For the third consecutive day, one big inning was all the Oregon softball team needed.
A four-run top of the fifth gave Ducks’ starter Jessica Moore enough room to close out the final three frames and lead 11^th-seeded Oregon to a 4-1 victory over Brigham Young University in the final game of the Eugene Regional portion of the NCAA Softball Tournament Saturday afternoon at Howe Field.
With its third victory in as many days, Oregon improved to 9-0 in regional games under third-year head coach Mike White, and officially punched its third-straight ticket to next week’s Super Regional round.
The Ducks (42-15) will matchup with the winner of the Austin Regional, which is hosted by No. 6 Texas. The host Longhorns lost their opening game on Friday night, meaning they will need to win three straight games today and Sunday to advance.
As the higher seed, Texas would have the right to host the Super Regionals. But if any of the other three teams win — Northwestern, Houston or Auburn — then Oregon would have the opportunity to host its first ever Super Regional next weekend.
“It’s exciting to be back in the Super Regionals again,” White said. “And actually be done one day early so we can sit back and watch everybody else fight it out. So it feels really good right now.”
Making her third straight start in the circle, Moore (30-12) was at her absolute best when the Ducks needed her most. The junior right-hander scattered six hits over seven innings, while striking out seven, walking two and the one run she allowed was earned.
Of the 21 outs that Moore recorded, 12 were ground balls, seven were strikeouts and only two were pop-outs.
“I didn’t throw nearly as good as I have been, or could (be), the past couple days,” Moore said. “So that was my mindset today coming out and giving the team the best effort that I could give and keep them in the game.
“It was a close game for a while and I just wanted to make sure I went inning by inning and not lose that focus.”
In going 3-0 on the weekend, the two-time first-team all-Pac-12 pitcher gave up six earned runs in 21 innings of work, to go along with 24 strikeouts against eight walks.
Moore kept the Cougars (45-15) in check defensively on Saturday, and BYU starter Tori Almond held the Oregon’s bats to just one hit through the first four innings of play.
But in the decisive fifth inning, junior right fielder Samantha Pappas roped a two-out, two-run double off the right centerfield fence to give the Ducks their first lead of the game, 2-0. On the very next pitch, junior second baseman Kaylan Howard hit a two-run home run to center — her team-high 12^th of the season — and put Oregon on top 4-0.
“The at-bat before that I was sitting change and she was kind of blowing it right by me,” Howard said. “Then I kind of switched it up, and I was like, ‘If she throws fast-in again, I’m gonna take it.’ And she did.”
BYU’s lone run came on a two-out RBI single off the bat of JC Clayton in the bottom of the sixth inning.