Held Off in OregonHeld Off in Oregon
Softball

Held Off in Oregon

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Box Score

EUGENE, Ore. –Sophomore Hannah Howell had a pair of hits as Stanford softball battled with No. 4 Oregon, but the Ducks held off the Cardinal to take the series opener, 8-4, at Jane Sanders Stadium on Friday night.

Oregon (36-7, 10-3 Pac-12) scored six in the second, but Stanford (22-21, 2-11) nudged its way back into the game with two in the third and back-to-back RBI doubles by Lauren Wegner and Maya Jackson in the sixth. 

Stanford's three earned runs were the second-most allowed this season by Oregon's Miranda Elish, who entered the game with a 0.85 ERA.

Starter Carolyn Lee stranded a runner at second with a big strikeout to end the first. But Oregon capitalized on all its opportunities in the second. The Ducks used six hits, capped by a three-run double, to take a 6-0 lead.

Stanford started to chip away at the deficit in the third. Junior Lauren Frost walked with one out and scored from second when Howell lofted a single into left center. Howell went to second on the throw home, and then scored on a throwing error.

Oregon got one back in the home half of the third, and added another in the fourth, but sophomore reliever Nikki Bauer did not allow another run over the final two innings.

The Cardinal were back in it with a pair of runs in the sixth. Senior Arden Pettit walked to lead off the inning and Molly Fowkes reached on a fielder's choice. Wegner lined one into the left field corner to bring home Fowkes, and just two pitches later, Jackson drilled one into the gap in left center to make it 8-4.

Howell singled in the seventh, but Stanford was unable to bring the tying run to the plate.

Frost, who also singled to lead off the fifth, finished 1-for-2 with a run. Howell was 2-for-4 with a run and RBI, while Fowkes and Wegner each went 1-for-3 and scored. 

The three-game set continues on Saturday at 5 p.m., and concludes Sunday at noon.
 #GoStanford