Oregon softball has a trend this season. 

Explosive innings. 

As the Ducks reach the halfway point of the regular season, the majority of their wins come from explosive innings. Whether it starts with a single, a home run or an opponent error, they find that one lucky inning where they can score a bunch of runs, which is able to carry them throughout the rest of the game. 

And that’s exactly what happened Thursday against Lindenwood, a small private university in St. Charles, Missouri. After scoring five runs in the fourth inning, Oregon shut out the Lions 8-0 on 10 hits. 

Oregon was able to build a two-run lead before the explosive inning after Tehya Bird lined a two-out single to right field that brought home Ariel Carlson from second. An inning later, Kai Luschar reached first after a bunt single, and after stealing second, she was in scoring position for Allee Bunker, who drove her home with a line drive into center field. 

At the start of the fourth, the Ducks were in the middle of their lineup, which is where the power hitters stay. That universal fact stayed true after KK Humphreys led off the fourth with a double. Carlson followed immediately after reaching on an error, and after Bird drew a 12-pitch walk, the bases were loaded. 

Paige Sinicki doubled down the left field line and brought home Humphreys and Carlson for her first RBIs of the season.

“It felt good, seeing all the work I put in pay off,” Sinicki said. 
With a four-run lead, the Ducks didn’t stop there.

After Hanna Delgado walked, Vallery Wong brought home the fifth run of the game with a sacrifice fly to the wall in left-center field. Bunker finished the inning with a single that brought home Sinicki and Delgado.

“I think it’s about quality at-bats,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “I think that’s what makes hitting contagious. It pumps them up to pass one quality at-bat from one person to the next.”

Oregon ended the game two innings later once the run rule took effect after Terra McGowan hit a single that scored Bunker, which was the Ducks’ eighth and final run. 

While the offense was doing its job, it took the weight off of Morgan Scott’s shoulders in the circle. She held Lindenwood hitless until the sixth inning after a two-out double. Scott was awarded her seventh win of the season by striking out five and walking two. 

Oregon will finish the series against Lindenwood Friday at 6 p.m. before finishing up regular season conference play. The Ducks currently sit in the seventh spot, but will get the opportunity to rise in the rankings once they face California and Arizona, two unranked schools. 

“We’re getting to where we need to be at the right time of the season,” Lombardi said.