In front of a sellout crowd of 2,517 at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, No. 16 Oregon outlasted Liberty in extra innings, winning 3-2. Oregon’s Dezianna Patmon came through in the clutch with an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the eighth to score the winning run. It is the second straight walk-off hit for Patmon, as her home run this past Sunday in the bottom of the seventh led Oregon to the Super Regionals with the win over Stanford.
The Ducks took the early lead in the third inning with two runs. They scored following an error on Liberty short stop JaMaya Byrum. It was a hard hit ball to Byrum with a tough in-between hop that she was unable to field cleanly. Kai Luschar then hit a ball into the right center gap and past the Liberty defense for an RBI triple. Stefani Ma’ake then knocked Luschar in to make it 2-0 Ducks.
As has been the case all season and certainly in the postseason, the Lady Flames would not go away without a fight. In the ensuing inning, KK Madrey singled and then scored all the way from first on Oregon native Paige Doerr’s double into the gap, as Liberty cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
The score would remain the same until the top of the sixth. Doerr led off the inning with a single. She advanced to third on a bunt and a passed ball. Liberty head coach Dot Richardson called on pinch hitter Alexia Carrasquillo. The freshman would come through in the clutch with an RBI single to left field, plating Doerr to tie the game.
Neither team would score in the seventh as we went into extra innings. Liberty had a chance in the top of the eighth when Rachel Craine placed a two-out single. Aubry Norris was called on to pinch run for Craine; however, the Oregon coaches noticed something incorrect about the substitution. After a brief conference with the umpires, Norris was ruled out due to a misrepresentation not a number, the third out of the inning. It appears that Norris was mistakenly substituted for Savannah Jessee on the lineup card instead of Craine.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Ducks got a leadoff single, and the runner moved to third following a wild pitch and a fly out to deep center. This set the stage for Patmon’s heroics.
Elena Escobar was once again strong in the circle for the Lady Flames. She pitched 7.1 innings while scattering seven hits and working around five walks. She did not strike anyone out and allowed three runs, only one of them earned.
Doerr was 2 for 4 for Liberty with a run and an RBI. Savannah Woodard was also 2 for 4.
There were several opportunities for the Lady Flames throughout the ball game, but they were unable to come through in certain situations. In the top of the first, Rachel Roupe roped a ball into the gap in right center field for a one-out double. She would later advance to third on a wild pitch. After Alyssa Henault was walked, the designated player stole second and Roupe was caught stealing as Oregon was not fooled when she attempted to score on Henault’s steal.
In the third, Liberty put its first two runners on base for CUSA Player of the Year and All-American Rachel Roupe. She hit the ball hard down the third base line, snagged by the Oregon third base man who stepped on the bag and fired across the diamond to get Roupe on the double play, helping to keep Liberty off the scoreboard in the inning.
In the fifth, Woodard led off the inning with an infield single, and would get to third on a wild pitch and passed ball. Liberty was unable to bring her home though, as she was stranded on third base. The Lady Flames were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position prior to Carrasquillo’s pinch-hit single in the sixth.
The two teams will meet again, in Game 2 of the Super Regional, on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN. If Oregon wins, they will advance to the Women’s College World Series, while Liberty will look to even up the series and force the winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday.
*photo courtesy Liberty University Athletics
