Both Oregon and UCLA were incessant and relentless at the plate. The bats, on both sides, were so persistent early in Game 2 between two of the Big Ten’s best teams that pitchers barely had time to breathe before getting the wind knocked right back out of them. Six lead changes happened all before the fourth inning. A four-run seventh inning kept the lead for the Ducks as they held on to take the series, their 16th in a row. 

No. 15 Oregon softball (40-10, 20-3 Big Ten) smashed its way past No. 6 UCLA (44-7, 19-4 Big Ten) 13-11 in Game 2. The two Big Ten powerhouses put up 24 runs on 29 hits and only struck out seven times on the day. Game 2 embodied the saying “hitting is contagious.” 

Amari Harper started the onslaught. She belted a one out, solo home run off Bruins pitcher Natalie Cable and the Ducks were up 1-0 early.

After Elise Sokolsky pitched a phenomenal seven full innings on Saturday, fellow senior Lyndsey Grein took the circle on Saturday with the lead already in hand.

Megan Grant, one of the best hitters in college softball along with teammate Jordan Woolery, was 1-4 last night and went down easy for most of the evening in the Bruins’ Game 1 loss. The Ducks weren’t going to be so lucky on Saturday, as Grant jacked a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, and the Oregon lead was quickly erased.

Grein only lasted an inning in her first go-around of the day. She gave up four hits, four runs and struck out just one against the Bruins lineup that came out swinging. Grein came back in to finish her job in the fourth, she stayed out in the circle through the fifth.Katie Flannery put the wind right back in Oregon’s sails in the top of the second with the third home run in the first two innings. That two-run shot chased Cable for Taylor Tinsley, UCLA’s Game 1 starter, and gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead. 

The fourth long ball came from Bruins second baseman Kaniya Bragg, who sent a two run blast off the roof of the shed beyond the center field wall. 

Slimp got the fifth. She also hit the roof of the shed, though this was the shed in right center field. The Bruins were up 6-3. The Bruins looked to be running away with Game 2.

Both pitching staffs weren’t necessarily pitching poorly; Grein was attacking hitters as usual by going right after them in the zone, but the bats were just not stopping. Almost every hitter had come up with the opportunity to do damage and they rarely missed the softball. Only two outs in the first two innings came via the K. 

The lead changed again in the third. The Ducks loaded the bases with three singles and, with two outs, Addison Amaral doubled to right field. Two runs came in, and a third followed due to a throwing error to third base. The game was tied 6-6.

Taylour Spencer, who came in for Grein in the second, finally quieted the UCLA offense and put up a zero in the bottom of the third frame. Stefini Ma’ake came to the plate with the Ducks’ first lead since Flannery’s second-inning home run and doubled down the left field line to score Elon Butler and Harper.

Spencer and Grein, who came back in, silenced the Bruins again in the fourth inning. Two scoreless innings against a team that was red hot to start the game gave the Ducks a chance to breathe, and while the Bruins weren’t lost at the plate in those innings, they just weren’t able to get anything to fall for a base hit.

That anemia didn’t last long. Woolery wrecked a ball and joined the home run party with a two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth off Grein. Woolery had been taken care of for most of the weekend, but it was just a matter of time until the Big Ten’s leader in home runs got a hold of one. Her shot put the Bruins back within one, still down 9-8. 

Sokolsky came into the game in the bottom of the sixth. With a series win on the minds of Ducks fans, she looked to get the six out, one run save.

Oregon gave Sokolsky four runs in the top of the seventh. Shaw reached on an error, Butler walked, Harper singled for an RBI and Ma’ake did the same. Kaylynn Jones tripled to score Ma’ake and Harper. 

Up 13-8, Sokolsky was tagged for a three-run home run to right center field from Bri Alejandre (her 20th on the season, tying a UCLA program record for freshmen). With no outs, UCLA was back in the game, down 13-11.

Sokolsky settled down and returned to her Game 1 form. With the bases cleared, she didn’t let another runner reach. She induced a pop out in foul territory, a ground out and a fly ball to left, and Game 2 was over. 

Oregon took Game 2 13-11, locked up the No. 2 seed for the Big Ten tournament and won another Big Ten series.

The finale of the series is Sunday at 11am PT. The game will be broadcast via the Big Ten Network (video) and KWVA (radio).