Usually, the No. 9 Washington Huskies are the ones fueled by big first innings for a victory, but on Saturday, the No. 22 Oregon Ducks gave coach Heather Tarr’s team a taste of its own medicine. The Ducks scored 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a two-run home run from catcher Vallery Wong.
The Huskies were able to battle back in the second inning, scoring 4 runs of their own, three coming on a three-run home run from Brooke Nelson. However, Oregon answered with five more runs in the bottom of the frame, with Hanna Delgado and Ariel Carlson hitting back-to-back home runs before Wong hit her second two-run home run in as many innings.
Washington would trail for the rest of the ballgame and would go on to lose 9-8, but didn’t go down without a fight. Alana Johnson hit her team-leading tenth home run of the season in the third inning and Nelson put the Huskies within striking distance with her second homer of the day.
Second home run of the ballgame for Brooke Nelson! đ€ pic.twitter.com/lfuWZzd16o
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) April 7, 2024
A sixth-inning rally was cut short and Washington would go on to lose 9-8. Lindsay Lopez struggled and took her second loss of the season, going just 1 2/3 innings and allowing 8 runs (6 earned) and 7 hits before giving way to Nelson. In relief, she went the remaining 4 1/3 and let up just 4 hits and 1 earned run.
The loss pushes the Huskies to 26-6 on the year and 10-4 against Pac-12 opponents, while the Ducks improved to 21-13 this season and 8-5 in conference play. The two teams will decide the series on Sunday at noon.