Ducks flee Bears: Cal finishes series against Oregon, 1-2
With Ducks on the pond, the Bears were searching for prey.
This past weekend, Cal traveled to Eugene to compete in a weekend series against No. 12 Oregon. In what has typically been blowouts by the Ducks in years past, the Bears held onto their basic techniques and defeated Oregon for the first time since 2019.
Cal’s weekend record stood at 1-2. Though the losses outweigh the wins, the spectacular performance of sophomore Sona Halajian on the mound outshined the numbers.
Throughout the season, Halajian has proven that the whip of her arm is an indestructible engine. With every pitch, her legs launch her toward home plate and she allows the grip of the ball to do the rest of the work. Spinning her pitches up and down, as well as side to side, Halajian threw Oregon’s batters off balance and granted the Ducks only six hits and two runs in the first game.
The Ducks managed to score only one run in the first and one in the sixth. Meanwhile, the Bears flipped their switch in the last two innings and scored 11 runs between the fifth and sixth.
Notably, Halajian smacked her season’s ninth homer over the fence to score the last run of the fifth inning, tipping the scale towards the Bears. Stepping up as the powerhouse of the Cal softball squad, the Ducks began to tread lightly around her.
Game one concluded with a run-rule and final score of 11-2, Cal.
In an attempt to continue the momentum of a dominant win, Cal worked off of confidence rather than skill. In turning their backs to the fundamentals of the game, the Bears fell off of their winning streak.
Against Oregon pitcher Stevie Hansen, Cal could not manage to find the strike zone and consistently put the bat to the ball. Sophomore pitcher Haylei Archer pitched a great game, but Cal’s offense did not support her to the extent that it needed to. The final score of the game was 6-8, Ducks.
With a split series, the Bears had one last shot to catch their prey. However, the Bears’ claws only grazed the Ducks, and the Ducks slipped by with only one insurance run to defeat the Bears in the series finale.
Cal launched themselves onto the scoreboard after scoring three significant runs in the first inning. The impending thought of another run-rule was at play, as Halajian was on the mound and the Bears were already off to a leading start. However, Cal’s next three scoreless innings shook it to a loss.
All the while, Oregon turned on its gears in the third inning and scored eight runs to Cal’s seven by the end of the match. With a Halajian homer and a debut career home run by junior Amani Bradley, the fight in Cal’s eyes was evident. However, the fruits of its labor did not bloom. Game three ended on a suspenseful note with Cal’s tying win on third in the last at-bat, finalizing the score as 7-8, Oregon.
Throughout this season, a prominent pattern has surfaced: inconsistent stamina. Most notable in the Rainbow Wahine Classic, Cal’s strength was front heavy and died out by the last two games. The margin it lost by grew significantly.
However, Cal has been able to dig itself out of its ruts before, such as in a series against No. 7 Washington a little more than a week ago. The largest factor of whether Cal will conquer a full series or give up a game or two depends on its ability to channel equal and overpowering endurance throughout all three games.
From April 1-3, Cal will be playing Pac-12 competitor Oregon State in Levine-Fricke Field. With home-field advantage, Cal is ready to fend off Oregon State from entering Bear territory — but only time will tell if the Bears can stop a Beaver invasion.
Alisa Steel covers softball and women’s swim and dive. Contact her at asteel@dailycal.org.