Milhorn Throws Six Strong as Ducks Find a Way

Saturday, March 7

Eugene, OR

3:30 PM

University of Oregon

16-7

Nevada

16-8

Nevada

Oregon

03/07/26 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Nevada 8, #18 Oregon 5 #18 Oregon 2, Sacramento State 1 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

EUGENE, Ore. — After a disappointing loss Saturday afternoon, No. 18 Oregon called on Maddie Milhorn to take the mound in the nightcap against Sacramento State and the freshman from Vancouver, Wash., delivered.

She threw 6.0 innings, allowing only a solo home run in the top of the seventh, to spur the Ducks (17-7) to a 2-1 victory over the Hornets in front of a season-high 2,246 at Jane Sanders Stadium. Milhorn gave up a single in the first inning and didn't allow another hit until Madison Evers-Lyles' home run in the seventh.

In between, she struck out eight and only walked one, and retired the side in order in the second, fourth and fifth innings.

"One thing I've been working on since the fall is getting my fastball to drop a little bit," said Milhorn. "So I really just, jammed all the batters inside. And I think that is what helped me be successful, because then when I went out with the curveball they chased it."

After the Hornets tied the game at 1-1, Lyndsey Grein came in a retied the next three batters in order.

The Ducks then won it in the bottom of the seventh after Rylee McCoy led off with a single and pinch-runner Presley Lawton scored on a fielding error by Evers-Lyles at third base. That made a winner out of Grein who improved to 9-3.

In the first game, the Ducks rallied to tie the game at 5-5 in the third inning but ultimately dropped an 8-3 decision to Nevada.

Oregon gets a rematch with the Wolf Pack Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

"What I want to see with our group is just all three cylinders," said coach Melyssa Lombardi. "You'll see us hit really well, and then maybe have miscues on defense or not pitch well enough, and vice versa. But what I'd like to see tomorrow in our last nonconference game, is to put all three out there, and for all three to be performing at the same time."

How It Happened – Game 1: The Ducks trailed the Wolf Pack (16-8) 5-1 after the top of the third inning, but scored four runs to pull even in the bottom of the frame.

Oregon got a run in the bottom of the second after Amari Hardy was hit by a pitch and went to third on a single by Emma Cox. Taryn Ho singled to bring Hardy home as Nevada led, 2-1.

The Wolf Pack scored three runs in the top of the third for a 5-1 advantage before the Ducks struck back.

Kaylynn Jones led off with a single and Elon Butler walked. An out later, Harper doubled down the left field line to score both runners and cut Nevada's lead to 5-3.

With Harper aboard, McCoy hit her second home run of the season out to left field to tie the game at 5-5.

The Wolf Pack answered with three runs in the top of the fourth and the score remained 8-5 in Nevada's favor the rest of the way.

Harper, who was 2-for-2 against Nevada, said the team was thankful to have the opportunity to play right away after the loss.

"We were super-excited just to get back out on the field and to get to go again, instead of having a waiting period," said Harper. "So it was really good to see our energy just get up in those first few innings and stay consistent throughout the entire game. And obviously in the end, we had Maddie's back, and Maddie had our back the entire time. So, it was a good energy."

Milhorn shut out the Wolf Pack over the final 3.1 innings, setting the stage for her impressive start against Sacramento State.

How It Happened – Game 2: Hits were hard to come by in the first six innings. The Hornets (18-6) were limited to the one single in the first inning, while Harper accounted for the Ducks' lone hit with a single in the fourth.

Oregon broke through without a hit in the bottom of the sixth.

With one out, Jones walked. She was forced at second by Butler's grounder to short. Stefini Ma'ake followed with a ground ball to third, but Evers-Lyles' throw sailed far above the first baseman and Butler was able to score all the way from first.

It looked like that might be enough for Oregon before Evers-Lyles atoned for her error with a lead off home run in the seventh to tie the game at 1-1. But once again, the Ducks jumped on a fielding error in the bottom of the seventh to score the winning run.

McCoy led off with a single before Lawton ran for her at first. Cox grounded out to third as Lawton was able to advance to second on the play. Another grounder, this one by Taryn Ho, moved Lawton to third.

Katie Flannery smacked a 1-1 pitch toward Evers-Lyles at third, who couldn't field the ball cleanly as Lawton raced home to score the winning run.

Notable: The loss snapped Oregon's winning streak at nine games … Elon Butler's hitting streak ended at a career-best 13 games … This was the first game between Oregon and Nevada since 2020.

Quotable
1B/OF Amari Harper on helping younger players not get caught up in wins or losses
"Just realize that it's one in 56 games that we're going to play this season. We have so much to learn and so much that they can learn from, so I think it's really good for them, especially with their next few years. But just knowing how to make those adjustments in game and kind of working with it within that, within practice, or even in game time, when we need to."

Coach Melyssa Lombardi on Maddie Milhorn's composure in the circle
"Her composure has been like that since we started recruiting her, so I appreciate that. I thought the way she handled herself in the first game and the amount of innings that she threw, that would be great just to continue on. We don't have much of a break in between games, so just to continue into the next game, I thought she did a really good job of settling in and hitting her spots. When she started hitting her spots, she started throwing about nine to twelve pitches an inning and just getting quick shut down innings."

Up Next: The Jane Sanders Classic concludes Sunday with a 12:30 p.m. game against Nevada (B1G+).