EUGENE, Ore. — The sun was shining bright on the second day of the Jane Sanders Classic as the Oregon Ducks came off two wins to start off the tournament, beating Oregon State 8-3 and Sacramento State 7-6. The Ducks fell short in their first game against Nevada, 8-5, but took the win against Sacramento State 2-1 in a back-and-forth defensive battle.
Game 1: Nevada 8, Oregon 5
Shortstop Taryn Ho started the game with an impressive catch. The ball rolled out of her glove, but she managed to hold on and recorded the first out of the game.
In the top of the second, starting pitcher Elise Sokolsky made a throwing error to first base, which allowed hitter Hannah Di Genova to reach. After a double by Talia Tretton, Nevada had two runners in scoring position. Both runners scored when Haylee Engelbrecht singled up the middle, giving Nevada the first runs of the game. After a quick circle visit from head coach Melyssa Lombardi, Sokolsky recovered and recorded three outs to end the inning with Nevada leading 2-0.
It was the third time the Ducks had trailed their opponents in the tournament, and in the previous two instances, they had come back to take the lead. Oregon didn’t let the Wolf Pack hold the momentum for long, as it quickly put two runners in scoring position. Amari Harper scored on a single by Ho. With two more runners in scoring position, the Ducks hoped to tie or take the lead, but they were unable to bring in another run and ended the second inning trailing 2-1.
Nevada extended their lead in the third inning when Katelyn Wetteland launched a three-run home run, giving the Wolf Pack a four-run lead. Following the home run, Lombardi looked to the bullpen and brought in Taylour Spencer to replace Sokolsky. After the fifth consecutive batter reached base in the inning, the Ducks were able to record three outs to end the top of the third with Nevada leading.
Oregon continued to claw its way back with two runners in scoring position once again. Harper doubled down the left-field line, allowing Elon Butler and Stefini Ma’ake to score and cut into the deficit. On the first pitch she saw, Rylee McCoy took the opportunity and sent the ball out of the park for a two-run home run, tying the game at 5-5 in the third inning.
Oregon went to its third pitcher of the game, bringing in senior Lyndsey Grein after Bailie Clark gave Nevada the lead back with a home run to start the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Grein managed to record two outs but walked in a run as the bases remained loaded.
Freshman Maddie Milhorn entered mid at-bat for Grein in hopes of getting the final out. Milhorn walked another batter before recording the last strikeout of the inning, leaving the Ducks trailing by three runs.
Oregon was able to hold Nevada back from scoring any more runs in the last three innings of the game as the Ducks attempted to win in the seventh inning. With runners at first and third, a strikeout ended the game as Oregon was unable to score any runs in the bottom of the seventh.
“We’re gonna have ups and downs,” Harper said. “Then we’re gonna have innings where we feel like we didn’t win or give, that we feel like we could have stayed in and we didn’t. I think we need to figure out our consistency on all ends and bring it together, but having each other's backs will help us in the end.”
Game 2: Oregon 2, Sacramento State 1
Both the Ducks and the Hornets had scoreless innings for the first five frames as Milhorn recorded six strikeouts and allowed only one hit. Hornets starting pitcher Danyelle Leone recorded just one strikeout and allowed one hit as both teams continued trying to get on the board.
“I found out ten minutes before the game started that I was going to start,” Milhorn said. “I haven’t really started this year, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to just go out and play.”
After a wide throw by third baseman Madison Evers-Lyles while attempting to get Ma’ake out, Ma’ake was able to advance to second. Butler then scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead as they needed just three more outs to secure the win.
Milhorn was unable to close out the game as Evers-Lyles made up for her error in the sixth with a solo home run to tie the game in the seventh inning. Grein went in for Milhorn as the fans cheered following her impressive performance.
“I think it's really hard as an opponent to figure out where she's at," Lombardi said of Milhorn. “She doesn’t give you a lot. I thought the way she numbered herself in the first game and the amount she threw, it would just be great to continue.”
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Katie Flannery reached first due to an error as pinch runner Presley Lawton scored the winning run, giving Oregon a 2-1 walk-off victory.
Milhorn delivered a standout performance, striking out eight batters and allowing only two hits. She also recorded three strikeouts in the earlier game against Nevada.
“One thing I’ve been working on since the fall is getting my fastball to drop a bit,” Milhorn said. “I jammed a lot of the batters inside, and I think that is what helped me be successful because then when I went out, they chased,” said Milhorn
The Ducks will wrap up the Jane Sanders Classic and their final non-conference game on Sunday, March 8th, against the Nevada Wolf Pack.