Grein, Spencer Throw Combined One-Hitter

Friday, March 27

Evanston, IL

4:00 PM

University of Oregon

25-9, 6-2

Northwestern

16-15, 4-4

Oregon

Northwestern

03/27/26 | Softball

Box Score #18 Oregon 4, Northwestern 0

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Lyndsey Grein and Taylour Spencer threw a combined one-hit shutout as No. 18 Oregon defeated Northwestern, 4-0, Friday at the Ballpark at Rosemont to even the series at a game apiece.

Grein started and retired all six batters she faced in the first two innings. Spencer (6-3) relieved in the third, struck out six and walked one in 3.1 innings, holding the shutout into the sixth inning.

The only scoring threat for Northwestern (16-15, 4-4) came in the fourth inning when Kaylie Avvisato walked with one out and Emma Raye reached on an infield single. But Spencer struck out the next two batters she faced to end the inning.

Grein returned to the circle with one out in the sixth inning and retired all five batters she faced to close out the game. She struck out four batters and allowed no walks or hits. Grein retired the side in order in the first, second and seventh innings, while Spencer set the side down in order in the third and fifth innings.

"We've talked about being resilient and I'm ready proud of the way our team responded tonight," said coach Melyssa Lo mbardi, whose team dropped the first game of the series 11-3 on Thursday. "We didn't like how things went in game one and these guys came together and were not going to be denied tonight.

"Certainly Taylour and Lyndsey were great on the mound and the defense stepped up behind them and the offense came through with some timely hits and kept the pressure on their pitchers."

Elon Butler and Kaylynn Jones both had two hits, while Emma Cox had two RBI.

How It Happened: With Grein and Spencer keeping the Wildcats at bay, the Ducks' offense scored in the second, third and sixth innings to pull away from the Wildcats.

Oregon (25-9, 6-2) took advantage of a Northwestern error to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.

Taryn Ho reached first on a throwing error and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Cox brought her home by going the opposite way for a double to the wall in right center.

Butler and Amari Harper powered Oregon to two more runs in the top of the third. After Butler doubled down the left field line, Harper tripled down the right field line to bring Butler home for a 2-0 lead. Stefini Ma'ake then made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly to deep left field that easily scored Harper.

The Ducks then tied the school record with another sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Rylee McCoy walked and Elyse Kresho pinch ran for her. Ho attempted a sacrifice bunt, but the throw to force Kresho at second went into the outfield and Kresho ended up at third. Cox then fouled out down the right field line and Kresho was able to beat the throw home for a 4-0 lead.

Notable: Oregon not only hit its NCAA-leading 24^th and 25^th sacrifice flies of the season, but the second one on the sixth inning tied the school record, 25, set in 2015 and matched just last season … With four strikeouts, Lyndsey Grein entered the UO carer top 10 in strikeouts with 359. She passed Susan Voeller (357/1986-88) for tenth place … Elon Butler's second inning double was the 200^th hit of her career, while Kaylynn Jones reached 100 career hits with two on Friday … Butler leads the Big Ten with 14 doubles … Harper's triple was her first of the season and fourth of her career.

Up Next: The Ducks' 11-day, seven-game road trip concludes with the series finale against Northwestern Sunday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time (12 p.m. Central Time) on B1G+.