Spectacular Saturday Showcase for Oregon Softball as Ducks Breeze by Sacramento State and Oregon State

By Knight Jarecki

The Oregon Ducks defeated the Sacramento State Hornets 11-0 and the Oregon State Beavers 14-6 on Saturday at Jane Sanders Stadium. With the wins on Saturday the #5 ranked Ducks improve to 15-1 on the year and have won 6 straight.

In the first game, the Ducks came out swinging as Freshman phenom Alyssa Brito homered deep to left on a moonshot giving the Ducks an early 2-0 lead. That lead was all they needed as they never looked back. Oregon added 5 runs in the 3rd inning and 4 runs in the 4 inning to go ahead 11-0. Oregon shut out Sacramento State in the top of the 5th, solidifying the run-rule victory. The play of the game came from short stop Alyssa Brito when in the 4th inning made a driving stop up the middle to nail Lewa Day at 1st. Brito finished 3 for 3 with 5RBIs, a home run, and 3 runs against Sacramento State in the first of the two games Saturday afternoon. Starter Brooke Yanez pitched 3.2 perfect innings and had 7 K’s during her time in the circle before Raegan Breedlove came into the game allowing just 1 hit in the closing 1.1 innings pitched.

The second game of the doubleheader was an exciting one. The action kicked off in the first inning again for the Ducks as they came out of the gate scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the first inning. The 7-run inning was highlighted by a 2RBI single from Mya Felder and a Lexi Wagner 3-run home run. While Oregon scored 7 runs in the first inning, Oregon State responded quickly in the top of the second as Frankie Hammoude and Missy Nunes went yard back to back to cut the lead to 7-2. The Bears added another run later on in the inning on a double from Ashton Zeiher making it 7-3 in favor of the Ducks. Allee Bunker homered in the bottom of the second while Oregon State drove in another run in the top of the 3rd to make the score 8-4 after 2 and 1/2 innings. In the bottom of the 3rd, the Ducks were able to pad onto their league as Haley Cruse singled in a run, Hanna Delgado hit a 2-run double, and Allee Bunker launched a missile over the fence, this one for 2 runs, making the score 12-4 in favor of the green and yellow. Both teams had a run each in the 4th inning before Oregon walked off for the run-rule victory in the bottom of the 5th on a Terra McGowan double giving Oregon the 14-6 victory.

Allee Bunker was the star of the second game as the Sophomore finished 3-4 with 2 home runs and a double to go along with 4 RBI’s. Terra McGowan added 2 hits and 2RBI’s in the winning effort. Samaria Diaz struggled on the mound allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings pitched before Makenna Kliethermes closed the final 3 innings with 8 K’s.

The win against Sacramento State provided Duck fans with a bit of an insight at how deep and dominate this years team is. Oregon also defeated Oregon State for the first time since 2018. The Ducks face off against Sacramento State Sunday morning before hosting the Utah Utes next weekend a 4 game series to open up Pac 12 play.

Audio Story by Knight Jarecki