It was a run-rule whitewash in Grimy City as the Ducks 25-2 softball nine drubbed Washington on the road 9-0. Starting pitcher Lyndsey Grein recorded her fourth straight game without giving up an earned run to bring her season record to 14-0, striking out 11, surrendering just two hits and walking three.
Offensively, third basewoman Katie Flannery drove in five runs with a pair of home runs, her fifth and sixth of the year. She's hitting a robust .377 this season while piling up 29 RBI batting in the three-spot. Cleanup hitter and first sacker Rylee McCoy blasted her tenth homer of the season in the fifth, the Ducks' top hitter at (gulp) .482.
It was the Big Ten season opener for both teams. Oregon outhit Washington 13-2 for a 1-0 start in conference play. Afterward head coach Melyssa Lombardi told goducks.com, "I think it's important that we can handle the road. This is a tough venue to play at."
They've won four in a row since a 5-2 loss at home to Oregon State on March 8. Saturday's game two of the three-game road series starts at noon PDT, televised on the Big Ten Network.