Oregon Ducks Softball Homers Past Portland, 4-2

Howe Field, University of Oregon, KPNW Sports

The Oregon Ducks Softball team took their number one ranking into a Tuesday night non-conference game against Portland at Hoew Field. The hapless Vikings have a record of 7-32 following the 4-2 loss to the Oregon Ducks whose offense took some time to wake up, but ultimately won the game. It took until the sixth inning for Oregon to decide the game. Oregon Pitcher Cheridan Hawkins was back to her old self and impressive on the mound.

Hawkins earned her twenty fifth victory on the season, in relief,  which is tied for the national lead. She closed out the game and pitched the final three innings and struck out six with no hits, no runs, and no walks. The Sophomore has dropped her ERA to 1.43. Starting Pitcher Jasmine Smithson-Willette gave up two  runs to Portland on five hits in just her fourth start of the season. Offensively it was two home runs that decided the game for the Oregon Ducks.

Sophomore Catcher Janelle Lindvall and Senior Catcher Alexa Peterson broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning giving Oregon a 4-2 lead. It was Lindvall’s 10th home run on the year and Peterson’s 7th. Peterson now has fifty one RBI’s on the year which is good enough for fifth best in Oregon Softball History. The Oregon Ducks now hit the road.

A three game series on the farm with the Stanford Cardinal beings on Friday(7pm PT), Saturday(1pm PT) and Sunday(12pm PT). Friday nights contest will be on ESPNU.

For more on the Oregon Ducks , the rest of the Pac-12 and any cool tidbits we find along the way follow us on Facebook and Twitter.  For a different take visit the Sports Page at EugeneDailyNews.com