EUGENE, Ore. – A school record, a combined no-hitter and KK Humphreys’ big day at the plate highlighted No. 25 Oregon’s 17-0 win against Mount St. Mary’s Thursday in the first game of the Jane Sanders Classic, presented by Graduate Hotels.
Humphreys homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs, Kai Luschar tied the school record with four stolen bases and three Duck pitchers combined on a no-hitter in the 2024 home opener at Jane Sanders Stadium. The second game of a scheduled doubleheader was postponed due to rain.
It was the most runs for the Ducks (10-7) since plating 17 against Cal Poly last March. It was also Oregon’s second 15-hit game of the season.
“I think for us to be home, even with the weather, these guys were so excited to get home and I think that was important,” said head coach Melyssa Lombardi. “To play in front of your fans and in your stadium.”
While the offense was lighting up the scoreboard, Stevie Hansen (1-3) struck out six in three perfect innings to pick up her first win of the season. Taylour Spencer walked a couple of batters in the fourth inning, but closed out the frame with a double play. Reagan Breedlove, making her first appearance since Feb. 9, retired the side in order on 11 pitches in the top of the fifth to end the no-hitter via the run rule. It was the 38th no-hitter in program history.
“There were a couple things we needed to make an adjustment on to allow (Hansen) to command her pitches a little bit better and I think that is what you saw tonight,” said Lombardi. “I think “the old Stevie” is a great way of describing what we saw with her on the mound today.”
How it Happened: The Ducks scored four runs in both the first and second innings, before exploding for nine runs in the third.
Luschar led the first inning off with a bunt single to extend her hitting streak to eight games. She stole second and went to third on Ariel Carlson’s fly out.
Vallery Wong walked and then Luschar stole home when Wong drew a throw to second on a fake steal attempt.
After Luschar scored, Alyssa Daniell singled and Hanna Delgado walked to load the bases.
KK Humphreys then pulled a sharp single through the left side and all three runners scored when the ball was misplayed by the left fielder, giving the Ducks a 4-0 lead.
In the second inning, Carlson drew a one-out walk. After Wong flew out, Daniell tripled to plate Carlson. Delgado walked and stole second.
Humphreys then laced a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left for a three-run home run and the Ducks led 8-0.
The third inning began with Tehya Bird being hit by a pitch. Regan Legg pinch-ran and stole second. Paige Sinicki bunted for a base hit that moved Legg to third. Sinicki stole second before Luschar singled into left field to drive in Legg.
Next, Carlson walked to load the bases. Wong singled into left field to score Luschar and Sinicki, while Carlson was caught between second and third for the first out of the inning.
Daniell singled – her third hit of the game – before Delgado brought both runners home with a double that made it 13-0.
Humphreys came to the plate next and crushed a 1-2 pitch high off the netting beyond the left field wall to make it 15-0.
Bird continued the inning with a single and Sinicki was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch before Luschar singled into the hole at short to score the Ducks’ 16th run of thegame. Carlson’s infield single brought Sinicki home with the 17th and final run.
“I think this team is very talented, they really like to play together,” said Lombardi. “This is our deepest team and I am really excited for this team.”
Oregon’s eight stolen bases were on shy of the school’s team record set at BYU in 2022. In addition to Luschar’s four steals, Delgado, Bird, Legg and Sinicki also swiped a bag.
Quotable
Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi
“You can see that they did a great job offensively of getting on, getting good pitches to hit, passing the bat, and from there going onto defense and keeping the momentum. I loved the squeeze play pop up and getting the two outs there in the fourth. I think the pitchers’ defense gave us a chance to win the game and I really liked how Stevie (Hansen) set the tone right from the start.”
2B KK Humphreys
“I always explain myself as a gap-to-gap, then run hitter. I don’t see myself as a home run hitter, if it goes out, it goes out, that’s great. I focus more on finding the gaps in any ways that I can. Getting the ball down, running, and causing chaos on the field. Just trying to use my speed to my advantage.”
Noteworthy: Luschar is the fourth player in program history with four steals in a game, joining Marnie McCall (1991), Suzie Barnes (2001) and Neena Bryant (2009) … Luschar has reached base safely in all 17 games this season … Luschar, Daniell and Humphreys all had three-hit games … Daniell’s three-hit game tied her career high … With those three base knocks, Luschar reclaimed the Pac-12 lead in hits with 30, one more than Arizona’s Regan Shockey … Oregon’s nine-run third was the most runs in an inning since the Ducks scored nine times in the fifth inning against Army on Feb. 11 … Ayanna Shaw, Trinity Holden and Abby Mulvey all had their first plate appearances of 2024. Shaw also played in the field (center field) for the first time this season … The teams waited out a 29-minute weather delay in the first inning and a 1:10 stoppage in the third inning … It was the first meeting between Oregon and Mount St. Mary’s (2-7).
On Deck: The Jane Sanders Classic continues with three games Friday. Oregon and Mount St. Mary’s will play at 10:30 a.m., followed by the Ducks and Maryland at 1 p.m. and Washington-Mount St. Mary’s at 3:30 p.m.
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