Oregon softball entered the sixth inning on the road of Friday’s game against Arizona State University. It had trailed almost the entire game by one run. If the Ducks were going to salvage this game, they would need an offensive explosion in the final two innings.
The Ducks delivered.
A sixth inning with a pair of two-run homers would propel Oregon to the much-needed victory.
The Ducks have now entered the second half of the Pac-12 season. They played non-conference games at home last week against Montana and played Lindenwood twice. The Ducks won all three games by eight runs or more.
Oregon had a chance to take the lead early in the game. It had runners in the corners in the first inning but left them stranded.
The Sun Devils didn’t squander their opportunity to get on the board. A homer to left-center gave them the lead in the first. The Ducks were able to keep the damage minimal and responded with consecutive outs to end the inning.
Oregon struggled to put players in scoring position in the middle innings. Morgan Scott’s stellar pitching kept the game within reach. She recorded nine strikeouts, which is a new season high for her.
Allee Bunker set the tone in the sixth with a two-run homer to left-center to put Oregon in front for the first time all evening.
A pitching change by the Sun Devils wouldn’t stop the red-hot Ducks. Alyssa Daniell homered to right field on a play that scored catcher Terra McGowan.
ASU didn’t surrender, though. It was able to get runners on second and third. An unearned run got it back within two.
The Oregon offense picked up where it left off in the seventh. Paige Sinicki stepped up to the plate and smashed her first homer of the season to left-center. Sinicki continued her momentum from the series against Lindenwood, in which she had her first two RBIs of the season.
The Sun Devils got a runner on first base following an error by the Ducks, but couldn’t find the offense they needed to come back.
The Ducks play at ASU Saturday for the second game of the series. They will look to win their second Pac-12 series of the season. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
