Ducks Roll Past Army, 11-0

Friday, February 22

Cathedral City, CA

1:30 PM

University of Oregon

9-3

Army

4-9

Army

Oregon

02/22/19 | Softball

Box Score Box: Oregon 11, Army 0

By: Nate Krueger

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – The Oregon softball team bounced back from a tough loss in a big way on Friday afternoon, run-ruling Army, 11-0, in five innings on the second day of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.

The No. 17 Ducks (9-3) scored four runs in the first inning and six in the fourth to back another great outing in the circle by sophomore Jordan Dail and record their second run-rule win of the season.

How it Happened: The Ducks took advantage of control issues by the Army pitching staff in the first inning, using seven total free passes to jump out to a 4-0 lead. April Utecht and Allee Bunker were both hit with the bases loaded, while Cherish Burks and Lexi Wagner both worked bases-loaded walks.

Burks made it 5-0 in the third inning, crushing a 1-0 pitch way out of the park in left field for her first home run of the season.

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Army threatened for the first time in the fourth against Dail, who struck out six through the first three innings. The Black Knights loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of hits and a walk, but Dail froze the next batter with a 1-2 breaking ball to keep the shutout alive.

The Ducks moved into run-rule territory with six runs on six hits in the fourth inning. Shaye Bowden brought in the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, and Haley Cruse followed with a sharp RBI single. Burks picked up her third RBI with a single up the middle after a base hit by Utecht, and Allee Bunker plated two with Oregon's fourth straight hit, a two-run double to right center. Junior walk-on capped the big inning with UO's fifth hit in a row, driving in two with a solid single into left field.

Dail worked around an error and a pair of wild pitches in the fifth to preserve the shutout, ending the game with her eighth strikeout.

At the Plate: Burks finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs and her first home run of the year to pace the offense, while Bunker and Cook recorded two RBIs each. Sievers went 2-for-2, and Bowden, Cruse, Utecht and Wagner all had an RBI. Oregon struck out just twice while drawing seven walks and nine total free passes.

In the Circle: Dail was terrific once again, striking out eight while allowing only five hits over five scoreless innings to improve to 7-0 on the season.

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What it Means: After struggling at the plate in a tough loss to Bethune-Cookman, the Ducks showed good patience early on to build a lead and then began to put the bat on the ball consistently in the middle innings. Dail continued to establish herself as Oregon's go-to arm with her fifth complete game of the year and second of the weekend.

Up Next: Oregon will play a doubleheader on Saturday against a pair of tough opponents in Texas A&M (9 a.m.) and No. 23 Texas Tech (12 p.m.). Both games will be streamed by FloSoftball (subscription required), and KWVA Radio will have the call for both games on 88.1 FM.