In a battle of top five teams in the country, the No. 2 Oregon softball team made No. 5 Washington look pedestrian as the Ducks defeated Washington 8-0 in a mercy-rule shortened and rain-delayed five innings. It was Oregon’s first home game of the season and the first of a doubleheader.
The Ducks scored only two of the four times they came to bat but they made them all worth it, scoring six runs in the second inning and adding two more in the fourth.
Courtney Ceo and Alyssa Gillespie, the No. 1 and 2 batters in the Ducks’ lineup, provided most of the damage as they combined to go 2-for-5 with seven RBIs, two home runs (one apiece) and three runs scored.
After a scoreless first inning, Oregon got its second inning rally started with a Kailee Cuico single for the first hit of the game. She advanced to second after Koral Costa drew a one-out walk.
Lexy Beaudrie-Pierson entered the game as a pinch-runner for Cuico and came around to score on a single to center field by Janelle Lindvall. After Karine Shaver reached on a fielder’s choice and Nikki Udria walked to load the bases, Courtney Ceo drew a two-out walk to put the score at 2-0.
Alyssa Gillespie then stepped to the plate and drilled an 0-1 pitch over the left-center field fence for a grand slam and a 6-0 Oregon lead.
Hawkins continued to dominant the potent Huskies offense by giving up one hit over the first four innings before the Ducks struck again in the bottom of the fourth.
Udria led off the inning by drawing a walk and the Ceo stepped to the plate and hammered a first-pitch fastball over the right-center field fence for a two-run home run to push the score to 8-0.
After giving up just her second hit of the day to start the top of the fifth inning, Cheridan Hawkins shut down the next three Washington batters to finish the game.
Hawkins went five innings thrown while giving up two hits and no runs with six strikeouts. She also faced just two batters over the minimum.
The second game of the doubleheader is underway at Howe Field.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka