Oregon stranded a season-high 11 runners on base and against the likes of UCLA All-American Megan Faraimo, failing to capitalize proves costly.
Faraimo allowed two runs on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter with eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings to lead the No. 4 Bruins in a 7-4 win over the No. 18 Ducks at Jane Sanders Stadium Saturday afternoon.
“A huge focus for me today was using our defense and I was telling them after a lot of my pitches out there it’s 9-on-1,” Faraimo said. “Second day out here and it’s been a long series. I think both of our offenses are throwing punches so I knew that we’re going to have to leave them out on the field and it’s not going to be all on me; we’re going to have use every single position.”
The Ducks (20-9, 3-5 Pac-12) left two on base in each of the first three innings and stranded two more in the fifth and seventh and one in the sixth.
It was the most runners left on base for Oregon in a seven-inning game since its loss to Texas State in the opening game of the 2021 NCAA Regional at Texas. UO left 11 or more runners on base in just 11 previous games in Lombardi’s five seasons and five of those were extra-inning games.
“I think it’s tough to leave 11 on,” Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “We had opportunity to win this game and lost 7-4. If we clutch up in some opportunities there it could possibly not be that tight of a ballgame.”
Allee Bunker went 2 for 3 with an RBI single on an 0-2 pitch from former Duck Brooke Yanez that tied the game at 1 in the first. Yanez’s day lasted just one more batter, as she allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits and a walk. Her much anticipated matchup against Terra McGowan, her catcher while at UO, resulted in a four-pitch walk and an error allowed McGowan to score and Oregon took a 2-1 lead.
“I think we’re all assuming that this weekend means a lot (to Yanez), but every weekend means a lot,” Faraimo said. “She’s wearing a new uniform and she’s been such a friggin’ awesome Bruin, exemplary Bruin that I think every weekend no matter who we’re facing it’s another team in the dugout and I think she approaches it, it’s nothing more, nothing less. We come out here to compete every time.”
UCLA (28-4, 5-3) hit three straight singles off Stevie Hansen in the fourth to start a rally that Lauryn Carter punctuated with a grand slam to give the Bruins a 5-2 lead they held onto from there. It was only Carter’s second career home run and her first since Feb. 24, 2021.
“It was definitely one of the best moments, to help your team out and be the one in that moment,” Carter said. “Running around the bases it’s one of those unreal moments but also I helped my team, exactly what I wanted there – no matter what I would have done, as long as I found a way to help my team. I did exactly what I was supposed to do.”
Faraimo came out of an hour-long rain delay in the middle of the fourth inning and got McGowan to hit into an inning-ending double play, then got back-to-back strikeouts with two on in the fifth.
“That (grand slam) was a huge momentum shift,” Faraimo said. “That was so huge it started raining like crazy. Everyone loved that for (Carter), she works so hard day in day out. She’s such a positive person on our team. To see the game pay her back like that was a really cool moment.”
Hansen (12-4) allowed five runs on six hits and two hit batters over 4.0 innings in the loss. Lombardi turned to Allison Benning out the rain delay and she allowed two runs on three hits and two walks and struck out four over 2.0 innings and Raegan Breedlove allowed two hits and struck out two in the seventh.
McGowan lined an 0-2 pitch for a two-out, two-run home run to get Oregon within 5-4 in the sixth. It was her second home run in as many days of Faraimo.
“She’s such a talented hitter I have to be extra focused on her,” Faraimo said. “I think she’s seeing the ball really well and obviously we’ve seen each other a bunch. But I love that we’re both going to compete, we’re still going to go after each other.”
Hanna Delgado (2 for 4) said Faraimo mixed in her changeup more on Saturday than in Friday night’s game and the the fifth-year senior hit the corners better than the day before.
UCLA got the runs back in the seventh on a towering home run to dead left by Sharlize Palacios, which prompted the change from Benning to Breedlove.
The Ducks got singles by KK Humphreys and Kedre Luschar to bring the tying run to the plate with one out in the seventh, but Faraimo got Remington Hewitt to strikeout and Paige Sinicki flew out to right.
“We’re standing in the last inning and we’ve got the tying run at the plate,” Lombardi said. “We’re in this game. You can’t leave that many runners on base and we lose by three. … I think we need to be tougher. We had opportunity to cash in and we didn’t. We got to put the ball in play. Two strikes, you got to be able to put the ball in play. We didn’t put the ball in play enough.”
The teams will play the rubber game of the series at noon Sunday. Oregon dropped its first two series in Pac-12 play against ranked opponents in Washington and Stanford with Sunday series finales being the difference.
“Really important tomorrow to come out with a win,” Bunker said. “We’ve had two Sundays now in a row where we’re tied 1-1 with the opponent and this is our opportunity to take a series. It would be huge for us confidence-wise because we know we’re right there, we’re so close in every single weekend we’ve played. Being able to be successful and come out on top for a weekend would be awesome for this team.”
