Diaz’s Dominant Day Leads Ducks Past UIC

Sunday, March 1

Stillwater, OK

8:30 AM

University of Oregon

17-2

Illinois-Chicago

6-9

Oregon

UIC

03/01/20 | Softball

Box Score Box Score - Oregon 2, UIC 0

By: Derren Iha

STILLWATER, Okla. – Samaria Diaz tossed a complete-game shutout with seven strikeouts while Ariel Carlson came up with a clutch in a big moment late in No. 10 Oregon's 2-0 win over Illinois-Chicago to wrap up play at the OSU/Tulsa Invitational Sunday at Cowgirl Stadium.

How it Happened: Diaz got off to a bit of a shaky start, giving up singles to the first two batters followed by a sacrifice bunt and a walk that loaded the bases with one out. She got a pop up for a huge second out before the Ducks cut a runner down at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch to end the inning.

From there until the sixth inning, the senior righty settled in, retiring 12 of 13 batters faced from innings two through five. She gave up only a two-out single in the third inning and picked up five of her seven strikeouts on the day over that stretch, including two each in the fourth and fifth innings.

Oregon scored the game's only runs in the top of the sixth, striking for a pair to go up 2-0. Haley Cruse reached for the third time in the game with a leadoff walk before Terra McGowan got on via an error. After the two were sacrificed over and Allee Bunker was intentionally walked, Carlson and delivered a two-run single back up the box to drive in Cruse and McGowan.

The Flames again had a golden opportunity to put runs on the board in the home half of the sixth, but Diaz again buckled down and got out of it unscathed. UIC had runners on second and third with no outs after a pair of singles and an advancement on a throw, but Diaz got a pop up, strikeout and groundout on a bunt attempt to strand both. She then retired the Flames in order in the seventh to finish off the shutout while picking up her seventh strikeout.

Game Notables: Diaz's shutout was the 10th of her career and second this season … It's also the second seven-inning shutout by a Duck pitcher this year (Jordan Dail vs. Nevada) … Diaz held UIC to 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position … The shutout was Oregon's seventh of the season, two more than it had all of 2019 … Cruse led the way offensively, going 2-for-3 with a run scored to pick up her team-high 10th multi-hit game of the year … Carlson went 1-for-3 with two RBIs to record her sixth multi-RBI performance of the season … Bunker capped off a stellar weekend by going 1-for-2 while Maddie Hopper came through with her fifth base hit as a pinch-hitter this season.

Overall/Series Notables: Bunker ended the weekend 11-for-17 (.647) with seven runs scored, three doubles and two RBIs … She raised her season average to .453, which is second-best on the team … Diaz struck out 15 while walking just two over the weekend and sits on a miniscule season ERA of 0.58 … Carlson hit .462 with five RBIs and a double over the five games and is now batting .302 on the year … Cruse continued to provide a spark in the leadoff spot, going 8-for-19 with a .450 OBP and three stolen bases on the weekend … She remains in the team lead in five different offensive categories (Batting avg., runs, hits, OBP, stolen bases).

On Deck: The Ducks open the home slate this coming weekend with five games in three days, beginning with games against Seattle and Loyola Marymount, Friday at 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.