Ducks get No. 3 seed in Pac-12 tourney
Published 5:02 pm Monday, May 6, 2024
A two-hit shutout from Elise Sokolsky helped Oregon clinch the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 tournament.
Sokolsky struck out six and allowed two hits and one walk in her first complete game shutout at UO in a 1-0 win for the No. 21 Ducks over No. 7 Stanford Sunday afternoon at Smith Family Stadium.
The win gave Oregon (28-18, 13-10 Pac-12) a third-place finish in the conference and it will face No. 6 seed Utah in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday (10 a.m., Pac-12 Network), also at Stanford.
Back-to-back singles by Ariel Carlson and Emma Kauf put runners on the corners with one out in the first. Kauf induced a throw to second that allowed Carlson to score the game’s only run.
After a one-out single by Emily Jones in the first, Sokolsky retired 13 straight Cardinal batters until a two-out single by Caelan Koch in the fifth.
Sokolsky issued a leadoff walk in the sixth but struck out Taryn Kern and got Jones to line out to first baseman Alyssa Daniell for an inning-ending double play.
It was the third complete game shutout of the season for the Ducks, who got a seven-inning shutout from Morgan Scott against San Diego State on Feb. 17 and a five-inning shutout by Scott against Liberty on Feb. 9.
No. 8 seed Oregon State will take on No. 9 seed Arizona State at 7 p.m. Wednesday to start the Pac-12 tournament. The winner will play No. 1 UCLA at 4 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals.