No. 6 Oregon softball bounces back with demolition of No. 5 UCLA to take Big Ten lead

EUGENE, Ore. — It's not often that moments like this come around. The No. 6 Oregon Ducks and No. 5 UCLA Bruins entered the weekend tied atop the Big Ten standings, and after they split the first two games of the series, it meant that Sunday's rubber match would place the winner in pole position in the race for the regular season conference title. 

With her team leading 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman second baseman Kaylynn Jones had the chance to do something special for the Ducks with a pair of runners on base. Ahead 2-1 in the count, she put everything into her swing, crushing the pitch from Addisen Fisher over the right field wall for the first home run of her collegiate career. The three-run shot powered her team to a 9-0 victory over the Bruins in front of a raucous home crowd at Jane Sanders Stadium.

"It was great," Jones said of the feeling after her first home run as a Duck. "I was just trying to focus on sac flies, trying to score runners, and just to have that feeling of hitting it out felt great."

Sunday's game gave Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi her first series victory over UCLA, as the Ducks last took two out of three from the Bruins back in 2018 — the final year of Mike White's tenure at the helm. Nine runs are the most the Ducks (41-5, 14-2) have scored against the Bruins since 2017, and the win was their first via run-rule against UCLA since 2015. 

"This series right here is why I coach," Lombardi said.

For the third day in a row, Duck starter Lyndsey Grein dotted the corner to retire Jessica Clements looking to lead off the game. 

"She always sets the tone," Jones said of Grein.

After she worked through the inning with another strikeout, UCLA starter Kaitlyn Terry hit Kai Luschar with her first pitch of the game, the first time the Ducks put their leadoff hitter on base in the series. A wild pitch allowed Luschar to take second, and after battling to a full count, Rylee McCoy came through with a single to left to plate Luschar for the first run of the game.

With a lefty in the circle for the Bruins (41-1, 13-3), Lombardi swapped McCoy, a righty, and Kedre Luschar, a lefty, in the lineup in an attempt to gain a better platoon advantage. Her strategy paid off perfectly in the first inning, as with a runner on second, McCoy was able to attack the 3-2 pitch, pulling it to find open grass in left field for a single.

McCoy took second and third on a wild pitch, and Kedre Luschar groundout before Paige Sinicki hit a chopper that Bruin shortstop Kinaya Bragg couldn't handle, allowing McCoy to score and make it 2-0 Ducks.

Grein put a runner on in each of the next two innings, but was able to work out of it cleanly both times, picking up her 400th career strikeout to end the third. Kai Luschar walked on four pitches to lead off the bottom of the third, and that would be all for Terry as Fisher — who dominated the Ducks for six shutout innings of three-hit ball on Saturday — entered in relief.

After McCoy flew out to center, Kedre Luschar attacked Fisher's 1-1 pitch, scorching it over the head of Clements in left-center as she raced to third and her sister raced home. Cox would follow by grounding to third, leaving Luschar in a pickle as she led off the base. But luckily for the Ducks, Bruin catcher Sofia Mujica missed her throw to third, allowing Luschar to score as the ball rolled into the outfield.

"This is huge," Luschar said of the Ducks' win. "I think we just all wanted it so much, and we all worked together, every single person. We just were hungry for it."

Now trailing by four runs, UCLA was finally able to put multiple runners on base against Grein in the top of the fourth. A one-out single by Jordan Woolery and a walk to Megan Grant put runners on first and second for Bragg. She scorched a line drive straight into the glove of a diving Sinicki, who secured the catch before tossing over to second to double up Woolery and escape the inning.

"Our defense and Paige [Sinicki], they're just outstanding," Grein said. "I think if you guys could see the work that goes into their performance, when it comes to gametime, they're just showcasing what they can do. They're absolutely outstanding. They make it less stressful to throw, they make it easy, and they do an amazing job supporting me."

Building on that momentum, Ayanna Shaw and Katie Flannery led off the bottom of the frame with a single and a walk to put two on with no outs. After getting ahead in the count 2-1, Jones got her "A" swing off, driving her first career homer over the fence in right-center to extend the Oregon lead to seven.

"She might have been a little more surprised than me, but I'm not," Lombardi said of Jones. "K-Dub hits the ball hard, she's very, very strong. Sometimes you get one and then you go, 'Oh, I can do that,' and then all of a sudden they start to come a little bit more, but no, she's got good power."

Kai Luschar walked again on four pitches when the lineup flipped back over. The Bruins made another pitching change, bringing in Taylor Tinsley to face McCoy, who homered off of her to break open Friday night's win. McCoy kept it going with a double into the right-center gap to bring home Luschar. Kedre Luschar followed with a single through the right side to plate McCoy's pinch runner, Regan Legg, making it 9-0 Ducks before a single out had even been recorded in the fourth inning.

By the time the Bruins finally made it out of the fourth, Oregon had brought the mercy rule into play with a nine-run lead. Grein returned to the circle, only needing three more outs for her nation-leading 25th win of the season. With one down, Bruin designated player Alexis Ramirez doubled to give UCLA a runner on second. But two pitches later, a fly ball to Kedre Luschar and a rocket throw to third to catch a tagging Ramirez would end things as the Jane Sanders Stadium crowd exploded.

"That's the scary part about the Ducks," Grein said. "There's no ceiling for us."

Now sitting atop the Big Ten standings, the Ducks will hit the road next weekend for their final conference series away from the Jane. Oregon will visit the Indiana Hoosiers (29-13, 13-3) for three games from Friday to Saturday before taking on Notre Dame (21-26-1, 7-14 ACC) for a one-off on Monday. The Ducks will then return home to close out the regular season, wrapping up their conference schedule with three games against the Michigan State Spartans (14-25, 4-12) from May 2-4.