Women's softball trounces Gophers, 13-0

Oregon's No. 4-ranked softball team reached 36-4 with a 13-0 shutout win at Minnesota Friday afternoon.

Dez Patmon blasted a solo homer in the third to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead, then they erupted for seven runs in the top of the fourth to break the game open, closing it out in just five innings via the run rule.

Rylee McCoy led the hit parade with a double and a single, good for three RBI. Hustle and baserunning created constant pressure; two Gopher errors extended rallies.

The win brings the Ducks' Big Ten record to 10-1, good for a first-place tie with UCLA, who'll they'll meet next weekend in a three-game series at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene. The Bruins are 38-5 overall, ranked No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Softball Collegiate Poll.

Shortstop Paige Sinicki rapped two singles and stole a base, while centerfielder Kedre Luschar went three-for-three with an rbi and a steal. Those two thefts extended the Ducks' school stolen base record to 130, 55 more than any other team in the conference this season.

In the pitching circle, ace Lyndsey Grein threw four innings of shutout ball, allowing one hit while striking out four. She's 20-1 this season with a Big Ten-best .99 ERA, 146 strikeouts in 112.2 innings. Staci Chambers came on to pitch a scoreless fifth, closing out the run-rule victory.

Game two of the three-game series at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis is scheduled to start Saturday morning at 11 PDT, broadcast on KWVA radio and streamed for television on Big Ten+.

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