Oregon softball swept its second Saturday doubleheader of the fall.
Hanna Delgado went 4 for 5 with six RBIs for the Ducks in a 30-2 win over College of the Siskiyous and KK Humphreys went 3 for 3 with a double and two two-run home runs in a 14-2 win over Oregon Tech Saturday afternoon at Jane Sanders Stadium.
“I thought they started out a lot faster,” Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “I like how we started this game as well. Thought they started fast, did really good with our situational hitting. I don’t really care (for) how we finished in all areas. You can go it’s a doubleheader, it’s a long day – too bad. Finish the way you want to finish.”
Against College of the Siskiyous, the Ducks jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind a solo home run by Terra McGowan (4 for 4), RBI triple by Vallery Wong (3 for 3) and two-run double by Tehya Bird.
Delgado hit a two-run single to open the scoring on a 10-run second inning in which she also singled in a run. Wong added a two-run triple, Allison Benning hit a two-run home run and McGowan hit an RBI single in the frame.
Oregon added three runs in the third and four in the fourth on RBI singles by Kedre Luschar and Delgado, RBI double by McGowan and a wild pitch.
Paige Sinicki hit an RBI double in the fifth, then Humphreys drove in a run, Delgado hit a two-run double and Katelyn Howard hit a two-run single in the sixth.
Allison Benning struck out three and allowed an unearned run, from a runner placed on third to begin the inning, over 4.0 innings. Morgan Scott allowed an unearned run via a wild pitch, walked two and struck out four over 3.0 innings.
“She just needs to shore it up. You can see when she has command it’s really good and then you can see her lose it a little bit.”
Against Oregon Tech, McGowan hit a two-run single as part of a four-run first. Carlson hit an RBI double in the second and Humphreys hit a two-run home run in the third to make it 7-0.
Oregon Tech got on the board in the fourth on a leadoff double and one-out single off Raegan Breedlove, who allowed three hits and struck out three over 4.0 innings.
McGowan hit a two-run homer and Benning hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning.
Scott made quick work of Oregon Tech in the fifth, but the Ducks went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
The difference in response to the fourth inning score and six-pitch fifth inning was part of why Lombardi wasn’t happy with the team’s finish.
“I think anytime we can do that and stay resilient with what we’re doing I think it’s really important, especially when we get into the Pac,” Lombardi said. “You’re going to have battles where you’re going to go back and forth and you got to stay strong mentally and know that you’re going to have to push through all the way to the end. I think it’s important for us to do that.
“We have an inning where we had a six-pitch inning and then we came in and we had two strikeouts and a ground out. You can’t have that. We have a six-pitch inning, you come in, take that momentum and we’ve got to do more. Those are the things we’ve got to be better with.”
Scott allowed a run on two hits in the fifth and Benning closed it out, allowing a hit and two walks with two strikeouts in the seventh.
Sophomore pitcher Stevie Hansen didn’t play for the second straight weekend but Lombardi said she won’t be out all fall and will play “soon.”
The Ducks host Western Oregon at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and will be honoring the late Spencer Webb by collecting new and used sports equipment at the game for Kidsports in Eugene and a ceremonial first pitch by members of the football team.
“With Spencer Webb he has a foundation for his high school to give back to people in his community so we wanted to honor his foundation by giving back to kids in our community here through Kidsports,” Lombardi said. “We have some of the tight ends that are coming as a group, one’s going to throw out the first pitch and honoring him.”
