The walk-off shoe is finally on the other foot, and it's a webbed one.
In game two of three against No. 2 Oregon (34-5, 12-2 Pac-12), No. 19 ASU softball (27-14, 5-5 Pac-12) went down 12-3 thanks to a "walk-off" three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning that enacted the run rule.
In the circle for the Sun Devils was freshman Dale Ryndak (12-6), who was relieved by junior Alexis Cooper in the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Ryndak started shaky as Oregon brought home two runs on two RBI singles by juniors Geri Ann Glasco and Janelle Lindvall.
One inning later in the top of the second, ASU found two runs of its own in the form of a two-run home run by senior first baseman Bethany Kemp, her 10th shot of the season.
Later on in the inning, the bats caught fire once again for the Ducks as sophomore Nikki Udria got an RBI single of her own to give her team a 3-2 lead. Soon after, senior Janie Takeda brought home a run on Oregon's fourth RBI single of the game.
Finally, a sacrifice fly by freshman Jenna Lilley plated one more run as the Ducks led 5-2 after two.
In the bottom of the third, Oregon continued to open up its lead on an RBI single by junior Alyssa Gillespie, making it 6-2.
The next inning was no different in the batters box for the Ducks as junior Hailey Decker knocked an RBI double to left center to increase the lead to five.
Redshirt sophomore Danica Mercado sent a sac-fly to left later in the inning that extended the Oregon lead to 8-2 heading into the fifth.
ASU finally chipped away at the Oregon lead in the top of the fifth, scoring a run due to an error in the outfield, the third error in a row for the Ducks.
In the bottom of the sixth, Oregon got another sac-fly RBI, this time from Gillespie to put the Ducks up 9-3.
Immediately after the sac-fly, Udria came up clutch and sent a three-run home run to left that propelled Oregon to a dominant 12-3 victory that put them up 2-0 in the series.
ASU will look to avoid being swept in game three, which starts at 12 p.m. on Sunday in Eugene.
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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