Oregon Ducks Game 2: Softball Rises, Baseball Falls

Softball vs. Rutgers

#6 Oregon Ducks softball showed yesterday – and Friday, for that matter – how a top-10 team should perform against a clearly inferior opponent. The ladies topped their 20-1 Friday score with yesterday’s 21-2 hammering of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Laurelai DePew got her first start of the season for Rutgers, and the Duck bats went after her from the first inning, with Rylee McCoy sending a 2-run shot over the left field fence.

Elise Sokolsky started for Oregon, and kept Rugers off the board for the first two innings.

After the sides went scoreless in the second inning, the Ducks small-balled their way into five runs in the top of the third inning to make the score 7-0.

In the bottom of the third, Sokolsky gave up a 2-RBI home run and got what appears to be a very short hook the head coach Melyssa Lombardi is using on her pitching room these days. Taylour Spencer finished the inning and pitched another very short outing. When she had two batters on base with successive singles and then walked a batter to load the bases, Spencer also got the hook. Lyndsey Grein pitched relief from that point on, and Rutgers were not able to hit on her for the rest of the game.

In the top of the fourth inning, McCoy hit another home run and Dezianna Patmon hit an RBI single to take the score to 9-2, and another run-rule victory was in sight.

Rutgers attempted to add some runs in the bottom of the inning but their rally was single-handedly destroyed by the double play defense of Kai Luschar.

In the top of the fifth inning, Oregon opened up the gates and put 12 runs on Rutgers in the longest uninterrupted half-inning in memory. The Ducks were at bat for about 45 minutes.

After Kai Luschar walked and then stole second, Paige Sinicki sent her home with this 2-run shot:

With two on base, Stefini Ma’ake drove them home:

Then Kaylynn Jones hit a double and Remmington Hewitt brought her home:

Finally, Kedre Luschar’s 3-RBI shot (which basely escaped being stolen) took us to our final score:

Rutgers did not have a pitcher all weekend that could contend with the Oregon bats. You have to feel for them; it’s tough getting blasted like that, two days in a row, even if there is a mercy rule.

Oregon set a school record for hits in a game (and in five innings!):

Here is what freshman Rylee McCoy had to say after another great outing at the plate:

Kedre Luschar also had a great couple of days offensively:

Oregon softball (31-3, 6-1 Big-10/T-3rd place) completely dominated in a rare, two-game sweep of Rutgers. They have an additional day to prepare for a Wednesday match in Corvallis against the Oregon State Beavers (14-13, 0-0 WCC).

Baseball vs. Ohio State

With inclement weather forecast on Sunday, Game 2 became the first game of a double-header on Saturday against Ohio State baseball.

Not to look past Game 2, but yesterday brought to light the Oregon baseball weakness that we suspected, but is now on full display.

The Ducks have no semblance of a pitcher’s room. We’ll get back to that.

Oregon’s bats got started early with a four-run first inning that was punctuated by a 3-RBI swat by Maddox Molony.

The Buckeyes added a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to nudge closer to the Ducks, 4-1.

Oregon started Collin Clarke. Clarke had been pitching reasonably well in his few previous starts, but after giving up the run in the first inning, Clarke gave up a homer in the second inning that tied the game, 4-4.

The Ducks responded in the top of the third inning with three runs off an Anson Aroz home run, and pushed their lead to 7-4.

Clarke pitched in the third inning, but after immediately loading the bases, Ian Umlandt was brought to the mound. OSU was able to use their bases-loaded with no outs citation to get a run in and make the score 7-5.

Oregon did not score in the third inning, and the Buckeyes picked up another run, and the Ducks had a slim 7-6 lead.

Molony struck again with his second multi-RBI home run of the game, and Oregon was up 9-6.

The sides were scoreless in the sixth inning, and Jacob Walsh started the seventh inning with a solo home run.

So now the Ducks had a 10-6 lead, and were in good shape to take Game 2. All they needed was for the relief pitching to hold the lead, right?

Well…that’s exactly what did not happen.

The Ducks did not score again, and Oregon trotted out Santiago Garcia, Jason Reitz, Jaxon Jordan, and Cole Stokes – all of whom gave up runs, and Ohio State won 11-10. All without having to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Oregon was rated #10 going into this series, and it seems apparent that they are overranked. It’s not like they have beaten anyone of note, and now they have dropped a series against a B1G team that, even after winning two game against the Ducks, is still tied for last in the conference.

The underlying factor here is that Oregon is woefully deficient in relief pitching. If a starter can’t stay in for at least five innings, the Ducks do not have the bullpen to hold on to or take a lead. This is not the trajectory of a team that is destined to host a regional.

Oregon baseball has a midweek game against Portland in Portland on Wednesday. After that, they host the Michigan Wolverines for a three-game series in Eugene this coming weekend.