Three SEC Teams Await Ducks in Cathedral City

ON DECK
No. 18/14 Oregon will face three more ranked teams and four squads that played in the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Feb. 19-21 in Cathedral City, Calif. Auburn, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Duke were all in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, while Texas A&M, South Carolina and Duke are all in this week's top 25. Oregon and Cal State Fullerton will be playing for the third time this season. This will be the first meeting between Oregon and Duke, while the Ducks and South Carolina haven't played since 2008. Conversely, this will be the third game between Oregon and Fullerton this season. The Ducks took two games at last week's Cardinal Classic, 7-3 and 5-4.

SPENCER THROWS ONE-HITTER VS. KENTUCKY
Taylour Spencer threw a one-hit shutout of Kentucky on Feb. 14. She struck out a career-high 10 batters and yielded just a third-inning single. That effort came on the heels of an opening weekend that was a return to the form that made her an Pac-12 all-freshman selection in 2024. In three games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, Spencer went 1-0 with a 1.75 ERA. She struck out nine and allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits.

PITCHING NOTES
The Ducks have struck out eight or more batters in 6-of-9 games this season and have fanned 10-plus three times. The Ducks are third nationally at 9.29 strikeouts-per-seven innings and ninth nationally in fewest hits allowed-per-seven innings - 4.83. Opponents are hitting .183 against the Ducks. Oregon has only surrendered four home runs.

GREIN NO-NO MAKES HISTORY
Senior All-American Lyndsey Grein became the first Duck to throw a no-hitter in a season opener in program history as she led No. 5 Oregon to a 3-0 victory over Missouri Feb. 6 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. Grein's no-hitter was the first for a Duck since Stevie Hansen held Utah Valley hitless in a six-inning run-rule win. It was the first seven-inning no-hitter for Oregon since Makenna Kliethermes went the distance against LMU in 2021. Grein's 14 strikeouts were the most by a Duck since Kliethermes struck out 15 in the 2022 season opener against Ole Miss

GETTING THE RUNNER HOME FROM THIRD
Oregon leads the Big Ten and is third nationally with eight sacrifice flies this season. Rylee McCoy has two, while six other players have one apiece.

SHAW SHINES AT CARDINAL CLASSIC
Ayanna Shaw hit .750 (9-for-12) to help Oregon go 3-1 at the Cardinal Classic Feb. 13-15. She had a double, two RBI and stole two bases. She had at least two hits in all four games.

CAN'T RUN ON COX
Emma Cox has thrown out six base runners (three caught stealing, three picked off) over the first nine games of the 2026 season. She's third nationally and tops in the Big Ten in throwing runners out.

2025 MARY NUTTER CLASSIC WAS ONE FOR THE AGES
The 2025 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic was where the rest of the nation found out that #Version7 was going to be exceptional. The Ducks went 5-0 at the MNCC for just the third time in program history. The five impressive victories made it arguably the Ducks' best-ever showing in Cathedral City. Day one started with a 5-4 victory against California followed by a thrilling 1-0, eight-inning win over No. 5 Tennessee. The next day, Oregon shut out Utah, 2-0, and took down No. 25 San Diego State. 7-2. On the final day. the Ducks ran away from No. 22 Missouri, 11-3. Lyndsey Grein and Rylee McCoy both picked up some national hardware following that weekend. Grein was selected as the Wilson/NFCA national Pitcher of the Week, while McCoy was named the national Freshman of the Week by D1 Softball. Grein threw 18.0 shutout innings and won four games. She pitched in all five games and allowed five hits while striking out 24. Opposing batters hit just .088 against her. McCoy, who was also named tournament MVP by D1 Softball, hit four home runs at the 2025 Mary Nutter Classic with a .438 average (7-of-16) and slugged 1.313. And then there was Stefini Ma'ake who launched a memorable 300-foot home run against Missouri. The Ducks have won 15 of their last 18 games at the MNCC.

JONES NAMED TO NFCA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
After hitting .400 (6-for-15) with three RBI, Kaylynn Jones was named to the NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team. Addison Amaral (.364) and Ayanna Shaw (.353) also hit over .300 for the tournament.