Oregon softball holds off Minnesota for sweep

Elise Sokolsky pitched two innings of scoreless relief, mowing down the Gophers in order to preserve a 5-4 win for the Ducks at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis Sunday.

That gave No. 4 Oregon a series sweep on the road, bringing their season record to 38-4. Now 12-1 in the Big Ten, they're currently a half game ahead of UCLA for first place in the conference.

In the second inning Kedre Luschar homered to score Paige Sinicki, who had walked, stolen second and taken third on a throwing error by the catcher. That gave the Webfoots an early 2-0 lead. Luschar leads the team in hitting this season at .467, with four homers and 35 RBI.

The Ducks extended the lead in the fifth. Kedre Luschar singled and Emma Cox doubled, giving the Ducks runners on second and third with no outs. After two batters went down Aryanna Shaw laced a single to left to score two. Shaw promptly stole second, scoring on a single by catcher Braiesey Rosa for a 5-0 lead.

The squad cruised along until the bottom of the sixth. Ducks starting pitcher Lyndsey Grein lost steam, giving up two singles and a hit by pitch to load the bases. The Gophers' Nani Valencia then blasted a grand slam to pull the home team within one, 5-4.

Sokolsky came on to record the final six outs for a save and the sweep, preserving the victory for Grein, who is now 22-1 despite the mistake pitch. Sokolsky struck out three and didn't allow a runner to reach base.

Next the Ducks travel to Corvallis for a single game on Wednesday, first pitch 6 p.m. PDT on ESPN+. They follow that with a weekend series at home against No. 7 UCLA, their rivals in the Big Ten.

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