In control most of the night, Oregon failed to close out what would have been a massive resume-boosting win and will instead need to hope for fortuitous seeding in order to host an NCAA softball regional.
The No. 5 seed Ducks led 2-0 and regained the lead after No. 4 Stanford tied it in the sixth, but couldn’t hang on in the seventh as the Cardinal won 4-3 on a walk-off throwing error by Allee Bunker in a Pac-12 softball tournament quarterfinal Thursday night at Hillenbrand Stadium.
“I thought we played really, really well,” Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “It’s a tough way to lose at the end.”
The Ducks (35-15) will have to hope for help from around the country to earn a top 16 seed during the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday (4 p.m., ESPN2).
After Ariel Carlson scored on a fielding error to put Oregon ahead 3-2 in the top of the seventh, the Ducks had back-to-back defensive mishaps that allowed the Cardinal to get the winning run aboard and eventually score.
Kylie Chun led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to right-center to tie the game at 3-3. River Mahler hit a chopper toward the circle that first baseman KK Humphreys attempted to field, but the only possible play on the ball was from third baseman Tehya Bird, who was also charging in, and the winning run was on.
Taylor Gindlesperger dropped a sacrifice bunt and was thrown out at first by Bird, but Bunker’s throw across the diamond to third sailed wide and the Ducks had some confusion as both Humphries and catcher Terra McGowan went to cover third. Mahler was awarded the winning base and Stanford beat Oregon for the third time in four meetings this season.
“We should have been out of that,” Lombardi said. “That should have been an out at first and then an out at third. We work on that all the time. That’s normal for us. I think things sped up for us right at the end there.”
Bunker, a four-time all-Pac-12 honoree and two-time all-defensive selection in the conference, double pumped before throwing to third but said she had no thought of holding onto the ball to set up what would have been runner on third with one out.
“I was throwing it all the way,” Bunker said. “We can’t win a game without being aggressive like that and sometimes it’s going to bite you, but it’s all good. … I’ve had tough moments throughout my career and this is another one — that happens. It’s not just that that determines the outcome of the game; there’s things throughout the game. I think I’ve grown in that I don’t take that too personally. I work on that every day at practice. Just one of those things that happens.”
Oregon took an early 2-0 lead in the second. McGowan drew a four-pitch walk to open the inning and advanced on a bunt by Carlson, then Alyssa Daniell smashed the first pitch of her night sailing for a two-run home run to left. It was the eighth home run of the season for Daniell, who entered the night 1 for 8 in her career against Vawter, including 0 for 3 earlier this season.
Vawter (17-7), who allowed three runs on six hits and a walk and struck out three in a complete game, settled in and allowed just two singles over the next four innings.
Meanwhile, Morgan Scott piloted around trouble for several innings, getting Stanford to strand a runner in scoring position in the third and fourth and leave the bases loaded in the fifth.
“Personally could have been a little bit sharper,” Scott said. “But as a team I think we’re starting to find ourselves again and we’re battling back. I think as coach said, we need to learn how to finish.”
The Cardinal (40-12) broke through in the sixth, rallying to tie the game with two outs.
Emily Young hit a solo home run to dead left to get Stanford on the board, then Kyra Chan chopped a single in front of the plate and Emily Schultz drove her in with a double off the wall in left center.
Oregon regained the lead in the seventh as Carlson led off the frame with an opposite-field single, her fifth consecutive game with a hit against Vawter. Carlson stole second and Tehya Bird capped her second prolonged at-bat of the night with a single to left and an error by Kyra Chan allowed Carlson to score the go-ahead run.
“Tehya had a great game,” Lombardi said. “I loved her at-bats. I don’t know how many pitches she saw all night, but she forced (Vawter) to throw a lot of pitches. The base hit that she had up the middle was huge, was clutch.”
Then Stanford, which advances to face No. 1 seed UCLA (51-4) in a semifinal on Friday (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), capitalized against Oregon’s usually reliable defense.
“I still believe that we’re one of the best if not the best defense in the Pac, and I know they have my back 100% and I have their back 100%,” Scott said. “We have to keep our heads up and keep playing the way we play.”
— James Crepea reported from Tucson, Arizona
