Ducks cap debut home weekend with thrilling win over Maryland

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon Ducks (12-8) played host for the first time this season with the inaugural Jane Sanders Classic. They finished the weekend 3-1 with two wins over Mount St. Mary’s and a split against Maryland.

Oregon eviscerated the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers  17-0 in the first game on Thursday, winning by a mercy rule after five innings. The Ducks’ pitching was absolutely dialed in, with Stevie Hansen, Taylour Spencer, and Raegan Breedlove combining to toss five no-hit innings, with Spencer’s two walks being the only base runners the Mountaineers (2-10) got all day.

Hansen continued to mow down batters, striking out six in her three innings on Thursday. So far this season, she has struck out 32 batters in her 30.1 innings. If she keeps up this pace throughout the year, it will be the first time she strikes out more than one batter per inning since her freshman year when she struck out 126 batters in 124.1 innings.

“I’ve been able lately to just trust myself,” Hansen said of her strikeouts. “I think I was putting too much into my head like, ‘I need to get strikeouts,’ rather than just throwing and trusting my defense. I know they’ve all got my back and I know we each have each other no matter what. I just kind of relax and let what happens happens. If I get a strikeout, cool, if I get a ground ball I know they’re gonna make the play, make a double-play, catch the fly ball, dive for a line drive. I know they’ve got me.”

Oregon’s offense got things started early on Thursday thanks to Kai Luschar’s steal of home in the first inning and never looked back from there. They added three more runs in the first, four in the second, and nine in the third to quickly put the game out of reach.

Luschar, Alyssa Daniell, and KK Humphreys each picked up three hits on the day, with Humphreys driving home six runs to lead the team thanks to two long balls, her first homers of the season. Including her swipe of home in the first, Luschar stole four bases on Thursday to bring her total to 14 on the season, the second most in the country.

After rain delayed the start of Friday’s doubleheader, Oregon beat Mount St. Mary’s again. This time by a score of 10-2. Humphreys’ third home run of the tournament put the Ducks up eight in the bottom of the sixth inning, enforcing the mercy rule and giving Oregon the win.

Elise Sokolsky got the start for the Ducks but gave up two runs, one unearned, in her 1.1 innings. Spencer came in to relieve her in the second inning and absolutely shut down the Mount St. Mary’s offense, throwing 4.2 innings while only allowing one hit and striking out three.

“I thought she competed, thought she got after it,” Melyssa Lombardi said of Spencer’s performance. “She worked ahead and I liked what she did.”

In addition to her homer, Humphreys picked up two other hits and stole three bases, scoring twice while driving in three runs. She was joined with multi-hit days from Daniell and Ariel Carlson as the Ducks totaled three extra-base hits.

“Sometimes when you don’t get what you want you might press a little bit, and I think her [Humphreys] just going back to who she is and what she needs to do at the plate,” Lombardi said was the adjustment she’s seen that lead to Humphreys’ explosion this weekend.

In the second game on Friday, Oregon lost to the Maryland Terrapins (6-12) 4-0. The Ducks offense was dominated by Maryland’s starter, Courtney Wyche, who struck out six in a complete game shutout. The Ducks only totaled four hits, with Humphreys, Hanna Delgado, and Tehya Bird each adding a walk.

The Terps' offense got out to a hot start, scoring two runs on a double by Diamond Williams before Oregon’s starter, Morgan Scott even recorded a single out. 

Oregon had a chance to strike back in the third when Bird and Paige Sinicki walked and singled to bring the top of the lineup back up. They moved over to second and third when Luschar grounded out to third, but were left stranded in scoring position when Carlson went down swinging and Daniell grounded out to first.

“It’s being able to get on. You get two in scoring position then you have to have those others have the opportunity and the ability to drive them in,” Lombardi said.

Oregon stranded seven base runners in Friday afternoon’s contest, hitting just 2-for-12 with runners on base and 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Maryland came back to launch a two-run homer in the fourth, giving them a four-run lead that the Ducks weren’t able to erase.

Stevie Hansen came in to replace Scott in the fifth and struck out four batters in her three innings of relief, only allowing three base runners on two hits and a walk. She kept the Ducks in the game, but Oregon’s offense wasn't able to dig their way out of the early hole that they fell into.

“I think Stevie came in and pitched really well,” Lombardi said. “That’s why it’s important to have a staff.”

“I’ve just been working a lot on my mental game lately,” Hansen said. “I haven’t had the best start that I’ve wanted to this season, so kind of just working a lot with coaches one-on-one throughout the week and just figuring myself out mentally, I’ve been able to just let go on the field.”

The Ducks played the Terps again on Saturday, this time getting the best of them this time with a 4-2 win. Hansen got the win for the Ducks, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings in relief of Spencer who surrendered two runs in her 3.1 innings, striking out two batters in the process.

Oregon took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice bunt by Daniell that scored Carlson from third. The Ducks had almost scored on the previous play, but Luschar, who led off the inning with an infield single, was cut down trying to score on KK Humphreys’ grounder to third.

The Ducks added three more runs in the second when Delgado and Shaw reached on a single and a hit-by-pitch before coming around to score when Sinicki sent a double into right center. Luschar then grounded to short but the defender sailed the throw into right field, allowing Sinicki to come home, giving the Ducks a 4-0 lead.

Maryland’s Diamond Williams led off the fourth inning with a solo homer to right field and Mazie MacFarlane sent one of her own over the left field fence two batters later, knocking Spencer out of the game. Hansen shut down the Terrapin offense for the rest of the game, striking out two batters while only allowing two hits and one walk, stranding every base runner she allowed.

“This team always responds,” Lombardi said of her team’s ability to bounce back after Friday’s loss. “They know what they want, they always respond. I think of the leadership we have. We have nine seniors, the most that we have ever had since I’ve been here. Just to see this group being player-led, that to me is when we are at our best.”

The Ducks were originally scheduled for five games against Mount St. Mary’s, Maryland, and No. 12 Florida State, but due to the rainy conditions here in Eugene that forced Florida State to back out and postponed a game versus Mount St. Mary’s, the Ducks only ended up playing four games.

Oregon opens Pac-12 play next weekend, hosting the No. 24 Cal Golden Bears (17-2) for a three-game set. Cal has been one of the hottest teams in the country, with their only losses coming to a Louisiana team that was ranked at the time, and that they later beat, and to No. 3 Georgia. This will be a good test for the Ducks if they want to be able to contend in what will be a strong Pac-12 this season.