NCAA Softball: #14 Oregon Sweeps Towson

Sophomore Melissa Rice pitched six innings on the mound and allowed just three hits en route to her 13th win of the year.

Senior Ann Marie Topps hit a walk off three-run homer leading Oregon to a 9-0 victory over Towson. Photo: goducks.com

EUGENE - For the second straight day, the 14th-ranked Oregon softball team swept its opponent in a doubleheader at Howe Field, defeating Towson by scores of 9-0 and 8-0 on Saturday.

The Ducks have held their opponent scoreless in their last four games, while adding up 33 runs of their own.

Oregon is now 28-3 on the season, and like yesterday’s two victories over Utah State, the games against Towson ended early due to the eight-run rule.

Senior designated player Ann Marie Topps crushed a walk-off three-run homer to center field on the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the sixth, leading Oregon to a 9-0 victory over Towson in the first game of the doubleheader.

Topps’s team-leading 11th homer of the year ended the game by way of the eight-run rule.

Sophomore Melissa Rice pitched six innings on the mound and allowed just three hits en route to her 13th win of the year.

The Ducks had a 6-0 lead entering the sixth after picking up runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

In the third, sophomore Sari-Jane Jenkins’s stand-up double scored senior Suzie Barnes to take an early 1-0 lead.

The Ducks built on that lead backed by Salling’s line drive two-run homer that left Howe Field by just clearing the right field wall.

It was Salling’s fifth home run of the year.

Oregon added its fourth run during the next inning when Jenkins's two-out, one-run double down the left field line scored Joanna Gail.

Freshman Neena Bryant led off the fifth with a stand-up double that fell behind Towson centerfielder Jen Hastings.

The speedy rightfielder then stole third and scored on Kristi Leiter’s sacrifice bunt that dropped right in front of the plate.

Pinch hitting, sophomore Courtney Shlee produced a two-out stand-up double to right center, scoring Lovena Chaput.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Chaput hit what was Oregon’s third home run of the day in the bottom of the fourth to extend the Duck’s lead to 4-0.

The Ducks ended the game with a monster four-run fifth inning.

Bryant picked up the first RBI of the inning, before Gail’s two-run single to center field put Oregon

Junior Alicia Cook earned her 15th consecutive decision, allowing just two hits in five innings of work.

She currently has a 0.78 ERA, while Rice sports a 0.76 ERA. ahead 7-0. Chaput’s sacrifice fly produced the eighth run, ending the game with a 2-for-2, three RBI performance.

Barnes also recorded multiple hits with two, while adding two stolen bases.

The Ducks end their participation in the Cascade Clash hosting South Dakota State in a doubleheader on Sunday.

First pitch is set to begin at 11:00 AM with the second starting approximately 20 minutes after the finish of the first.

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