Written Story by Griffin Bowes

The Oregon Ducks entered their conference bye-week with hopes of picking up a couple wins and maybe gaining some confidence. In their first of two games against the 13-18 Lindenwood Lions, Oregon picked up a relatively easy 8-0 win to improve to 24-11 on the season. In the first couple of innings, both teams struggled to generate much offense. Oregon pitcher Morgan Scott was lights out in the first inning, but their offense was unable to capitalize. She had a strong second inning to keep the game in Oregon’s control before senior Ariel Carlson was able to open up scoring in the bottom half. The Ducks defense shut down the Lions’ offense once again in the top of the 3rd, and senior Allee Bunker picked up an RBI in the bottom to extend their lead to 2-0. 

While the outcome was never in doubt, the bottom of the 4th is when the Ducks were able to blow the game wide open. Oregon spent much of the half-inning with a runner on 2nd and 3rd bases, and they were able to convert the early hitting success into an impressive 5 runs. With no outs, sophomore Paige Sinicki picked up a double RBI which included another run by Ariel Carlson. Later on, Vallery Wong had a sac fly, and Allee Bunker added a double RBI to complement her single RBI in the second inning. At this point, the Ducks led 7-0, but they continued their defensive dominance into the next two innings. As pointed out by KWVA play-by-play announcer Ryan Milano, Morgan Scott only allowed two base runs through five innings, and both of them were walks. Oregon had a chance to close out the game in 5 innings, but a Lions’ defender made an incredible diving catch to deny the Ducks’ a game-clinching run. However, the Ducks were able to end the game in the 6th with a Terra McGowan RBI.

The second and final game of this series with Lindenwood is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 6pm here at Jane Sanders. Then, the Ducks will get a week off before returning to conference play with a road series vs. #36 Arizona State. Luckily for the Ducks, they have already played most of the tough games on their schedule. Their hardest remaining series will start on Friday, April 28 at #28 Cal. Their other upcoming conference series include the home affair with #37 Arizona and the regular season closer against #31 Utah. They already have secured marquee wins against #2 UCLA, #4 Stanford, #12 Washington, #22 Florida and more. Considering what they have achieved both today and over the course of the season, the Ducks should feel very optimistic heading into the home stretch of the regular season and the postseason.

Audio Story by Griffin Bowes