Oregon softball begins season with dominant performance at UNLV Desert Classic

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — While the weather may not feel like it in Eugene, the first signs of spring are upon us as Oregon softball kicked off its season this weekend at the UNLV Desert Classic.

The No. 23 Ducks will be playing their first season in the Big Ten — a conference known for its cold weather — but enjoyed an early-season escape to the desert sunshine, coming away from their first weekend of competition a perfect 5-0 behind a record-setting offensive explosion.

Game 1: Oregon 21, Buffalo 1

Oregon's offense was clicking from the jump as the Ducks scored six runs in three different innings en route to a 20-run mercy-rule win in the season's first game. With strong winds blowing out to left field on Friday morning, the Ducks took full advantage, belting four home runs that way in a dominant offensive explosion.

Oregon's success came just as head coach Melyssa Lombardi had planned, from a combination of new faces and veteran leaders. Left fielder Kai Luschar — one of the 53 players named to USA Softball's Player of the Year Watchlist — picked up right where she left off last season, walking on four pitches to lead off the game and stealing second to give the Ducks an early runner in scoring position. She would come around to score along with first baseman Dezianna Patmon three batters later when freshman Stefini Ma'ake laced a double through the left side of the infield in her first college plate appearance.

Ma'ake, who grew up in San Diego, led the region in batting average, RBIs, and home runs during her senior year of high school last spring. She got a chance to show off that power in her next plate appearance, clubbing a three-run homer that extended Oregon's lead to nine runs in just the second inning. Needless to say, Ma'ake's debut went pretty well, as in three plate appearances, she racked up a double, a home run, a walk, and five RBIs to tie for the team lead.

"I was just trying to hit the ball to the wall," Ma'ake said. "It being a double and home run really means a lot. Being a freshman in the lineup is a lot of pressure but being able to have five RBIs is amazing."

Matching her with five runs driven in was right fielder Kedre Luschar, who quickly turned the game into a blowout with a first-inning grand slam — the first home run of her college career.

Although partially assisted by the wind, Luschar demonstrated a new level of opposite field power with her long ball. Ahead of the tournament this weekend, both her sister Kai and her coach Lombardi noted the work that Luschar put in the weight room during the offseason, with Lombardi calling her "one of our strongest athletes."

Another young player who made an immediate impact on Friday was Rylee McCoy, one of the Ducks' most coveted prospects in this year's high school class. McCoy was ranked as the No. 2 first baseman in the country by Extra Inning Softball and quickly proved that placement was well deserved when she pinch hit for Patmon, driving home a run with a single up the middle in her first plate appearance and crushing a two-run homer in her second.

Virginia Tech transfer Lyndsey Grein got the win in her Duck debut, allowing just a single run on three hits and three walks while striking out four in 3 ⅓ innings. She was relieved by Staci Chambers in the fourth inning, who struck out four batters while finishing the last 1 ⅔ innings to secure the first win of the season.

Game 2: Oregon 18, Southern Utah 6

The hit parade continued into Oregon's second game of Friday's doubleheader, as the Ducks actually racked up more base knocks (18) than they did in that morning's 20-run outburst (15). Oregon totaled 39 runs between Friday's games, the most in any two-game span in program history.

Despite the lopsided final score, the Ducks actually had to come from behind in this one after starter Elise Sokolsky surrendered four runs while recording just two outs, not making it out of the first inning for the first time in her Oregon career. She was relieved by Chambers, who picked up right where she left off in the first game, fanning nine batters in 3 ⅔ innings while allowing only two hits, two walks, and two runs.

Oregon's offense had a slow build in Friday's second game, going scoreless in the first inning, adding a pair of runs on back-to-back homers by catcher Emma Cox and shortstop Paige Sinicki in the second, before exploding with seven runs in the third to take a lead they wouldn't surrender.

What made the third inning even more impressive was that it came with just a single extra-base hit, as Ma'ake drove in Patmon for the first run of the inning on a double to the centerfield wall.

The Ducks simply passed the bat to the bat to whoever was next up, with Cox driving home Ma'ake and then scoring on Kedre Luschar's bunt after moving over to third on a Sinicki single.

Second baseman Katie Flannery scored Sinicki on a single to center before McCoy walked to load the bases. With ducks on the pond, the run machine kept churning as a walk, a single, and another walk resulted in three more runs and a four-run lead by the time the inning was over.

Cox was the true star of the show on Friday afternoon, as she followed up her two-hit performance against Buffalo with a monster game against Southern Utah. After crushing her first homer and knocking home a run with a single in her first two plate appearances, Cox added another homer in the fourth — this time the opposite way — and another RBI single in the fifth.

"I'm just trying to stay the course and stay focused on my process," Cox said. "Whatever happens happens, good or bad, but we're just focused on the things we can control."

Sinicki continued to add to Oregon's lead later in that frame, launching a grand slam for her second home run of the day. Along with Cox, she was the driving force for the Ducks' offense in their victory, as the pair combined to go 7-for-8 with four homers and nine RBIs between them.

"I didn't even know there was bases loaded," the native Nevadan said. "Coming around home plate, it was cool to just see the fans and my family. It means a lot being back home and just back to my roots where everything started."

Game 3: Oregon 16, Southern Utah 2

The Ducks continued to break records after another offensive onslaught on Saturday, with 18 runs bringing their total to 55 through the first three games of the season, shattering the school record for a three-game span by 10 runs.

The momentum they found after the first inning of their first game against Southern Utah carried right over to the second, as once again the Ducks jumped all over their opponent with six runs to begin the game. Just as she had done in Oregon's first two games, Kai Luschar quickly put herself in scoring position with a single and a swipe, coming home on an error after Patmon put the ball in play.

Cox and Sinicki picked up where they left off on Friday, smacking back-to-back doubles to drive home three more runs before Sinicki scored on an error, and freshman Kaylynn Jones drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Ayanna Shaw.

Grein struggled with her command at times, issuing four free passes, but continued to show how unhittable her stuff can be, only getting tagged twice for a single run while punching out four en route to her second win in as many starts this season. She was relieved by Sokolsky in the fifth, who allowed a run on a hit and a walk in a nice bounce-back from Friday's start.

After scoring two more runs on an error in the top of the third, Oregon extended its lead to double-digits thanks to RBI singles by Jones and Ma'ake before Flannery drove home two of her own with a single in the fourth. Flannery continued her excellent day at the plate the next inning with a three-run single, bringing her total to six runs driven in. She came home to score the Ducks' 16th run of the game when Jones doubled to center for her first collegiate extra base hit.

Game 4: Oregon 10, UNLV 6

The Ducks were finally forced to play a full seven innings of softball in their fourth game of the season, but still scored double-digit runs for the fourth consecutive game. Oregon jumped out to an 8-0 lead after four-and-a-half innings, looking like it was well on its way to a fourth straight mercy-rule win before UNLV battled back with a five-run bottom of the fifth to keep things interesting.

Just as she did in the Ducks' first three games, Kai Luschar reached base to lead things off —this time with a bunt single — before stealing second and coming home to score on a Jones single that put Oregon ahead early.

Jones then knocked home another run with a single in the second inning. Extra Inning Softball's No. 6 recruit in the class of 2024 finished her first weekend of college softball hitting .368 with a .458 on-base percentage and nine RBIs.

In the fifth, Patmon clubbed her first home run as a Duck to put Oregon up six. Patmon went deep 15 times last year at New Mexico State, only one behind Ariel Carlson's team-leading pace for the Ducks a season ago.

Chambers got the nod in the circle and cruised through her first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. She walked the leadoff batter before quickly picking up strikeouts nine and 10 but then began to lose control, walking the next two up to load the bases. A single up the middle and a deep drive to left-center later and Oregon's lead had been cut to three, with Grein entering to relieve Chambers.

A Shaw triple and Jones RBI groundout gave Grein two insurance runs in the seventh, and she would close the game out from there, striking out four while allowing just a single unearned run to lock down her first save of the season.

Game 5: Oregon 8, Buffalo 1

Oregon's offense was held to single digits for the first time in its fifth game of the year, as the

Ducks cruised to an 8-1 victory to close out the weekend with a perfect record. Oregon once again struck first as you guessed it, Kai Luschar reached base on a four-pitch walk to lead off the game, stole second, and scored on Ma'ake's eighth RBI of the weekend. Ma'ake later added a no-doubt two-run bomb in the third, bringing her RBI total up to 10 through her first five collegiate games.

Sokolsky looked fully recovered from her rough season debut on Friday, allowing one run on a hit and two walks while striking out five in the process. She was relieved by Grein after surrendering a leadoff walk in the fourth, with Grein striking out a pair to finish the scoreless frame.

The Ducks added four more insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, scoring on an RBI double by Luschar, a wild pitch, and a pair of errors by Buffalo's defense.

Grein allowed a single to lead off the seventh, and after a groundout and a wild pitch found herself with a runner on third and only one out. Lombardi came out to check on Grein after the wild pitch as she looked to be dealing with something on her throwing hand. After a couple of warmup pitches to reset, she picked up her fifth strikeout of the game before hitting the next batter. Freshman Rowan Thompson entered to make her Duck debut and picked up the final out on a grounder to her Gold Glove shortstop Sinicki, securing the win and a perfect start to the season for Oregon.

The tournament schedule continues next weekend as the Ducks head to Tempe, Arizona for the Littlewood Classic. Oregon kicks things off against the hosting Arizona State Sun Devils — a former Pac-12 foe — at 5 PM on Thursday before taking on North Dakota and Weber State for Friday's doubleheader, Utah Valley and Grand Canyon for Saturday's, and closing out the weekend with Belmont at 8 AM on Sunday.