University of Oregon
Washington
Husky Softball Edges Oregon In Dramatic Fashion
04/01/05 | Softball
EUGENE ? Junior pitcher Amy Harris shut down the Husky offense in a relief role and freshman Lovena Chaput had an impressive debut to the Pacific-10 Conference but the University of Oregon softball team fell just short to the 17th-ranked Washington Huskies before 341 fans at Howe Field in the conference opener for both teams.
It was high drama as the Ducks rallied from a 4-0 deficit to pull within a run, 4-3, in the fifth inning and later loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Washington reliever Caitlin Noble was able to secure the Husky victory with a strikeout to earn her first save of the season and improve the team to 17-9 overall, 1-0 Pac-10.
"I thought we played an excellent game today," Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said. "We never once thought we were out of this game and I'm really pleased with how hard we played inning after inning."
The Ducks, who are 2-1 in conference openers under Arendsen, fall to 20-10, 0-1 this season. Senior pitcher Lindsey Kontra (4-2) took the loss for Oregon while Washington starter Ashley Boek improved to 11-5 with her second victory over the Ducks this season.
Harris, who relieved Kontra with the Ducks trailing 4-0 in the second inning, struck out five batters, walked none and allowed just one hit in 5.1 innings of work. In her last 49 innings pitched, Harris has allowed just two earned runs and has 61 strikeouts.
Offensively, Chaput and sophomore Suzie Barnes led the way for Oregon as Chaput scored two runs and hit her second triple of the season while Barnes went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Barnes has hit safely in eight consecutive games and is second on the team with a .364 average.
Washington center fielder Aimee Minor got things started for the Huskies in the first inning, hitting a two-out three-run home run and the Huskies capitalized on an Oregon error in the second inning to go ahead 4-0.
Oregon junior Beth Boskovich, who went 1-for-1 with three walks, got the Ducks on the board in the third inning with an RBI single through the left side that scored Chaput, who had tripled to lead off the inning.
The Duck offense pressured Washington starter Ashley Boek in the bottom of the fifth inning, loading the bases after a walk to Chaput, a double by Barnes and an intentional walk to Boskovich. Freshman third baseman T.J. Eadus then popped out for the second out, but designated player Kristi Leiter drove in Chaput with a single to narrow the gap, 4-2. Boek then walked catcher Ashley Richards to score Chaput and put Oregon within a run 4-3, but reliever Caitlin Noble struck out sophomore Kayleen Hudson for the third out.
Oregon pressured again in the seventh, but was unable to get the tying run across the plate.
The Ducks host No. 7 UCLA Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bruins lost 2-1 to Oregon State Friday afternoon.
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Box score (NCAA)
The Automated ScoreBook
#17 Washington at Oregon
Apr 01, 2005 at Eugene, Ore. (Howe Field)
Washington 4 (17-0,1-0 PAC-10)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Charters, Ashley ss...... 3 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 0
Lastrapes, Dominique 2b.. 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 1
Rivera, Kristen c........ 2 1 0 0 1 0 7 2 0
Hyatt, Sarah 1b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0
Minor, Aimee cf.......... 2 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 0
Fiske, Kathy 3b.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1
Noble, Caitlin dh/p...... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
Greer, Lauren lf......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0
Hansen, Jacki rf......... 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Boek, Ashley p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 25 4 3 4 1 6 21 5 3
Oregon 3 (20-10,0-1 PAC-10)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Chaput, Lovena lf........ 3 2 1 0 1 1 3 0 0
Barnes, Suzie cf......... 4 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 0
Boskovich, Beth 1b....... 1 0 1 1 3 0 6 0 0
Eadus, T.J. 3b........... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Leiter, Kristi dh........ 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1
Richards, Ashley c....... 3 0 0 1 1 1 7 0 0
Baird, Dani pr.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hudson, Kayleen rf....... 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3
Topps, Ann Marie ph..... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
Goodell, Erin 2b......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Jorgensen, Kristi 2b.... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Sabol, Breanne ss........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2
Kontra, Lindsey p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Harris, Amy p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 27 3 5 3 6 8 21 3 10
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Washington.......... 310 000 0 - 4 3 2
Oregon.............. 001 020 0 - 3 5 1
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E - Charters(7); Fiske(4); Eadus(1).
LOB - Huskies 3; Ducks 10. 2B -
Charters(2); Barnes(4). 3B - Chaput(2).
HR - Minor(10). HBP - Charters;
Minor. SH - Goodell(7). SB - Charters(21).
Washington IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Boek, Ashley........ 4.2 4 3 3 5 4 18 24
Noble, Caitlin...... 2.1 1 0 0 1 4 9 10
Oregon IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Kontra, Lindsey..... 1.2 2 4 3 1 1 8 10
Harris, Amy......... 5.1 1 0 0 0 5 17 18
Win - Boek (11-5). Loss - Kontra (4-2). Save - Noble (1).
HBP - by Kontra (Charters); by Harris (Minor).
Umpires - HP: Stretch Johnson 1B: Mike Patton 3B: Ellis Clayton
Start: 3 p.m. Time: 2:12 Attendance: 341
Game: WASH-ORE
