Ducks Take Game One vs Washington

Via Oregon Communications

SEATTLE – No. 21 Oregon scored four times in the top of the seventh inning to rally for an 8-6 victory over No. 10 Washington Friday in the Pac-12 opener for both teams at Husky Softball Stadium.

KK Humphreys delivered four RBI on the night – two in the first and then two in the seventh that gave the Ducks the lead for good. All four of her RBI came with two outs.

“I was just trying to find a good pitch to hit,” said Humphreys of her go-ahead hit. “I knew the game was on the line and I wanted to be up there and deliver in my last at-bat for the team.”

Raegan Breedlove (2-0) kept the Huskies in check in long relief, giving up two runs in 4.2 innings before Morgan Scott came on to close in the seventh for her third save of the season.

“Trusting my defense,” said Breedlove, on the keys to being successful. “If the hitter puts the put the ball in play, I trust my defense to do the work behind me.”

How it Happened: Oregon (17-4, 1-0) strung together three two-out hits to score twice in the top of the first. Allee Bunker singled into left field before Alyssa Daniell beat out an infield single. Humphreys then slapped a line drive triple into the right field corner to score Bunker and Daniell.

Washington (18-4, 0-1) homered twice in the bottom of the first to take a 3-2 lead. The Huskies homered again in the second inning, prompting the call to the pen for Breedlove, who escaped the second, and then after a lead-off single in the third, retired six consecutive batters.

The Ducks tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the fifth. Allee Bunker dropped a double into left field, before Vallery Wong homered into Lake Washington beyond the left field wall for her third home run of the season.

The back-and-forth game saw the Huskies retake the lead, 5-4, in the bottom of the fifth, but Breedlove limited further damage by ending the inning with a 1-4-3 double play, Oregon’s Pac-12 leading ninth double play of the season.

The Ducks’ seventh inning rally began with an infield single by Paige Sinicki. Hanna Delgado reached on an error when the throw from third went into right field. Sinicki tried to score on the play but was thrown out at home. Delgado ended up at second on the play.

After McGowan lined out for the second out of the inning, Bunker singled to move the tying run to third. Wong then fought off a pitch and flared a single over second base to bring Delgado home with the tying run.

Humphreys broke the 5-5 tie with a double though the left side that scored Bunker and Wong. Ariel Carlson added an RBI single to plate Humphreys. The Ducks led 8-5 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

But the Huskies would not go quietly in their last at-bat. Washington got two runners on via a walk and a single before Scott came out of the pen. She allowed the lead runner to score on a single, making it 8-6. But then Scott induced a couple pop ups that surrounded a strikeout to end the game.

Noteworthy: All eight of Oregon’s runs were scored with two outs … Bunker was 3-for-4, including a double. That was the 40^th double of her career, which ties her with Kaylan Howard (2010-13) for fourth on the UO career list. With three hits Friday, Bunker is just three hits behind assistant coach Nikki (Udria) Ragin (247/2014-17) for third on the UO career hits list with 244. Bunker also entered a couple of career top 10 lists on Friday. Her three runs gave her 145 for her career, tied with Koral Costa (2013-16) for 10^th. With four at-bats, Bunker moved to ninth in career at-bats with 672, passing Kim Manning (1989-92) and Melissa Jeppsen (1995-98) who both have 670 … Wong went 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Humphrey was 2-for-4 with four RBI and her first career triple.

Quotable

1B KK Humphreys

“I think we have a “don’t count us out” mentality. I think tonight we showed the world what Oregon softball is and I’m excited to see what comes next.”

On Deck: Oregon’s series at Washington continues Saturday with a 4 p.m. game (Pac-12 Network).