Sunday, March 8
Eugene, OR
12:30 PM
University of Oregon
18-7
7
vs
3
Nevada
16-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Nevada
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
5
1
Oregon
5
1
0
0
1
0
X
7
12
2
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Early Offense Fuels Win To Close Weekend
03/08/26 | Softball
Oregon capped the Jane Sanders Classic with a 7-3 win Sunday and now heads into Big Ten play.
EUGENE, Ore. — It was "Championship Sunday" for Oregon softball, and a five-run first inning ensured that the Ducks were queens of the Jane Sanders Classic.
Oregon closed out its second home tournament of this spring with a win Sunday, jumping Nevada early and posting a 7-3 victory. A day after dropping a game to the Wolf Pack, the Ducks (18-7) fell behind on a fluke homer in the top of the first but responded with vigor and took home the victory in their final tune-up before the conference season commences.
"Across the board — whether we're in Big Ten play, preseason, postseason — on championship Sunday, everybody's kind of feeling a little bit of something," said UO pitcher Lyndsey Grein, who shook off two early runs by Nevada to improve to 10-3 this season. "So I think everybody just had the approach of, we're gonna come out, we're gonna win it, we're gonna give it everything we had. I think Sunday is just a gritty day."
After a home run that bounced off the glove of a UO outfielder and over the fence in the top of the first, the Ducks sent 11 players to the plate and scored five times in the bottom of the inning. A double was the only extra-base hit of the five-run rally, on a day when each Oregon starter had at least one hit.
"It's championship Sunday, and (it's about) showing up ready to go," sophomore Rylee McCoy said after driving in two runs with a bases-loaded single in that first inning. "It doesn't matter how you feel; everybody feels the same way. So it's who has that dog mentality and who starts fast is usually who wins, and we wanted to get after them quick."
The win was Oregon's second in a row, and sends the Ducks into Big Ten play this upcoming week back at home looking to repeat as champions.
"Now it's about us defending our title, and getting into Big Ten play," UO coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "So, excited to get to host the first weekend at our place. I think this group has a really good understanding of who they are and what we're capable of. So now, to get just to one opponent and one game a day, and to put everything you've got into that, I think it's going to be really good for us."
How It Happened: With one on and two out in the top of the first, Ayanna Shaw went back on a flyball to center and got her glove on it, but saw the ball carom over for a home run. But as they have for much of this nonconference season, the Ducks had a response.
Shaw had two hits in the five-run bottom of the first, including a leadoff single before she stole second. Kaylynn Jones followed with an RBI double, the only extra-base hit of the frame, before walks to Elon Butler and Amari Harper loaded the bases. McCoy drove in the two lead runners to put the Ducks up, 3-2, Harper scored on a single by Emma Cox and McCoy came home on a base hit by Katie Flannery.
"I felt like that just really set the tone right from the start," Lombardi said. "One thing we're doing is, we give up something, we're coming right back and we're matching it."
The Ducks added on in the second when Butler and Harper led off with singles and advanced on a wild pitch, before Stefini Ma'ake drove in a run with a base hit. They made it 7-2 in the fifth when Taryn Ho scored on a fielder's choice by Butler.
At that point Grien was cruising, shrugging off the early homer to shut down the Wolf Pack. She was pulled after a solo homer with two out in the seventh, and Maddie Milhorn got the final out of the afternoon, to the delight of the Jane Sanders Stadium crowd.
"They were just an unbelievable support, to average over 2,000 every game," Lombardi said. "To hear the Jane roar when we're up and doing what we're supposed to do, and them just cheering and banging on the bleachers, but then when we're down, them helping us be a part of our comebacks as well, I just thought our fans were awesome. This is our favorite place to play, and we're excited that we get to have one more week before we get on the road."
Notable: Average attendance over the three days of the Jane Sanders Classic was 2,038. … Harper was 8-for-15 on the weekend, and extended her hitting streak to seven games Sunday. … Grien was 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA and 17 strikeouts against four walks in the tournament, while Milhorn allowed one earned run across 9 2/3 innings, with 11 strikeouts and two walks.
Up Next: The Ducks host Penn State on Friday (6 p.m., B1G+).
Oregon closed out its second home tournament of this spring with a win Sunday, jumping Nevada early and posting a 7-3 victory. A day after dropping a game to the Wolf Pack, the Ducks (18-7) fell behind on a fluke homer in the top of the first but responded with vigor and took home the victory in their final tune-up before the conference season commences.
"Across the board — whether we're in Big Ten play, preseason, postseason — on championship Sunday, everybody's kind of feeling a little bit of something," said UO pitcher Lyndsey Grein, who shook off two early runs by Nevada to improve to 10-3 this season. "So I think everybody just had the approach of, we're gonna come out, we're gonna win it, we're gonna give it everything we had. I think Sunday is just a gritty day."
After a home run that bounced off the glove of a UO outfielder and over the fence in the top of the first, the Ducks sent 11 players to the plate and scored five times in the bottom of the inning. A double was the only extra-base hit of the five-run rally, on a day when each Oregon starter had at least one hit.
"It's championship Sunday, and (it's about) showing up ready to go," sophomore Rylee McCoy said after driving in two runs with a bases-loaded single in that first inning. "It doesn't matter how you feel; everybody feels the same way. So it's who has that dog mentality and who starts fast is usually who wins, and we wanted to get after them quick."
The win was Oregon's second in a row, and sends the Ducks into Big Ten play this upcoming week back at home looking to repeat as champions.
"Now it's about us defending our title, and getting into Big Ten play," UO coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "So, excited to get to host the first weekend at our place. I think this group has a really good understanding of who they are and what we're capable of. So now, to get just to one opponent and one game a day, and to put everything you've got into that, I think it's going to be really good for us."
How It Happened: With one on and two out in the top of the first, Ayanna Shaw went back on a flyball to center and got her glove on it, but saw the ball carom over for a home run. But as they have for much of this nonconference season, the Ducks had a response.
Shaw had two hits in the five-run bottom of the first, including a leadoff single before she stole second. Kaylynn Jones followed with an RBI double, the only extra-base hit of the frame, before walks to Elon Butler and Amari Harper loaded the bases. McCoy drove in the two lead runners to put the Ducks up, 3-2, Harper scored on a single by Emma Cox and McCoy came home on a base hit by Katie Flannery.
"I felt like that just really set the tone right from the start," Lombardi said. "One thing we're doing is, we give up something, we're coming right back and we're matching it."
The Ducks added on in the second when Butler and Harper led off with singles and advanced on a wild pitch, before Stefini Ma'ake drove in a run with a base hit. They made it 7-2 in the fifth when Taryn Ho scored on a fielder's choice by Butler.
At that point Grien was cruising, shrugging off the early homer to shut down the Wolf Pack. She was pulled after a solo homer with two out in the seventh, and Maddie Milhorn got the final out of the afternoon, to the delight of the Jane Sanders Stadium crowd.
"They were just an unbelievable support, to average over 2,000 every game," Lombardi said. "To hear the Jane roar when we're up and doing what we're supposed to do, and them just cheering and banging on the bleachers, but then when we're down, them helping us be a part of our comebacks as well, I just thought our fans were awesome. This is our favorite place to play, and we're excited that we get to have one more week before we get on the road."
Notable: Average attendance over the three days of the Jane Sanders Classic was 2,038. … Harper was 8-for-15 on the weekend, and extended her hitting streak to seven games Sunday. … Grien was 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA and 17 strikeouts against four walks in the tournament, while Milhorn allowed one earned run across 9 2/3 innings, with 11 strikeouts and two walks.
Up Next: The Ducks host Penn State on Friday (6 p.m., B1G+).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grein, Lyndsey (10-3)
L: Hailey McLean (3-4)
Batting:
2B: Hannah Di Genova 1
3B: Madison Clark 1
HR: Hannah Di Genova 1 ; Bailie Clark 1
RBI: Hannah Di Genova 2 ; Bailie Clark 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rylie Haith 1 ; Hannah Di Genova 1 ; Bailie Clark 1
Batting:
2B: Jones, Kaylynn 1 ; Ho, Taryn 1
RBI: Jones, Kaylynn 1 ; Butler, Elon 1 ; McCoy, Rylee 2 ; Ma'ake, Stefini 1 ; Cox, Emma 1 ; Flannery, Katie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shaw, Ayanna 1 ; Jones, Kaylynn 1 ; Butler, Elon 2 ; Harper, Amari 1 ; McCoy, Rylee 1 ; Ho, Taryn 1
SB: Shaw, Ayanna 2 ; Jones, Kaylynn 1 ; Butler, Elon 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballRylee McCoy | Postgame - JSS Classic (Day 3)
Monday, March 09
Melyssa Lombardi | Postgame - JSS Classic (Day 3)
Monday, March 09
Lyndsey Grein | Postgame - JSS Classic (Day 3)
Monday, March 09
Amari Harper | Postgame - JSS Classic (Day 2)
Sunday, March 08
