The best offensive inning in at least the last five years moved Oregon one win away from an NCAA Super Regional.
Down 3-2 after four, Ariel Carlson delivered a go-ahead RBI single, Hanna Delgado drove her in and Tehya Bird crushed a grand slam to left as part of an eight-run fifth that blew the game open for the Ducks, who stunned No. 11 seed Arkansas 10-4 Saturday afternoon in front of 2,964 at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.
“Throughout my career I’m sure we’ve had some really exciting innings,” said Carlson, a fourth-year outfielder from Eugene. “But that one, just given the situation and what we’re trying to fight for, that probably was one of my highlight offensive innings being a Duck.”
The Ducks sent 13 batters to the plate and they combined to see 61 pitches and deliver eight hits during the pivotal fifth inning, chasing multiple Razorbacks pitchers from the circle in the process.
“I thought it was a great inning,” Lombardi said. “I love how these guys answered back. For us when we do things the way we want to do them it’s about passing the bat and I thought they did a great job of passing the bat and wanting to continue the inning.”
Paige Sinicki (3 for 4) and Kai Luschar opened the frame with back-to-back singles and advanced on a passed ball. Terra McGowan drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with one out, then the bats erupted.
Carlson, who went 3 for 4 and had an RBI single in the first, battled nine pitches — with the eighth being extremely close to a called strike — before smacking a two-run single to left to put Oregon back in front. The fourth-year outfielder entered hitting .136 against left-handed pitchers this season and .194 in her career, but delivered one of her biggest hits against Arkansas southpaw Hannah Camenzind.
“Heading into that at-bat I don’t really know my personal stats against any sort of pitcher; I kind of just go in with the same mindset and just see the ball and hit it,” Carlson said. “That’s what I wanted to do; taking it one pitch at a time and not trying to think too much about it.”
Vallery Wong drew a two-out walk to again load the bases and Delgado, who hit an RBI single in the fourth that scored Carlson, singled to left to make it 5-3. Then Bird, who hit a three-run home run in Friday’s win over Notre Dame, had yet another prolonged eight-pitch at-bat in which she smacked a 3-2 pitch to left to blow the game open and end the day for Camenzind, who allowed five runs on three hits and two walks over just 0.1 inning.
“I was expecting inside because I’ve been getting inside my whole at-bat,” Bird said. “They she just threw me a changeup that I was able to keep my hands back on and just got through it.”
Sinicki — a .130 hitter against lefties this season, Luschar and Allee Bunker each singled off left-hander Callie Turner (2.1 IP, one run on three hits) to cap the rally at 10-3.
Chenise Delce (20-10) allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and struck out two over 4.1 innings in the loss for Arkansas (39-18), which plays the winner of Notre Dame and Harvard in an elimination game at 5 p.m. PT, with the winner advancing to play UO.
The Razorbacks added a Kristina Foreman solo home run to right in the sixth off Morgan Scott (13-6), who allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk and struck out six in a complete game win.
“I thought she had really good command,” Lombardi said. “I love how she was working ahead and changing speeds. I thought her and Terra worked really, really well together.”
Oregon (37-15), which lost both of its games against Arkansas in last year’s regional, advances to the regional final at 11 a.m. PT Sunday. The Ducks need a win over up to two games on Sunday to advance to their first Super Regional since 2018.
“Stay within us, stay focused on us and keep moving forward,” Carlson said. “I think our mentality this whole time is getting caught up in the little things and celebrating each other and playing for each other. That’s what has gotten us here and so that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”
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