The Oregon softball team cruised to 13-2 victory over Portland State in a fall season exhibition game Thursday night at Howe Field.
The game was originally slated as the second part of a doubleheader earlier this month before the game was rained out. Oregon won that first game back on Oct. 4, by a score of 4-3 in eight innings, with true freshman Hannah Melick recording the game-winning single.
The Ducks (4-0) wasted no time getting on the board with pairs of runs in the first, third and fourth innings to take control of the game and were never seriously threatened after that point.
Sophomore catcher Alexa Peterson drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly, which plated leadoff hitter Courtney Ceo, and senior shortstop Kelsey Chambers extended Oregon’s lead to 2-0 with an RBI single on the ensuing at-bat.
After a single run in the bottom of the second, junior second baseman Kaylan Howard blew the game open with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third to extend the Ducks lead to 5-0.
Oregon added two more runs in fourth on an RBI single by junior Samantha Pappas and a bases-loaded walk to Howard. From there, Oregon knocked in four more runs in the bottom of the fifth on a one-run double by Ceo, a two-run single by freshman Janie Takeda and a three-run homer by Chambers to put the game completely out of reach before the Vikings scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame. Ceo finished the night 4-for-4, while Takeda (3-for-4, two RBI and three runs) and Chambers (3-for-4, four RBI) had three hits each.
Ducks starting pitcher Karissa Hovinga, a freshman right-hander from Ralston, Neb., struck out four, walked two and allowed six hits in the complete-game effort.
The Ducks will continue their fall schedule next Thursday at 6 p.m. when they host some of the top players in the country for an exhibition with the National Professional Fastpitch league.
Among the NPF players to compete will be first-year Duck volunteer coach Sam Marder, who was a three-time All-American catcher at Ohio State and is now considered to be one of the premier hitters in the NPF.
Other players on the tour include Olympic medalists Andrea Duran, Kelly Kretschman and Caitlin Lowe; Canadian Olympic Team members Danielle Lawrie, Caitlin Lever and Jenn Salling; 2010 NPF Pitcher of the Year Lisa Norris; 2011 All-NPF Team Members Ashley Charters, Bianca Mejia, Megan Wiggins and Brittany McKinney; and NPF Rookie of the Year Alisa Goler.