Oregon softball held their heads high throughout a turbulent first game of the NCAA Tournament. Between being down an early run, a 2:24 rain delay and a Notre Dame comeback attempt, the Ducks stayed true to their mission. They held on to win 5-4 on Friday night.
The Ducks scored their five runs on only six hits. Third baseman Tehya Bird led the group with three runs batted in.
Stevie Hansen started on the mound for the Ducks. The Irish gave themselves an opportunity with a double to left-center. They nearly turned it into two runs with a hit that almost flew over the center field wall. Hanna Delgado lept several feet into the air for the out, which set the tone for Oregon’s defense.
“She was big for us,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “That could have made the game look different, especially with how it finished with us winning by one. We’ve been talking about that, our defense. Defense wins championships, and what our defense has been doing all year, I hope for them to continue to do it throughout the postseason.”
Notre Dame still put a run on the board with a single down the third base line. It retired the Oregon batters in order in the bottom of the first.
The second is when the Ducks took control on the offensive end. The inning began with two outs, but the Ducks drew back-to-back walks.
Bird stepped up to the plate with a big opportunity for Oregon. With a full count, Bird hit the ball over the left-center field wall to score three runs.
“I don’t really think about it as two outs,” Bird said. “I just know there’s runners on base and it makes me think more of whatever you do, just put the ball in play and good things happen.”
The Ducks kept firing in the second. They scored two more runs to make it five in the inning.
The game was delayed for over two hours in the bottom of the fourth due to weather conditions.
There was no lack of drama when the game returned. Hansen gave up a double in the sixth, which prompted Raegan Breedlove to come on in relief. Notre Dame once again doubled down the right field line to tack on another run.
Later in the sixth, the Notre Dame batter collided with KK Humphreys in fair territory halfway to first base. Humphreys was trying to throw to home, which would have likely gotten the runner at third out. The umpires decided after a lengthy review not to eject the batter but called her out. The runners had to go back to the bases they were on before the play.
The Irish scored two more runs in the inning to cut the deficit to one run. The Ducks were retired in order at the bottom of the inning.
Morgan Scott, who relieved Breedlove in the sixth, finished the job for Oregon. She recorded Oregon’s first strikeout of the game on the last at-bat.
“Anything can happen in postseason,” Lombardi said. “Nobody’s ever out of a game so it’s important to never take a pitch off and play from the first pitch to the last. I thought we did a really good job at that.”
Oregon will match up against the winner of the Arkansas/Harvard game at noon on Saturday on ESPN+.