Oregon’s 21st-ranked softball team had plenty of chances to put away Portland State, but it came down to Suzie Barnes’ fisted
single up the middle in the
bottom of the sixth inning to
put the pesky Vikings away
2-1 Wednesday at Howe Field.
The Ducks put runners on base every inning, but only mustered two runs and left 10 people on base during the game.
But for Oregon (11-8), getting the win was all that mattered.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it goes down as a win in the score book, and that’s all we care about right now,” said Oregon pitcher Amy Harris, who picked up the win in relief. “Hopefully in the near future, we will be able to shut teams down by a bigger margin.”
Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said all the team cares about at this point is
getting the victory.
“It doesn’t make a difference how many runs you win by as long as you have one more than your opponent,” Arendsen said. “Nobody goes back and says, ‘You beat them by seven,’ or ‘You beat them by one.’ Who cares? You beat them.”
But Portland State didn’t make it easy for the Ducks.
Oregon held a 1-0 lead going into the top of the sixth inning, but the Vikings tied the score
on an array of Duck mistakes. Portland State’s Kimi Daniel reached first on an error by
second baseman Kristi Jorgensen, who was trying to field a ground ball. Daniel advanced to second and then third on consecutive wild pitches by Oregon starter
Alicia Cook. After a conference on the mound, the Vikings’ Lacey Gorman laced a ball to left field for a hit, scoring Daniel and tying the score at one.
Arendsen said Cook pitched well — she gave up three hits and struck out four in five innings
of work — but just got a little
out of sync.
“It was just kind of bizarre when she hit the sixth inning,” Arendsen said. “I have no idea what
happened with those (wild) pitches, but she knows. It happens.”
Harris took the mound after
Gorman’s hit and retired the next three hitters to get the Ducks out
of the inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, freshman Lovena Chaput drove a single to right field and stole second base, all with two outs. Barnes stepped up and was jammed by an inside fastball but got enough of it to have it float into center field for the game-winning hit.
“It wasn’t a solid hit,” Barnes said. “But it got the job done.”
Harris struck out the side in the seventh to pick up her fifth win of the season.

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