Oregon State continued in the Jane Sanders Classic with a 8-3 loss in their second game against the Oregon Ducks on Friday in Jane Sanders Stadium.
With the loss, the Beavers have now failed to win a game in their last seven attempts.
Oregon State set themselves up quickly scoring their first batter junior Jada Lewis.
Lewis got on base via a walk, which was followed by junior Jaeya Butler hitting a line drive. A Duck error allowed Lewis to run home and Butler to get to third.
Errors however would prove to be the bane for the Beavers in the end, who ended with seven errors to the Ducks three.
“We just got to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” Head Coach Laura Berg said. “It should be four errors up on the score board.”
Senior Morgan Howey would then up the ante even more for the Beavers, clearing the bases with a home run to left field.
“We come out aggressive like we did in that first inning and hit the ball like that, and we’ll have better outcomes,” Berg said.
Oregon however was able to strike back right away with the Ducks sophomore designated hitter Stefini Ma’ake sending a hard-hit double perfectly down the right field line.
Ma’ake finished the game 3-4 and scored each time she was on base.
The hit advanced senior Elon Butler home who reached base on a walk; another double from Harper then advanced her to beat the tag at home.
Holding a 3-2 lead to start the second, the Beavers came out swinging in polar opposite fashion. Starting senior pitcher Elise Sokolovsky struck out the side to bring her total to four punch outs.
Solkolvsky’s night ended in the top of the 5th. Throwing four of the team’s eight strikeouts. She is now 3-1 on starts on the year.
The game would become tied in the third inning when sophomore Ayanna Shaw hit a triple to advance junior Katie Flannery home.
Oregon State would change pitchers to freshman Kimberlee Aleman who would get them out of the inning with the score still tied.
The Ducks would however be the ones to break the tie, thanks to a two-run homer to right center by senior Amari Harper.
The third Beaver pitcher was then brought in within the first three innings, freshman Amelia Streuber, who then escaped the inning despite loading the bases.
“They’re a good hitting team, you gotta try to keep them off balance with different pitchers and try to stop the momentum,” Berg said.
Oregon’s lead would be extended by sophomore Rylee McCoy in the fourth, driving two home with a double down the left field line.
The Beavers would finally hold Oregon to its first scoreless inning in the fifth. The Ducks averaged two runs an inning in the first four.
Oregon State was not able to get back on the board after the first inning. They used four total pitchers in the game but were only able to muster one strikeout.
Oregon would put the nail in the coffin with E. Butler adding one more run off an RBI from Harper in the sixth inning to extend their final lead to five runs.
The Beavers have three more games remaining in their series in Eugene, the next contest being one of two games played on March 7th, the first being against the University of Nevada.
