After rolling through its first game of the season, Oregon needed a bit of comeback flare to secure its second win of the day.
It wasn’t a last-second thriller, not with the Ducks’ (2-0) talent eventually overmatching a feisty Southern Utah (0-1) offense in their 18-6 win. But with a four-run comeback out of an early hole, Oregon showed some serious mettle that could come in handy against far more talented teams.
To take that early lead, Southern Utah jumped all over Oregon starter Elise Sokolsky, who was tagged for four earned runs in just 0.2 innings pitched. But Oregon slowly settled down in the circle, and a talented offense that had 18 hits in the blowout kicked into gear — the Ducks never really challenged again.
To scamper away with its second run-rule victory of the afternoon, Oregon relied on a massive game from freshman Emma Cox, who looked every bit the part of the Ducks’ future behind the dish. Cox blasted two home runs as a part of a four-hit performance in the win, she finished her first day of collegiate softball 6-7 with six RBI’s across the team’s pair of games.
Aside from Cox, Oregon relied on a big game from Paige Sinicki, who tallied three hits, five RBI’s, two homers, one of which was a grand slam and a stolen base. Kedre Luschar added a pair of hits to build upon her already impressive afternoon.
Eight different Ducks recorded knocks with six Oregon players recording multi-hit performances.
Staci Chambers proved to be a stabilizing force for the Ducks’ pitching staff out of the bullpen, fanning nine, allowing just two earned runs, and earning the win in relief of Sokolsky. The southpaw never really faced any serious trouble and was gifted some relatively stress-free innings as she saw the Ducks’ lead swell after the early scare.
By the time Kai Luschar’s single drove in a pair in the fifth inning, Oregon’s lead was 12 and any early anxiety of an upset was long in the past. After taking the lead with a seven-run third inning the Ducks tacked on one more in the fourth before an eight-run fifth frame put the game way out of reach.
Oregon hung 13 runs total on the Southern Utah bullpen, nine of which came against Riley Nielson, who allowed 11 hits over just 2.2 innings of work.
And while Southern Utah was clearly overmatched by the Ducks’ speed and skill, seeing her team punch back even in the early going of the season has to be a positive sign for head coach Melyssa Lombardi’s squad.
Oregon takes on Southern Utah again tomorrow at 10 a.m. before finishing the day against UNLV at 3.
