Freshman Emma Cox's clutch hit lifts Ducks to road win over rival Beavers

CORVALLIS, Ore. — It wasn't pretty, but the No. 6 Oregon Ducks got the job done on the road, taking down the Oregon State Beavers 5-3 to capture the season series. The Beavers led nearly wire-to-wire before freshman catcher Emma Cox delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh to take a lead that Lyndsey Grein made sure they wouldn't relinquish.

Beaver starter Ellie Garcia carved through the Oregon lineup for the game's first few innings before Rylee McCoy finally gave the Ducks their first base hit in the fourth. Oregon's offense would slowly wake up from there, scoring a run in both the fourth and fifth innings before putting up a three-spot in the seventh to take the lead.

"It allows us to grow a lot," head coach Melyssa Lombardi said of her team's come-from-behind victory. "We talk all the time that we're never out of it."

The Ducks threatened in the top of the first with two-out walks from Kedre Luschar an Cox, but couldn't bring either runner across. When the Oregon State lineup came to bat in the bottom of the frame, they got after Oregon starter Staci Chambers in a hurry, who was chased after recording just two outs.

The Beavers quickly loaded the bases with a pair of walks to sandwich a hard-hit single off the bat of Tristian Thompson before Lici Campbell and Jaeya Butler delivered a pair of singles to bring home two runs. Lombardi decided to make the early move to her bullpen and called on Elise Sokolsky for relief duty, who worked out of the bases-loaded jam with some help from her defense.

After Sokolsky entered, both pitchers settled into a duel, trading zeros on the scoreboard across the second and third innings. 

In the fourth, Ayanna Shaw followed McCoy's base hit by legging out an infield single before Beaver shortstop Jaiya Butler misplayed a ball off the bat of Rosa to load the bases. One batter later, Katie Flannery grounded to third where Samantha Guitierrez stepped on third to get Shaw, but not before McCoy's pinch runner, Regan Legg, came home to score.

Momentum wouldn't stay on the Ducks' side, though, as in the bottom of the fourth, the Beavers answered back with a run of their own to re-extend their lead back to two. With one down in the inning, right fielder Ella Dardis smacked a ball into the left-center gap between the Luschar sisters before racing around the bases and sliding in safely with a triple, coming home to score two batters later as a ball ricocheted off Flannery at third.

Lombardi decided to make the call to her bullpen once again, and this time it was sophomore righty Taylour Spencer who entered to relieve Sokolsky. Spencer gave up two runs in just over two innings to start Oregon's loss to the Beavers in March, and a hit-by-pitch would quickly load the bases for her. But she locked back in from there, getting Campbell to swing under a heater at the top of the zone for the third out to leave the bases loaded.

"For me, it meant a lot," Spencer said of her massive fourth-inning stand. "Because the past few weeks, my outings haven't been the best. Just being able to come in and pick up Elise [Sokolsky] and Staci [Chambers], and be able to keep my team through the game until Lyndsey [Grein]'s turn, I think that was pretty big."

A pair of Beaver misplays in the infield allowed Paige Sinicki and Kedre Luschar to quickly reach base in the top of the fifth, setting up Cox to bring home a run with a line-drive single up the middle. The Ducks were nearly able to take the lead when Dezianna Patmon pinch-hit for Shaw and crushed a ball deep toward center field, but Jada Lewis was able to reach up and snag the ball at the top of the wall just inches from a homer.

Down to their final three outs, the Ducks needed their offense to come through in the top of the seventh. Kai Luschar led off with an infield single before Sinicki was hit by a pitch and Kedre Luschar walked to load the bases for Cox. After falling behind in the count, she delivered a single down the line in right field to bring home Kai Luschar and Sinicki, giving Oregon its first lead of the game. 

"I was a little frustrated with the call right before it, and I was like, 'I don't think that's a strike,'" Cox said of her late-game heroics. "But I just reminded myself, let's control what I can control."

McCoy quickly followed with a hard-hit line drive into center that brought Kedre Luschar home on a sacrifice to make it 5-3 Ducks.

"We got one leadoff on and it was in the seventh," Lombardi said after the game. "So to finally get our leadoff on, and then from there, having the ability to pass the bat and these guys come up clutch, is huge for us."

Grein, who had entered to relieve Spencer in the sixth, returned to the circle to close things out. She walked the leadoff batter and a stolen base put a runner in scoring position, but Grein fanned the next two batters on her signature rise ball to get the first two outs of the inning. A single would put runners on the corners, but that didn't matter to Grein, who recorded her third strikeout to strand them and lock down the win.

The Ducks will return to Jane Sanders Stadium on Friday night for their biggest series of the season against the No. 5 UCLA Bruins. The teams are tied atop the Big Ten standings at 12-1 in conference play this season, giving the winner of the series the inside track to the regular season title and the top seed in the Big Ten Softball tournament. The teams will meet for three games from Friday to Sunday, with first pitch of game one set for 7 PM.