Tehya Bird's 3-run homer ignites Oregon as Ducks beat Notre Dame in NCAA Tournament
Oregon weathered a long rain delay and a late rally attempt by Notre Dame to win its NCAA Tournament opener Friday.
The Ducks softball team defeated the Fighting Irish 5-4 in the first round of the Fayetteville Regional at Bogle Park, snapping a four-game losing streak.
Oregon (36-15) scored all of its runs with two outs in the second inning to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Ducks will next play at noon Saturday against Arkansas.
Trailing 1-0, Oregon put the game out of reach thanks to several clutch at-bats in the second, starting when Alyssa Daniell and KK Humphreys drew back-to-back four-pitch walks off Notre Dame starter Payton Tidd.
Tehya Bird then finished off a 10-pitch at-bat with a three-run home run to left field to give Oregon a 3-1 lead. It was her seventh homer of the season.
Next up was Paige Sinicki, who beat out a bunt single to keep the inning alive, and Kai Luschar followed with an RBI triple over the head of left fielder Macie Eck to score Sinicki from first base.
Hanna Delgado walked to put runners on the corners and Allee Bunker hit an infield single that scored Luschar to give the Ducks a 5-1 lead.
That was still the score when the game was stopped for two hours, 24 minutes due to rain with two-outs into the bottom of the fourth.
The Ducks only got two more hits once the game resumed, opening the window for the Fighting Irish, who gave Oregon a scare with three runs in the sixth to get within a run of tying the score.
Oregon starter Stevie Hansen (19-6) allowed one run and two hits in the first inning as Notre Dame took the early lead, but she settled down and didn’t allow another run until the sixth inning.
Hansen finished with five innings pitched, and five hits, two runs and one walk allowed.
Morgan Scott got her seventh save of the season by pitching a hitless final 1⅓ innings.
Hansen was aided by several nice plays by the Ducks’ defense, most notably when Delgado reached over the fence in centerfield to rob Karina Gaskins of a home run in the first inning.
Third baseman Bird also caught a hot liner to end the top of the second, setting the stage for Oregon’s offense to take the lead.
Fayetteville Regional
Friday
Game 1: Oregon d. Notre Dame, 5-4
Game 2: Arkansas d. Harvard, 11-0 (5 innings)
Saturday
Game 3: Oregon vs. Arkansas, Noon (ESPN2)
Game 4: Notre Dame vs. Harvard 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 5: Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 5 p.m. (TBD)
Sunday
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5, 11 a.m. (TBD)
*Game 7: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5, 12:30 p.m. (TBD)
*If necessary
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks defeat Notre Dame in NCAA Regional softball opener
