Freshman Lauren Lindvall's home run highlighted a five-run seventh inning for Oregon.
LOS ANGELES -- Freshman Lauren Lindvall crushed a three-run homer in the top of the seventh as the No. 1 Ducks rallied back to beat No. 10 UCLA 6-4 with a five-run seventh inning on Saturday at Easton Stadium.
The Ducks improved to 31-5 (9-2 Pac-12) on the season while the Bruins slipped to 31-7 (6-2) with the loss.
Oregon had left 11 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the first, third and fourth innings, before putting it all together in a huge seventh.
The Ducks jumped out to an early lead when Danica Mercado was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning. The lead was short lived, however, as the Bruins tallied four runs on just one hit in the second inning. UCLA scored its first run on an RBI single but scored its next three runs on a pair of bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch.
Oregon rallied back in a big way in the top of the seventh. Geri Ann Glasco reached on an error to start the inning before Janelle Lindvall flied out to left. Mercado followed with a bloop single to shallow left to set up Koral Costa, who singled to left to score pinch runner Sammie Puentes from second.
That brought Lauren Lindvall to the plate with runners at first and second. The freshman hammered a 1-0 pitch high over the fence in left to give the Ducks a 5-4 lead.
Hailey Decker nearly had another homer four batters later but her rocket line drive was caught against the wall in left, allowing Alyssa Gillespie, who went 3-for-3, to score from third on the sacrifice fly.
After UCLA chased both starter Cheridan Hawkins and reliever Geri Ann Glasco in the second inning, head coach Mike White brought on senior Karissa Hovinga with the bases loaded and two outs.
Hovinga induced a grounder to end the inning and get the Ducks out of a big jam. She was nearly perfect in the ensuing five frames. Hovinga improved to 8-1 on the season after allowing no runs on just three hits and no walks in 5.1 innings with four strikeouts.
