The streak is over.
The Oregon softball team defeated No. 5 Arizona State 4-2 on Saturday, breaking its 13-game losing slide in the Pacific-10 Conference this season. The game also broke the Ducks’ 32-game losing streak in the conference dating back to last season’s game against Arizona State on April 1, 2001. Oregon (22-24 overall, 1-14 Pac-10) won its first Pac-10 contest on the road since April 16, 2000 against Stanford.
After losing to No. 1 Arizona, 7-1, in Tempe on Friday, Oregon put the ball in the hands of Lindsey Kontra in the first of a two-day, two-game stand against the Sun Devils (38-13, 8-6) — and the freshman welcomed the challenge.
Kontra allowed a run in the second on a Nichole Thompson home run, and the game remained 1-0 until the top of the sixth when the Oregon bats caught fire. With Jenn Poore on first from a walk and one out from a pop out by Lynsey Haij, second baseman Alyssa Laux hit a lined shot over the right field fence for her third home run of the season to put the Ducks up 2-1. Mari Lyn Petrick followed immediately with a single up the middle, and Andrea Vidlund was hit by a pitch. Kristi Hall hit a hard groundball to second, which Missy Hixon couldn’t handle, creating a bases-loaded situation for Ashley Richards. Richards worked the count full and then ripped a double down the left field line, scoring Petrick and Vidlund.
Arizona State gave the Ducks a scare in the seventh when Jennifer Forner, who had led off the inning with a hit, scored on a double by Kara Brun. Phalen Wright followed by drawing a walk from Kontra, who seemed to pitch around the hard-hitting third baseman, to bring up Thompson. The Sun Devils’ first baseman needed only a triple to complete the cycle off Kontra, but the Oregon pitcher got Thompson to pop out to Richards at third for the final out of the game.
The win improved Kontra’s record to 6-10, as she gave up two runs on nine hits and three strikeouts. Erica Beach recorded the loss, giving up four runs on five hits and three strikeouts dropping her record to 24-10.
After the win Saturday, Arizona State came back strong in the Sunday contest, blanking the Ducks in a 6-0 game. Oregon could not capitalize on any of its six hits off of a combined Arizona State pitching effort of Beach and Kirsten Voak.
The Sun Devils scored one in each of the two innings and two in the fifth and sixth off of Oregon pitchers Anissa Meashintubby and Connie McMurren. Brun, Wright and Beach all connected for home runs for Arizona State.
Oregon takes a break from Pac-10 play on Tuesday with a game against Hawaii at Howe Field, before hosting UCLA and Washington over the weekend.