University of Washington
31-8, 3-4
Oregon
29-4, 7-1
Washington Softball Run-Rules No. 2 Oregon
March 29, 2015 | Softball
EUGENE, Ore. – Washington exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning to return the favor and run-rule the No. 2 Oregon Ducks 10-2 in five innings Saturday afternoon at Howe Field. With the win, the Huskies take game two of the series and hand Oregon their first Pac-12 loss.
The Huskies evened the series with its victory, moving to 31-8 overall on the season and 3-4 in the Pac-12. Oregon is now 29-4 on the year and 7-1 in the conference after its game two loss.
The Huskies combined for 11 hits on the day to run-rule the Ducks for the first time since Feb. 9, 2013. Seven of nine total batters for the Huskies earned hits, with eight hits coming in the last two innings alone.
Senior Kasey Stanchek made her 16th start in the circle for the Huskies, holding the Ducks (29-3) to two runs on five hits with two strikeouts and four walks through the first three innings. Junior Hailey Bator came on in relief to close the door for Washington, allowing three hits and striking out two. Oregon ended the day stranding ten runners on base as the Husky defense worked their way out of some big jams to limit the damage throughout.
The Ducks used a single and a walk to put two runners on in the bottom of the first, but the Huskies put down the rally in part thanks to senior second baseman Kelli Suguro who fielded a ground ball, stepped on second and threw to first to end the inning, all while falling over.
After back-to-back three up, three down innings for the Washington offense, the Huskies broke through in the third. Freshman Krystal Aubert hit a one-out single and stole her third bag of the season to move into scoring position for senior Kylee Lahners. Lahners ripped her ninth double of the season to give the Huskies their first run and lead of the series.
Oregon's Janie Takeda hit a lead off double in the bottom of the third but after a fly out to Aubert in right field, the freshman delivered an absolute bullet to third base to throw out Takeda who was attempting to tag up. The Ducks used a walk, single and hit-by-pitch to load the bases before Stanchek worked out of the jam, inducing a groundout to end the inning.
After the big plays defensively, Washington straight up exploded at the plate in the fourth, sending 12 batters to the dish and scoring eight runs. Sophomore Casey Stangel led off the frame with a single up the middle before junior Kimberlee Souza was hit-by-pitch. The Huskies scored two runs off Suguro's fourth double of the season and the Ducks were forced to replace their starting pitcher, Geri Ann Glasco with Jasmine Smithson-Willett.
The pitching change didn't stop the Husky offense as the Dawgs continued its rally. Aubert's sac-bunt popped out of the second baseman's glove to score Suguro before the same scenario happened again. This time it was freshman Julia DePonte laying down the bunt and the error occurred on the throw to score Aubert. Lahners continued the rally, laying down the third Husky bunt in a row. The perfectly executed squeeze-bunt scored DePonte from third and the Huskies took a 6-0 lead.
The inning continued with a walk to freshman Taylor Van Zee before Stangel, who led off the inning, stepped to the plate for the second time, crushing a two-out double to score two more Husky runs. Souza followed with a hit through the infield to score the eighth run of the inning.
Oregon's two runs came in the bottom half of the inning. After a lead off walk and a single put runners on, Stangel entered the circle for the Huskies. The Ducks were hit-by-pitch to load the bases and junior Hailey Bator came in to close out the game. Oregon plated two runs off back-to-back singles but that was all as Bator and the Husky defense closed the door, retiring the next three Duck batters in order.
Lahners hit a solo home run in the fifth to give the Huskies a 10-2 lead as her 10th homer of the season put the game back into run-rule territory.
Oregon led off the fifth with a single but after attempting a delayed steal, the base runner was picked off and the Husky defense went on to retire the next three batters in order, including Bator's second strikeout to end the game.
The Huskies and Ducks will play the series finale tomorrow (March 29) at 2 p.m. The game will air live on the Pac-12 Networks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stanchek, Kasey (11-3)
L: Glasco, Geri Ann (6-1)
Batting:
2B: Lahners, Kylee 1 ; Stangel, Casey 1 ; Suguro, Kelli 1
HR: Lahners, Kylee 1
RBI: Lahners, Kylee 3 ; Stangel, Casey 2 ; Souza, Kimberlee 1 ; Suguro, Kelli 2
SH: Aubert, Krystal 1 ; DePonte, Julia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lahners, Kylee 1 ; Meggs, Kelly 1 ; Van Zee, Taylor 1 ; Stangel, Casey 1 ; Melhart, Trysten 1 ; Souza, Kimberlee 1 ; Suguro, Kelli 1 ; Aubert, Krystal 2 ; DePonte, Julia 1
SB: Aubert, Krystal 1
HBP: Souza, Kimberlee 1
Batting:
2B: Takeda, Janie 1
RBI: Puentes, Sammie 1 ; Lilley, Jenna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mercado, Danica 1 ; Udria, Nikki 1
HBP: Gillespie, Alyssa 1 ; Lindvall, Janelle 1 ; Udria, Nikki 1
PO: Costa, Koral 1
