Fifth-ranked Ducks sweep Wolverines thanks to pair of Saturday victories

EUGENE, Ore. — After Sunday's game was moved to create a Saturday doubleheader to avoid the forecasted precipitation, the No. 5 Oregon Ducks won a pair of very different games to sweep the Michigan Wolverines. The Ducks needed a seventh-inning comeback and a walk-off to take game one before their bats exploded in game two, demolishing the reigning Big Ten champs in mercy-rule fashion.

Game 1: Oregon 5, Michigan 4

The Ducks (35-3, 9-1) were forced to come from behind to win in walk-off fashion in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, rallying behind five stellar relief innings from Elise Sokolsky before Kedre Luschar's seventh-inning single brought her sister Kai home from third to end the game. The Ducks took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first that they would lose an inning later and not regain until the final pitch of the game.

"This team shows that they know how to respond and come back and put runs on the board when we're down," head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "They learned a valuable lesson in the first game today."

A Kai Luschar walk and Paige Sinicki hit-by-pitch put two runners on early for the Ducks in the first inning, and they were able to capitalize as Katie Flannery sent a sacrifice fly into left field before Kedre Luschar singled to put Oregon ahead by two.

That lead wouldn't last long, though, as in her first start since suffering an injury ahead of the second weekend of the season, Staci Chambers surrendered a pair of runs on a double by Madi Ramey in the top of the second. The Wolverines (27-12, 6-4) would follow with two more runs in the top of the third when Jenissa Conway, who hit the game-tying home run on Friday night, sent a two-run bomb over the scoreboard in right field.

"We needed Staci to give us three [innings]," Lombardi said. "Were they shutout? No. It doesn't matter what was on the board. This offense, we should be able to go back and get those runs."

That's when Lombardi decided to make the call to her bullpen. Sokolsky entered in relief and quickly got out of the inning with her first two strikeouts. Her dominance out of the pen was the key to Saturday's first win as she completely shut down the Wolverine offense, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out six across five shutout innings to secure her 11th win of the season.

"I thought Elise was just phenomenal all week long," Lombardi said of Sokolsky.

Oregon put runners on base in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, but all three times, finished the frame by leaving them stranded. Luckily for the Duck offense, Sokolsky continued to match, stranding a pair in scoring position with a strikeout in the fifth inning before once again leaving two on in the sixth.

The Ducks went down one-two-three in the sixth inning, setting them up to need a miracle in the seventh. They would get some help from the Wolverines to set things up, as Braiesey Rosa and Kai Luschar were each hit by pitches to sandwich a single off the bat of Kaylynn Jones, loading the bases with no outs. After battling to a 2-2 count, Sinicki cut the lead to one with an RBI groundout before Michigan decided to intentionally walk Rylee McCoy, who drove in the game-winning run on Friday night, looking to set up a potential double play to end the game. 

The first pitch to the next batter, Flannery, sailed away from the Wolverine backstop, allowing Jones to come home and tie the game. Flannery was sent down swinging for the second out, bringing up Kedre Luschar, who, on the second pitch, sent a line drive into center field as her sister raced home for the winning run. 

"It's always fun hearing her at third," Luschar said of her sister Kai, whom she drove home to win the game. "She's always so loud for me, it's awesome."

Game 2: Oregon 9, Michigan 1

The series' third and final game looked like it would go similarly to the first two through the first couple of innings before the Ducks exploded for seven runs in the fourth to push the game to a mercy rule. Lyndsey Grein allowed just a single unearned run across five innings, striking out five batters en route to her nation-leading 19th win of the season.

Both teams were held scoreless across the first two frames before the Oregon offense finally found a rhythm in the bottom of the third. The Ducks loaded the bases for Dezianna Patmon, who placed a single just inside the left field foul line to bring home a pair of runners and take the lead. Stefini Ma'ake's second walk in as many plate appearances loaded the bases back up, but Rosa chased above the zone for the third out to leave them that way.

The top of the fourth brought a run home for Michigan, but that was the least of Oregon's concerns as a collision at second took out Sinicki, who was making her 166th consecutive start at shortstop. With runners on the corners following a pair of singles, Michigan's Lauren Putz attempted to steal second and took out Sinicki sliding into second while Rosa's throw sailed into the outfield to bring home the unearned run.

After the game, Lombardi said that Sinicki is "good," but that "it's next man up, and it's been next man up all year long."

Oregon's offense took revenge for its fallen teammate the following inning, striking for seven runs to turn what had looked like another close game into a blowout. Jones and Kai Luschar reached to lead off the inning before Trinity Holden's sacrifice bunt moved them into scoring position. The Wolverines decided to intentionally walk McCoy for the third time on Saturday in order to load the bases, but two batters later, Kedre Luschar sent a single under the glove of Michigan first baseman Madi Ramey to bring two runs across.

Two pitches later, Patmon scorched a single into left to bring home Luschar before, on the first pitch that Ma'ake saw, she obliterated a ball deep into the netting beyond the left field wall to officially turn the game into a blowout with a three-run homer. Rosa followed with a solo shot to make it back-to-back homers and extend Oregon's lead to eight, setting up the mercy rule.

"It was just sitting one pitch and finding it," Ma'ake, who walked in her first two at-bats, said of her three-run bomb. "She never threw it to me the other times, so I was like, 'Okay, this has got to be the one, I'm gonna sit back and bang.'"

Grein came back out for the fifth, making quick work of the Wolverines with a flyout to left, a popup to short, and her fifth strikeout to secure the win.

What's next?

Oregon is off on Sunday after the game was moved to create Saturday's doubleheader with rain expected, but will take on Loyola Marymount for a one-off game at noon on Monday before heading to Minnesota next weekend.