After getting rained out on Friday and suffering through an hour-long rain delay on Saturday, Oregon softball finally hit the field late on Saturday to beat Loyola Marymount, 7-5, and Seattle University, 10-2.
The Ducks showed off their firepower early when Terra McGowan hit a solo home run to left field to kick off the scoring. Later in the inning Allee Bunker drilled another solo homer to give the Ducks an early 2-0 lead. In the second inning Deijah Pangilinan, hit her first homer of the night, a solo shot, as Oregon’s first three hits were homers.
“It was very exciting, “Pangilinan said. “It was the first two runs of my college career. It was comforting because we got runs on the board. And we just kept scoring from there.”
Loyola got on the scoreboard when Andrea Gonzalez hit an RBI single to allow Morgan Debord to score.
In the bottom of the third inning Pangilinan hit another homer, this time sending Ariel Carlson home as well to put the Ducks up 5-1. Later in the third Haley Cruse hit a single that was bobbled by Loyola’s second baseman that allowed Jasmine Sievers and Maddie Hopper to score.
A fielding error by Oregon resulted in a two-run single by Lauryn Garcia to cut the lead to four. The fourth inning was sloppy for Oregon as they allowed an error and a walk.
Samaria Diaz, Oregon’s starting pitcher, started strong but struggled during the third and fourth innings, and was replaced by Brooke Yanez.
In the fifth inning, with the bases loaded, a sacrifice fly by Megan Dedrick cut the lead to 7-4. Another miscue in the fifth inning by the Ducks, this time a passed ball, allowed Gonzalez to score. Oregon was plagued with errors in the middle innings that let Loyola to remain in the game.
However, Oregon was able to take care of business in the sixth and seventh innings and was able to secure the 7-5 win with a double play to end the game on a high note.
Oregon then got down to business against Seattle University. To kick off the game, just like in the Loyola game, the Ducks started with a home run. This time it was leadoff hitter Haley Cruse to put the Ducks up 1-0.
Rachel Sid almost hit a home run herself in the first inning, but it bounced off the wall and Cid had to settle for a triple.
It was quiet on the scoring front until the bottom of the fourth inning when Mya Felder hit a single to left to send Carlson home. This kicked off a nine-run inning for Oregon. The next batter, Sievers, blasted a two-RBI single into center field. Later in the inning, Cruse hit a sacrifice fly to put the Ducks up 5-0.
But the onslaught wasn’t over, Cid hit yet another RBI single, this sending Hannah Galey home. A Bunker single was poorly fielded by the Redhawks and McGowan beat the catcher to the plate to pick up an unearned run for the Ducks. To cap off the inning, Carlson hit a three-run homer that flew over the left-field wall in what was by far the longest home run hit by the Ducks on Saturday.
With an eight-run mercy rule, Seattle had one last opportunity to continue the game. They almost did it when Ally Choate hit two-RBI triple. To end the game, Choate gambled on an overthrown pitch by the Ducks and was tagged out at home plate.
“I think we came in with confidence,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “I think it was more of them settling in. They were pretty amped to play at home.”
Oregon closes out the Oregon tournament on Sunday, hosting Seattle and Portland State.
