University of Oregon
6-0
New Mexico
1-3
Ducks Pound Lobos, Finish 6-0 at Kajikawa Classic
02/11/18 | Softball
No. 3 Oregon scored in double digits for the fourth straight game and recorded its fifth consecutive run-rule victory on Sunday with a 14-1 win over New Mexico to finish off an undefeated weekend at the Kajikawa Classic
TEMPE, Ariz. - The third-ranked Oregon softball team scored in double digits for the fourth straight game and recorded its fifth consecutive run-rule victory on Sunday with a 14-1 win over New Mexico to finish off an undefeated weekend at the Kajikawa Classic.
The Ducks (6-0) put up incredible offensive numbers over six games to open the 2018 season, scoring 73 total runs and 57 over the last four games. Oregon hit a whopping .472 as a team in Tempe while mashing 17 home runs.
How it Happened: Alexis Mack scored the first run of the game for the Ducks in the first inning, scoring on a Mia Camuso single after reaching on an error and stealing second.
Mack contributed again in the second inning, this time driving in a run with an RBI single, and Jenna Lilley walked in a run to make it 3-0. With the bases loaded and one out, senior catcher Gwen Svekis capped off an unbelievable weekend at the plate with a grand slam, her fifth home run through the first six games of the season.
Oregon led 7-0 in the bottom of the second when New Mexico (1-2) scored on a passed ball to get on the board, but freshman Lauren Burke got that run right back for the Ducks with her first collegiate home run, a solo blast to right-center field.
The Ducks used the long ball again in the fourth inning to tack on five runs and extend their lead to 13-1. Senior shortstop DJ Sanders crushed a three-run home run to deep left field, giving last year's NCAA home-run leader four blasts in her first six games as a Duck. Lilley, who hit a grand slam Saturday against Missouri, exceeded her home run total from all of 2017 with a two-run homer to right field.
Senior Lauren Lindvall singled in a run in the fifth inning to give the Ducks their fourth straight game with at least 14 runs.
At the Plate: Svekis' grand slam gave her a team-best four RBIs, and Lilley and Sanders each drove in three with Sanders going 2-for-3. Mack led the Ducks with a 3-for-4 day while plating a run, Darya Kaboli-Nejad produced off the bench with a double and a single and Burke finished with an RBI for the second game in a row while hitting her first career home run.
In the Circle: Sophomore Maggie Balint (2-0) earned the win while holding New Mexico to just two hits and one unearned run over four innings with six strikeouts and four walks. Freshman Olivia Kinsey made her collegiate debut in the fifth inning, striking out two and working out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam to finish off the win for the Ducks.
Weekend Domination: The Ducks outscored their opponents by an astounding 73-12 margin over the weekend while racking up 76 hits with 27 walks and just nine strikeouts. Oregon's 17 home runs in the first weekend are already more than a third of the way to last season's total (46), and the Ducks finished with 29 total extra-base hits.
Svekis was stellar in the first tournament of her senior season, hitting .500 (8-for-16) with five home runs and 12 RBIs. Sanders was right behind at .462 (6-for-13) with four home runs and 11 RBIs, and Shannon Rhodes hit .556 (10-for-18) with three bombs while driving in nine. Lilley added two home runs and nine RBIs while hitting .500 (9-for-18), and Burke, Lindvall and Cherish Burks each went deep once. Freshman Mary Iakopo led the Ducks with a whopping .692 (9-for-13) average with three doubles and seven RBIs, and Mack paced Oregon with 14 hits while hitting .609 and stealing four bases.
In the circle, Megan Kleist, Miranda Elish and Balint all went 2-0 while allowing only 10 earned runs. Elish did not surrender a run during her 10.1 innings pitched, and she led Oregon with 20 strikeouts while walking just one.
Up Next: The Ducks will head to Mexico next week for four games in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, beginning Thursday against Houston at 12 p.m. PT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Balint, Maggie (2-0)
L: Ruel (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Mack, Alexis 1 ; Kaboli-Nejad, Darya 1
HR: Lilley, Jenna 1 ; Svekis, Gwen 1 ; Sanders, DJ 1 ; Burke, Lauren 1
RBI: Mack, Alexis 1 ; Lilley, Jenna 3 ; Svekis, Gwen 4 ; Camuso, Mia 1 ; Sanders, DJ 3 ; Lindvall, Lauren 1 ; Burke, Lauren 1
SH: Lindvall, Lauren 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mack, Alexis 3 ; Lilley, Jenna 2 ; Rhodes, Shannon 1 ; Svekis, Gwen 1 ; Utecht, April 1 ; Kaboli-Nejad, Darya 2 ; Sanders, DJ 2 ; Lindvall, Lauren 1 ; Burke, Lauren 1
SB: Mack, Alexis 2
HBP: Burke, Lauren 1
Batting:
SH: Gray 1
Base Running:
RUNS: O'Grady 1
HBP: Broderick 1
