Eugene Super Regional Nothing New For UO's Cox

When she committed to play softball at Oregon in the fall of 2022, Emma Cox dreamed of one day being on hand for a Super Regional in Eugene featuring the Ducks.

This week she gets that chance. But not before her brother already beat her to it.

Cox and the UO softball team will host Liberty in a Super Regional beginning Friday in Jane Sanders Stadium at 7 p.m. It will be the second time she's been on hand for a Super Regional hosted by Oregon, though her first for softball and her first as a participant.

Back in spring 2023, just a few months after Cox committed to the Ducks, she was at PK Park to watch her brother Jonah face the Oregon baseball team in a Super Regional. She was rooting for Jonah's Oral Roberts team that weekend, Cox said, but not without giving him a little bit of guff.

"I was like, you had to steal my moment," Cox recalled this week with a laugh. "Oregon was my place, and then you came in and beat Oregon in a Super Regional. But no, it was so, so fun being there and getting to support him, at the school I was going to go to."

Two years after Cox cheered for her brother in a postseason game at Oregon, Jonah got to return the favor last week. When the Ducks clinched their regional comeback over Stanford on Sunday night, Jonah was on hand with teammates from his current minor-league team, the Eugene Emeralds.

"It's something that I've been wanting to do since I was a little girl," Cox said. "So for it all to be happening, and then for my brother to get to watch it? Yeah."

Sunday night's dramatic victory over the Cardinal was particularly gratifying for Cox in a number of ways.

It extended a freshman season that was interrupted for all of March by a shoulder injury. The victory meant her dropped foul pop-up in the first inning can be all but forgotten. And Oregon's comeback featured a homer by Cox as the Ducks looked to replace the loss of power-hitting first baseman Rylee McCoy — Cox's best friend on the team — due to injury earlier in the game.

"We've got each other," said Stefini Ma'ake, yet another freshman power bat for the Ducks, and a former club teammate of Cox. "That 'I got you' really meant something right there. And Emma showed it."

A baseball player until the age of 12— both parents played diamond sports in college, as did her three older brothers — Cox grew up in Colorado but blossomed as a prospect when she joined the southern California club team that also featured Ma'ake. She showed her pedigree upon arriving at Oregon, being named Big Ten Freshman of the Week and an NFCA Top Performer after her very first weekend of this season.

Softball Oregon vs. Michigan St - Game 2

Softball Oregon vs. Michigan St - Game 2

But later that month came the shoulder injury Cox suffered in the Ducks' home opener, Feb. 28. She didn't return to the field until April 11, and didn't really get her timing back, she said, until a couple of weeks after that.

Since April 26, Cox has hits in nine of her last 12 games — including the homer Sunday night amidst the chaos of the comeback to conquer the Cardinal.

The spotlight first found her in the top of the first inning Sunday evening. Stanford loaded the bases with two out. UO pitcher Lyndsey Grein coaxed a pop-up in foul territory that Cox settled under, only to have it carom off her glove. The at-bat extended, the Cardinal hit a grand slam to put Oregon in a 4-0 hole.

"Pop-ups behind the plate are just kind of tough in general, because you have to find the ball first; you're not sure where it's hit," Cox said. "But that's a ball that I should catch. That's a ball I catch 10 times out of 10. It just didn't happen. …

"Initially I was like, dang, OK, we're gonna get this girl out, my team will have my back. Then she hits a grand slam. For the rest of the game my only thought was, there's no way that's gonna be the reason we lose this regional."

Just one inning later, McCoy took a line drive to the face that knocked her out of the game and has her considered day-to-day entering this week, according to UO coach Melyssa Lombardi. Cox watched her close friend helped off the field, blood staining her uniform.

Then, her emotions no doubt swirling, Cox led off the bottom of the second. In the batter's box she somehow summoned the "neutral mindset" that has been a theme for the Ducks all season.

"I was actually really proud of that at-bat, because I was like, yeah, I did my job," Cox said. "I got on lead-off, and I didn't let my emotions get the best of me. I had a good at-bat and I walked."

Three batters later, Katie Flannery hit a three-run home run. The Ducks hadn't totally overcome the early miscue by Cox that preceded Stanford's grand slam. But they were well on their way.

"Everybody knew I should have made the play, but they were like, OK, she didn't, we've got your back," Cox said. "So when she hit that home run, one, I was grateful that she hit it, but two, I just had this overwhelming sense of, like, wow, my girls have my back. They're not gonna let me go down like that."

An inning later, with Stanford up 7-3, it was Cox's turn to support her teammates. After a two-out walk by Paige Sinicki, Cox blasted a two-run homer to get Oregon right back in the game.

The Ducks were without McCoy, who in Sunday's opening game had tied the UO single-season record with her 19th home run. But they had her back.

"Everybody believed we were going to win that game, there was no doubt in any of those innings," Sinicki said. "And I think we also were able to play for something bigger, like Rylee. Once we all had that mindset and mission to do that for Rylee, we were unstoppable."

Indeed, the Ducks went on to complete the comeback and beat Stanford, advancing to this weekend's Super Regionals. Because Liberty went on the road and upset top-seeded Texas A&M last week, Oregon will host the round. And Cox will be back at a Super Regional in Eugene, albeit this time playing a much bigger role.

"We proved it to ourselves that we can do anything," Cox said. "So now it's just continuing with that belief, regardless of anything that they do — because it's not about what they do, it's about what we do. If they throw a punch, we throw one back. And just continuing to stay within ourselves, stay within our process and keep attacking."