EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 20 Oregon softball team on Saturday recorded its third win over a top-10 opponent this season, beating No. 7 Stanford 2-1 behind the pitching of Morgan Scott and a couple of clutch hits by Allee Bunker.
Scott (4-3) allowed only an unearned run in a four-hit complete game, outdueling Stanford starter NiJaree Canady, who hadn’t allowed a run all season entering Saturday. Bunker changed that with a run-scoring single to tie the game in the first inning, and the UO senior drove in another run with her fifth homer of the spring in the sixth.
Stanford (23-3) had won 21 straight entering Saturday, needing extra innings to extend that streak in the series opener Friday. But the Cardinal had few answers for Scott, who struck out four and walked just one.
“We call it ‘demon mode’ — she just has a look about her where we’re pumped up to play behind her and we know when she’s locked in and in the zone,” Bunker said. “I think just the energy and her pace of play is what really helps us to thrive.”
Bunker’s two hits raised her average this season to .418. She led off the bottom of the sixth looking for an inside pitch from Stanford reliever Regan Krause. When Krause threw one, Bunker crushed it deep to left field.
“It’s really cool when that happens, when you’re looking in one spot and they end up throwing it right there,” Bunker said. “Sometimes you just get lucky in that way.”
How It Happened: The Cardinal manufactured a run in the top of the first. The leadoff batter reached on an infield single and advanced on a wild pitch, before taking third on a one-out single. With two out, a groundball to Bunker knuckled after hitting the dirt on a bounce, the batter reached and the runner from third scored.
She quickly atoned for the play. After KK Humphreys doubled to deep right leading off the first, Bunker laced a one-out single that tied the game.
Streak snapped ??
No. 20 @OregonSB evens the series with No. 7 Stanford to set up a rubber match tomorrow at noon. Full recap ?? pic.twitter.com/uaeBJBSovy
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) March 19, 2023
“Luckily I was in a position where I was able to make it up with my bat, and that’s just how you win games — you make a mistake, you’ve got to make it up somewhere,” Bunker said. “So I’m glad I was able to do that.”
From there, Scott settled in. She didn’t allow a runner to reach scoring position over the next five innings, holding Stanford to 1-of-11 in at-bats with a runner on…
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