Fifth-ranked Ducks need only five innings to cruise past Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Behind a dominant relief appearance from sophomore righty Taylour Spencer, the No. 5 Oregon Ducks cruised to an easy run-rule victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish by a score of 10-1. Oregon quickly jumped on Notre Dame to put the game out of reach early before Spencer settled in to start the second inning, striking out five to go against two hits and one walk.

Monday was Spencer's eighth relief appearance for the Ducks this year, where she has managed better results than in her 10 starts. While her starting ERA of 3.25 is just barely higher than her bullpen ERA of 3.13, the difference has been seen in her strikeout and walk numbers, where she has nearly doubled her strikeout-to-walk ratio from 1.5 in her starts to 2.8 out of the pen.

Continuing to stick with the "start fast" mentality that head coach Melyssa Lombardi has preached all season long, Oregon (45-5, 17-2 Big Ten) scored multiple runs in the top of the first inning for the third straight game to quickly jump ahead of the Fighting Irish (23-30-1, 7-17 ACC). The Ducks only needed three hits to put five runs on the board before an out had even been recorded in the first inning. 

After Kai Luschar led off the game with a single and Paige Sinicki was hit by a pitch, Kedre Luschar singled up the middle to make it 2-0 just three batters into the game. She then distracted the Notre Dame defense to allow Rylee McCoy to reach on a fielder's choice before Emma Cox pushed the lead to five with a three-run homer, her first since returning to the Oregon lineup earlier this month after missing over a month of action.

Elise Sokolsky got the start in the circle for the Ducks after picking up the win in their final game against Indiana on Sunday, working a one-two-three first inning with a dropball strikeout that dove underneath the bat of shortstop Addison Amaral. After Ayanna Shaw and Sinicki were stranded in scoring position to end the top of the second, Lombardi made the move to her pen to bring in Spencer for the bottom of the frame.

Spencer fell behind 3-1 to Notre Dame catcher Rachel Allen to lead off the top of the second before Allen sent Spencer's fifth pitch over the fence in center field to put the Fighting Irish on the board. She was able to recover after the homer, fanning a pair on fastballs away to escape the inning.

Oregon's offense got back to work in the top of the third. Kaylynn Jones beat out an infield single before stealing second, taking third on an error, and scoring on a bunt from Katie Flannery. With Flannery and Braiesey Rosa on second and third, Shaw pulled a single through the right side of the infield to score Rosa. Flannery was tagged out at home as Kedre Luschar reached on a fielder's choice, but Sinicki followed with a double to bring home two more runs and extend Oregon's lead to eight.

A scoreless bottom of the third saw Spencer pick up her third strikeout on another well-located fastball up in the zone after getting some help from her center fielder, Kedre Luschar, who took a two-run homer away from Notre Dame's Avery Houlihan for the first out. Luschar then led off the fourth with a double before taking third on McCoy's groundout and scoring when Cox slapped a single into right field, making it 10-1 Ducks.

Spencer picked up her fourth strikeout in a scoreless bottom of the fourth, this time getting Rachel Allen to swing over the top of a dropball exiting the bottom of the zone. Singles from Kai Luschar and Shaw put runners on for the Ducks in the top of the fifth, but they were left stranded when Trinity Holden popped up to second to end the inning, bringing Spencer back out to the circle to lock down the mercy-rule win.

With one out, center fielder Jane Kronenberger singled to make to give the Fighting Irish a base runner, but Spencer would get the next batter to fly out to right on the first pitch before fanning her fifth batter, getting Christina Wilemssen to chase at a fastball up and away to end the game.

Oregon will make its return to Jane Sanders Stadium this weekend to close out the regular season with its final home series of the year before heading to the Big Ten Softball Tournament on May 7th. The Ducks will host the Michigan State Spartans (15-27, 5-14) for three games, with Friday's first pitch set for 6 PM, Saturday's for 2 PM, and Sunday's for 1 PM.