EUGENE -- Karissa Hovinga had her good stuff, probably the best Oregon coach Mike White has seen from her in four years as a Duck.

North Dakota State had seen a steady diet of rise balls all week, and for six-plus innings, Hovinga kept the Bison off-balance with a drop ball that educed ground ball after ground ball.

But with a runner on first, a run in and no outs in the bottom of the seventh, the sixth-year Oregon coach didn't hesitate when he heard Cheridan Hawkins yell, "I'm good," from the Howe Field bullpen.

"Probably could have left (Hovinga) in and she would have got out of it fine," White said after Hawkins slammed the door in the final inning to secure Oregon's 6-1 win in the Eugene Regional final over the Bison. "But when you have someone like Cheridan Hawkins on the bench, there's really no point in pushing the envelope."

And though the Ducks had the ability to lose a game on Saturday afternoon, there's a reason why the Ducks are now 18-0 in the regional round under White and are on to their sixth straight super regional contest.

Facing Bison ace Krista Menke for the second time in as many days, Oregon swung with familiarity. The Ducks had two runs in the first, one in the third, two in the fifth and a last insurance run in the sixth. Janie Takeda and Hailey Decker each homered, and Janelle and Lauren Lindvall each had run scoring hits. They made Menke labor in her fourth start in three days.

The NDSU ace wasn't bad, and NDSU coach Darren Meuller said his ace grew frustrated not because of poor pitching, but Oregon's ability to consistently hit good pitches. Whereas Oregon struggled against Menke on Friday, the Ducks were consistent on Saturday with hits in every inning but the last.

"What we did was we punished the balls that she did leave over the plate," White said. "We did a pretty good job there."

It was all in support of Hovinga who thrived under a week of rest.

The Oregon senior allowed only two hits, a run in the seventh, walked two and struck out eight. She kept the ball down, forcing 10 ground outs and provided the Ducks with a counterpunch from the circle the Bison just didn't have.

"When you see the difference between what Hawkins has and what (Hovinga) has as a pitcher, throwing the down ball, it's just that movement," NDSU coach Darren Mueller said. "...It was something that took us, that second inning we kind of adjusted a little bit, but we probably didn't adjust as fast as we should have."

And when it looked like the Bison finally had some momentum going in the final inning, it was too late. The leadoff batter reached on a Hovinga throwing error before Amanda Grable punched a pitch to right for the Bison's only run. It was enough of a threat for White to call down for Hawkins, Oregon's national pitcher of the year finalist who had beat the Bison the day before. Hawkins made quick work, striking out the first two batters before Janelle Lindvall gunned pinch runner Katie Shoultz out at second to end the game.

Now, the Ducks will host the Super Regional round for the fourth year in a row, where they'll face the winner of the James Madison regional. A year ago, Oregon made quick work of Minnesota, sweeping both games to advance to the team's second Women's College World Series this decade. Later this week, the Ducks will try and do it for a third time in what will be the finale for Howe Field. Next year the Ducks will have a brand new stadium, and White said he can't wait to see the bulldozers come through the outfield - that is, after an Oregon win.

"It's been a place where we've built this program up, now we're looking forward to the last games here and hopefully they're memorable games," he said, "and we'll get out on a good note and make it to the College World Series and we'll be able to say goodbye to Howe Field."

-- Tyson Alger

talger@oregonian.com

@tysonalger