A season of impeccable softball hit a rough patch as Stanford bludgeoned Oregon the way the football Cardinal used to in the David Shaw days, bashing their way to a 14-1 victory at the Eugene Regional in Jane Sanders Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Just 19 hours before the Ducks ran over Weber State in the same way. Now they have a hard road to get back to the final, needing a win over the winner of WSU-Binghamton in a game at 6 p.m. Saturday evening.
This game got out of hand in the sixth, when Stanford batted around and put up nine runs on five hits, two straight batters hit with the bases loaded.
The Ducks used four pitchers, and The Cardinal hit them all. Oregon had only been run-ruled once before all season, against UCLA in a loss on April 20.
Big Ten regular season champions with a 48-8 record, they're now one game from elimination. It was the kind of game a team has to flush and move on.
Stanford used the long ball to build a 5-1 lead by the fifth inning. They got a single run in the first when leadoff hitter Taryn Kern hit a single, misplayed in centerfield for two extra bases. Emily Jones brought her home with a single up the middle.
The Cardinal got solo home runs in the second and the fourth, two moon shots in the 5th.
Stefini Ma'ake drilled a single in the bottom of the fourth into the left field corner to score pinch runner Regan Legg, but over the first first four innings the Ducks struck out six times, Stanford relief pitcher Alyssa Houston blowing her fastball by.
Houston continued her dominance in the fifth, the Ducks consistently behind her speed. A pinch hitter struck out. Kai Luschar's bunt was fielded cleanly, two quick outs. Paige Sinicki lifted a foul into the bullpen, then another beyond the bullpen, way out in front and quickly down 0-2.
The rain got heavier with the Ducks running out of outs. Sinicki worked back to 2-2, then rifled another foul before bouncing out to short, Houston at 4.1 innings, touched for just one run and two hits with seven punchouts.
A single by catcher Allie Clements scored another run in the sixth, 6-1 Stanford with two on and nobody out. A walk followed, still no out, the game getting away from the Ducks, the sun breaking out a little.
A sharp single up the middle by Jones scored two more, 8-1 now. Melyssa Lombardi had to start thinking about the route through the loser's bracket.
A hard-luck play came next with the runner colliding with Paige Sinicki as she tried to field a two-hopper, reviewed. Kern took Sinicki's glove off, screening off the ball as it barely missed her, ruled no interference, 9-1, still no outs.
A diving catch at the wall by Kedre Luschar finally got the Ducks out of the nightmare sixth. The all-out play, down by 12 runs, showed how hard this squad is willing to fight. They'll need that, having to win tonight and beat The Cardinal twice tomorrow to advance to the Super Regional.