No. 8 Oregon run rules Washington in Big Ten opener

A highly anticipated matchup between Oregon and Washington at Husky Softball Stadium. But in the two programs’ inaugural Big Ten game, it was all Ducks. No. 8 Oregon beat Washington 9-0 in six innings, snapping their Pacific Northwest rival’s 14-game winning streak.

Let’s start with the Ducks’ lineup. It was relatively quiet the first time through against the Washington starter Sophia Ramuno. Stefini Ma’ake had a sacrifice fly in the second but Oregon didn’t put up crooked numbers until the third when Katie Flannery started her big night.

Flannery, who now leads the Ducks in RBI, drove in five runs against the Huskies. She belted a two-run home run against Ramuno. The Oregon infielder was far from done. She smoked another two-run blast against Rylee Rehbein. Flannery also drew a bases-loaded walk.

Rylee McCoy returned to the lineup after missing most of last weekend. She didn’t skip a beat. McCoy went back-to-back with Flannery for her 10th homer of the season. She ended the night 3-for-3 with three runs. Kai and Kedre Luschar combined for five hits and scored three times.

Lyndsey Grein kept doing Lyndsey Grein things in Seattle. The Virginia Tech transfer improved to 14-0 and dropped her 0.93 ERA she had coming into the game. She limited Washington to two hits in the six innings. Grein struck out 11 batters, the third time she’s reached double-digit Ks this season.

Washington only had three chances with runners in scoring position. Grein struck out the red hot Alexis DeBoer to strand two in the third.

Oregon will look to clinch the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network. Expect to see Elise Sokolsky in the circle for the Ducks. While Washington will likely turn to either freshman Morgan Reimer or former Duck Stevie Hansen.

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