On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the No. 5 Oregon Ducks (34-3, 8-1) continued their dominant winning streak, pushing it to eight straight, as they took down the Michigan Wolverines (27-11, 6-3) 5-4 in the first game of the doubleheader.
Oregon starting pitcher Staci Chambers (2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 K, 1 BB) began the day strong, recording her first strikeout in the top of the first inning. The frame was capped off with a strong defensive showing for the Ducks, with a double play after a pop-up to Katie Flannery at third base.
Michigan pitcher Erin Hoehn (6 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 3 BB) started the day struggling against the powerful hitting offense from the Ducks. Kai Luschar and Paige Sinicki both found themselves rounding the bases after being walked and hit by a pitch, putting Oregon up 2-0 at the end of the first inning.
After Maddie Erickson ignited the spark for the Wolverines last night, Staci Chambers intentionally walked her during the top of the second inning, which was immediately followed by a Madi Ramey line drive out to the center field wall. Michigan was able to bring Erickson and Ella Stephenson home with the line drive, leveling the score 2-2 after the top of the second inning.
Erin Hoehn recorded her first two strikeouts of the day in the bottom of the second inning for the Wolverines and kept the Ducks’ offense limited, only allowing one walk.
With a runner on first, Jenissa Conway hit a long fly ball over the top of the scoreboard in right field, giving the Wolverines the lead in the top of the third inning. After the Conway home run, Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi made a pitching change, placing Elise Sokolsky (5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 6 K, 3 BB) in the center circle to finish out the game. Sokolsky put an end to the scoring, recording two strikeouts back to back, leading to the end of the third inning.
Oregon got the spark they needed in the bottom of the fifth inning, with a hit just inside the third base line from Kai Luschar. Paige Sinicki reached first on a fielder’s choice, but Luschar was tagged out at second. The Ducks couldn’t get anything else going, leaving Sinicki on base at the end of the fifth inning.
While Oregon’s offense struggled, its defense succeeded. Michigan was able to place two runners on first and second base, but couldn’t convert them into runs, leaving the top of the sixth inning still ahead by two.
The bottom of the sixth inning was three batters up, three batters down for the Ducks. Hoehn recorded her fifth strikeout of the day and made quick work heading into the seventh inning. Sokolsky did her job as well in the top of the seventh inning, also putting three up, three down.
After hitting Braiesey Rosa, Michigan head coach Bonnie Tholl decided to make a pitching change, bringing out Lauren Durkowski (2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 K, 1 BB) to replace Hoehn. Kaylynn Jones hit a line drive over the glove of the shortstop, advancing Rosa’s pinch runner, Elyse Kresho, to second base. Returning to the top of the lineup, Kai Luschar was hit on her hand and took first base, loading the bases with no outs. Paige Sinicki hit a groundout to the shortstop, allowing Kresho to come home to score. Durkowski decided to walk Rylee McCoy, reloading the bases. A wild pitch allowed Kaylynn Jones to come home, tying the game 4-4, with one out.
Kedre Luschar hit a line drive towards center field, allowing her sister Kai to reach home plate, winning the game 5-4 in a walk-off fashion for the Ducks.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Ducks as they’ll finish out the series against Michigan later today in the second game of the doubleheader.