EUGENE, Ore. -- Arizona senior pitcher
Alyssa Denham shut out 12th-ranked Oregon and the Cats picked up a huge win in Eugene, 2-0 over the Ducks, to split the four-game series.
Denham's gem was Arizona's fourth-consecutive lights-out performance in the circle by an Arizona pitcher in the series. After Oregon won the first two games by a single run apiece, Arizona took the third and fourth games of the series, winning last night 4-3 and then today, 2-0.
Senior shortstop
Jessie Harper went 3-for-4, including her 89th career home run on Sunday, a two-run bomb in the top of the third, the only support Denham would need in the circle.
Denham went the distance, allowing six hits with six strikeouts in the shutout. She improved to 17-6 with the win. In three appearances vs. the Ducks, Denham allowed just one run over 15 innings (0.47 ERA). She went 1-1 with a save in the series.
The first two innings looked a lot like the previous three games of the series, with pitchers
Alyssa Denham and Samaria Diaz exchanging scoreless innings in their first two frames.
In the third,
Reyna Carranco singled on a two-strike pitch before
Jessie Harper took an 0-2 pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run homer, her 89th of her career, moving her to within one of becoming the fourth player in NCAA history to hit 90 homers.
The pitchers would hold the rest of the game, both working in and out of jams the rest of the way. Denham shut the door in the seventh to give the Cats the win.
Arizona returns home now for senior weekend. UA (35-10, 12-7 Pac-12) hosts No. 2 UCLA next weekend for a four-game series beginning on Thursday night at Hillenbrand Stadium to close out the regular season.Â