Duck softball evens series with UCLA

EUGENE - Fueled by a two-hitter by junior Jessica Moore (26-12), the No. 12 University of Oregon softball team (38-15, 12-9) evened the series with No. 14 UCLA (36-17, 12-11) with Friday afternoon's 3-2 win at Howe Field.

Moore (26-12) moved into sole possession of second place all-time for wins in a season for UO, thanks to her 12th win of the season vs. a top-25 opponent.

"Jess made some great adjustments today," Oregon head coach Mike White said. "UCLA refused to die and made it a close ball game, but our defense picked us up with a key double play late, and kept the top of the order from coming back up."

The Sutter, Calif., native Moore registered one of her lowest pitch counts among her 25 complete games in '12. The right-hander needed only 86 pitches (56 of which were strikes) to limit the nation’s top slugging team to two hits – a total that tied her season low for seven innings and was the Bruins’ low of the campaign.

Ultimately, she struck out three batters, walked three, and both of her runs allowed were unearned.

"We didn’t have a great day team-wise yesterday, so we made some adjustments and were prepared to give our best," Moore said. "I was better at staying ahead of the hitters, and we were more successful in staying aggressive at the plate, too. It was fun to get a few at-bats at the plate, too."

On Duck all-time lists, the returning All-Pac-12 pick moved up a position in the career category for innings (sixth, 636.1) and season lists for starts (fourth, 37-tied), appearances (sixth, 42), innings (sixth, 237.2) and complete games (eighth, 25-tied).

Oregon scored its first two runs in the third inning after sophomore Alexa Peterson and junior Allie Burger led off the inning with check-swing slap singles. After an infield force-out at third base, junior Kaylan Howard drilled a two-run double to center field for her 12th two-bagger of the year.

Howard now has 46 RBI on the slate – sixth-most all-time for UO – and one shy of junior teammate Kailee Cuico’s team-leading total (47) that stands fourth-best in the Duck record books. On the same hit, Peterson’s run was her 43rd of the campaign – one off of Kelsey Chambers’ team lead – and moved her into a tie for ninth all-time for Oregon in a season.

UO added its other run in the fourth inning, after junior Samantha Pappas led off with a double, stole one of her team-season high three bases on the game to reach third, then continued around to score when the catcher’s throw skipped into left field.

The Bruins finally broke up Moore’s no-hit attempt and shutout with two outs in the sixth inning.

After the first batter flew out to right field, and the next batter grounded out to second base, Stephany LaRosa reached on a four-pitch walk. Andrea Harrison reached on an infield error, and B.B. Bates drove in two runs with a double that sliced into the left field corner.

The next at-bat, Moore responded by striking out the Bruins' #6 hitter - Dani Yudin - swinging after she had fouled off four pitches.

The Bruins put their opening runner on in the seventh inning, but a nubbed grounder back to Moore, and a slick relay by Kelsey Chambers at second base narrowly beat the runner to first base for the double play. Three pitches later, she forced a pop-out to shortstop to cement at least one win vs. every Pac-12 foe this year.

At the plate for the Ducks, Pappas (2-for-2) lined two doubles to up her team lead to 13 and also moved into a tie for 10th place all-time for UO in a season. Her three stolen bases was a team season game high, and raised her career total to 44, which ranks her 10th all-time for Oregon career-wise.

"Sam is such a great instinctive base-runner," White said. "She may not be our fastest, but she is an amazing at knowing when to take off and is really decisive."

Four other Ducks hit safely once –Howard (1-for-3, 2 RBI), Moore (1-for-3), Peterson (1-for-2) and Burger (1-for-2).

In the circle for UCLA, starter Ally Carda (13-5) pitched the first 2.1 innings, struck out one, walked one, gave up three hits, and two of her three runs allowed were earned.

Bruin sophomore Jessica Hall worked the final 3.2 innings, struck out three, walked one, allowed three hits, and her one run allowed was earned.

Friday’s outcome evened the series after UCLA won Thursday’s first game by a 10-0 score – only the second time that UO has been shutout this year.

In other action around the league, No. 1 California (50-3, 21-2) won the Pac-12 title with its 5-0 win over No. 2 Arizona State (45-7, 17-4) Friday in Berkeley. No. 15 Stanford (37-17, 10-13) evened its series with Utah (27-27, 2-21) with a 9-1, six-inning win in Salt Lake City. No. 24 Oregon State tied the series with No. 16 Arizona with a 4-0 shutout in Tucson.

With Friday’s decision, Oregon remained in third place in the league after it beat its eighth league rival this season – only the third time that it defeated every league opponent in the same season. The Ducks achieved the feat in 2004 (10-11) and ’99 (10-18) in eight-team league leagues and in ’89 (13-7) in a six-team conference – and the latter campaign was the same season that UO advanced to the World Series.

Looking ahead to Saturday, the Ducks and Bruins meet for the regular season finale at noon.

Saturday’s series finale will feature a Senior Day pre-game introduction for UO’s five seniors.