Washington softball drops its first series of Pac-12 play

The Washington Huskies couldn’t muster a late-inning comeback on Sunday and dropped 2 out of 3 games to the No. 22 Oregon Ducks.

Coach Heather Tarr and the Washington Huskies took a 3-0 lead in the second inning against the No. 22 Oregon Ducks, but let up 6 runs in a messy fifth frame that lifted their arch-rivals to a 6-4 victory in the game and a 2-1 win in the series.

Alana Johnson hit her team-leading 11th home run of the season in the first inning, a two-run blast, to give the Huskies their early lead. Giselle Alvarez added on with an RBI single in the second inning, but the defense couldn’t hold the lead, committing two errors.

In the circle, sophomore Ruby Meylan cruised until the fifth inning, allowing 9 hits and 6 runs, all unearned, over 4 2/3 innings and took the loss, moving to 8-4 on the season. The Ducks got a bases-clearing double from Alyssa Daniell and an RBI double off the bat of Emma Kauf before Katie Flannery added the finishing blow with a two-run home run.

Washington loaded the bases in the sixth inning with one out, but couldn’t push any runs across and even though Sydney Stewart brought in a run with an RBI single in the seventh, her third hit of the contest, the Huskies couldn’t complete the comeback.

The loss pushes Tarr’s team to 26-7 on the season and 10-5 against Pac-12 competition, while Oregon improved to 22-13 overall and 9-5 in conference play. Washington returns to Husky Softball Stadium on Monday at 6:00 for a matchup with Seattle University.