It was a case of the struggles for the home team. Even as the rain fell from the sky and the wind blew, the Ducks could not find any momentum in the opening game of Day 2 of the Eugene Regional at Jane Sanders Stadium. The matchup between two former conference opponents who met in the NCAA tournament for the first time, saw the No. 16 Oregon Ducks (48-8, 19-3 Big Ten) face off against the Stanford Cardinal (42-11, 16-8 ACC) in the 1-0 game of the regional. Stanford took it in dominant fashion, 14-1 in six innings.
Oregon starting pitcher Elise Sokolsky (2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB) had to quickly adjust to the Stanford offense. Taryn Kern tripled as the first batter faced, and came home off a single from Emily Jones, to put the Cardinal in front 1-0 early at the top of the first inning. Oregon’s defense came into action after the run, getting three quick outs to prevent any further damage.
Stanford starting pitcher Kylie Chung (2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 K, 1 BB) struggled in the bottom of the first inning against a strong Oregon offense. Runners found themselves in scoring position early, and the Cardinal coaching staff decided it was time for a pitching change, bringing in Alyssa Houston (4 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 1 BB) to replace Chung to get the defense a bit of momentum. Houston struck out Ducks catcher Emma Cox, her first of the game, to put an end to the inning, without any runs coming home.
Joie Economides kicked off the top of the second inning with a deep ball over the left field wall for a solo home run, to make it a 2-0 Cardinal game. Sokolsky notched her first strikeout of the day, but after a double by Chung, Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi decided it was time for a change in center circle, bringing out Lyndsey Grein (3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 K, 2 BB) to get the Ducks back on track. Grein did what she needed to limit the damage and keep it a two-score game.
The dominant game play for the Cardinal continued, with Houston picking up her second and third strikeouts of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Oregon put one runner on first, but couldn’t get any further, continuing their struggles on the offensive side.
At the top of the third inning, Grein picked up her first strikeout of the game. Moments later, a line drive hit Grein in the arm and ricocheted off her towards third base, where Katie Flannery threw it to Rylee McCoy for the inning-ending out, putting a temporary stop to the Cardinal’s offensive momentum.
However, Stanford continued its defense momentum in the bottom of the third inning, with Houston picking up her fourth strikeout of the game. Oregon continued its struggle, going three up and three down.
Grein picked up her second and third strikeouts of the game at the top of the fourth inning. But, with two outs on the board, Allie Clements extended the lead for the Cardinal to three, making it a 3-0 game.
The strikeout game continued, with Houston picking up her fifth of the day in the bottom of the fourth inning. Then, Oregon’s offense slowly came alive. It started with Cox drawing a walk, and then a wild pitch to Stefini Ma’ake allowed pinch runner Regan Legg to steal second. As the crowd started to come alive, Ma’ake singled just fair of the left field foul line, and Legg came home to cut the deficit and make it 3-1. But just as the Ducks’ offense started to get a few hits, Houston recorded her sixth punchout to end the inning.
River Mahler hit a solo deep bomb into The Bob in center field at the top of the fifth inning, taking the lead back to three for the Cardinal. Oregon decided it was time for another change in the circle, bringing in Staci Chambers (2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 K, 1 BB) to relieve Grein. As the rain started to come down, Jade Berry continued to put the hammer down for Stanford, hitting a long ball into the street to make it a 5-1 Cardinal lead. But Chambers was able to record her first strikeout to get out of the inning.
The dominant performance from Houston in the circle resumed, picking up her seventh strikeout of the game. The offensive struggles from Oregon continued, as Stanford’s strong defensive front piled on the hurt even further in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The top of the sixth inning saw Stanford put runners on first and second base, leading to the fourth pitcher for the Ducks to take the center circle. The sophomore right-handed pitcher Taylour Spencer (1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 K, 1 BB) came in to relieve Chambers. Clements singled to bring another run home, to extend the lead for the Cardinal. With the bases loaded, Jones hit another single, bringing two more runs home with no outs. The damage continued with Mahler singling to bring another run home, making it 9-1 Stanford.
Spencer finally got her first strikeout, but it was too little, too late on the defensive side. The bases became loaded once again, and after hitting Economides and Caelin Koch on the elbow on back-to-back pitches, two unearned runs came home, to make it 11-1.
Sokolsky was called back out to get out of the inning. Base hits from Chung and Clements made it 13-1. A sacrifice fly caught by Kedre Luschar was the second out of the inning, but a run came home to make it 14-1. After 14 batters stepped up to the plate in the inning, a groundout put an end to the meltdown. The Cardinal’s lead of thirteen means that only three outs stand between them and a trip to the regional final without a loss.
Zoe Prystajko (1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB) came in for Stanford in the circle to finish out the game. Oregon freshman Rylee McCoy singled to put a runner on base for the Ducks in a last-gasp effort. But it was too little, too late on the offensive front, as Stanford caught a pop fly to end the game under the mercy rule and take the match in a dominant showing.
Stanford moves on to the regional final tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m., with a spot in the Super Regionals on the line. Oregon will have to play against the winner of Binghamton versus Weber State, with first pitch scheduled for 35 minutes after the conclusion of that game later this evening, for a spot against Stanford in the regional final tomorrow.