Oregon softball HC Melyssa Lombardi and nine Ducks receive honors from Big Ten

Although the No. 7 Oregon Ducks' conference season ended earlier than expected in the Big Ten Softball Tournament, head coach Melyssa Lombardi's team put together a fantastic first campaign to capture the regular season title. Lombardi was named the 2025 Big Ten Coach of the Year for her efforts, along with a slew of other Ducks who were honored by the conference's end-of-season awards.

Lombardi was named the 2017 NFCA Assistant Coach of the Year while at her alma mater, Oklahoma, but this season's honor is her first as a head coach. The award is the fifth in program history after Teresa Wilson was the 1989 Pac-10 Coach of the Year and Mike White was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year three times.

This season, Lombardi led her Ducks to a conference-best 19 regular-season wins behind one of the signatures of the former backstop's success: strong pitching. Oregon led the Big Ten with a sparkling 2.27 ERA this year while holding its opponents to a batting average below the Mendoza line.

Alongside Lombardi, the Ducks had nine players receive postseason honors from the conference. Oregon led all teams, with five players selected for the All-Big Ten First Team, while two more Ducks were selected for the second team. Additionally, three Ducks were named to the All-Defensive team, the most of any school and a testament to the pride that Lombardi's team takes on that side of the ball. The Ducks led the conference with a .982 fielding percentage.

Junior righty Lyndsey Grein was one of three pitchers selected to the All-Big Ten First Team, alongside the conference's Player of the Year, Nebraska's Jordy Bahl, and UCLA's Taylor Tinsley. Grein was a unanimous first-team selection, leading the conference with 26 wins and joining Bahl as the only two players to post an ERA under 2.00 while holding their opponents to a sub-.200 batting average.

Senior outfielder Kai Luschar was named to her second straight all-conference first team after receiving the honor last season in the Pac-12. But this year, she was joined by her sister Kedre in the outfield, whose .500 batting average in Big Ten play led the conference. Kai leads the nation with 54 steals this season, and with 102 in her career, sits one away from the Oregon program record. Kedre was also named to the Big Ten's All-Defensive Team for her excellent work as the Ducks' center fielder this season.

Joining Kedre Luschar on both the All-Big Ten First Team and All-Defensive Team were senior shortstop Paige Sinicki and freshman first baseman Rylee McCoy. Sinicki was the Pac-12'sDefensive Player of the Year last season but has taken her offensive game to another level, setting career bests across the board this year. McCoy was ranked as the No. 2 first baseman in her class and dominated in her first year, setting Oregon's program record for homers by a freshman with 17 while recording just one error all season on defense. McCoy was also named to the All-Freshman team alongside a pair of her teammates.

Designated hitter Stefini Ma'ake finished second on the Ducks with 14 homers, including one over 300 feet back in February. Second baseman Kaylynn Jones was an on-base machine at the bottom of Oregon's lineup all season, hitting .312 with a .404 OBP while swiping 16 bags in 17 attempts.

Additionally, Jones was one of two Ducks selected to the All-Big Ten Second Team, alongside redshirt-junior pitcher Elise Sokolsky, bringing Oregon's total to seven across the two squads, the most of any team in the conference. While Grein's 1.93 ERA may have outpaced Sokolsky across the entire season, Sokolsky's 2.07 mark in conference play trailed only Bahl among Big Ten pitchers.

The final Duck to receive conference honors was senior catcher Abby Mulvey, who received the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Oregon was eliminated from the conference tournament and will now await the results of Sunday's NCAA Tournament selection show, which airs at 4 PM on ESPN2.