion, however, striking out three straight Beavers to maintain the four-run lead.
Felder began the bottom of the third with a four-pitch walk with Hannah Galey pinch-running for her at first. Galey stole second later in the inning and scored on a Cruse single to right field.
Cruse then stole second, improving to 12/13 on stolen bases in the young season. Hanna Delgado knocked her in with a stand-up double to the right-center gap to improve the lead.
Later in the fourth, Bunker stepped up again for the Ducks with a two-run laser home run to left to make the score 12-4. Bunker finished the day ¾ with two home runs, a double, and four RBI’s.
The Beavers got two back in the fourth after a Maia Rader single, and a Madison Simon home-run to left field to make the score 12-6.
The Ducks added another run in the bottom half when they loaded the bases after an error, single, and walk. Deijah Pangilinan came up next and hit a ground ball to first. Hammoude got the ball and went home for the force out, but Nunes’ foot was off the plate. 13-6 Ducks.
The Beavers finally went down quietly in the fifth as Kliethermes added two more strikeouts to give her eight on the day.
The Ducks put the game away in the bottom half. The inning started with an Alyssa Brito double down the left-field line, and ended with a McGowan line drive to the left-field corner that scored Brito and ended the game due to NCAA’s mercy rule.
Oregon will look to improve to 16-1 when they take on Sacramento State tomorrow in Eugene before starting Pac-12 play on March 19th against the Utah Utes.
