Thrilling Win Gives Oregon Hosting Honors for Super Regionals

Via Rob Moseley/Oregon Communications

EUGENE, Ore. — Booted from the driver’s seat of the Eugene Regional with a loss the day before, Oregon softball regained the wheel Sunday and piloted itself all the way to Super Regionals.

Jane Sanders Stadium will host the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament this upcoming week, after the Ducks (51-8) won their regional Sunday by beating Stanford twice, 15-5 and 10-7 — capping the night with a regional-clinching, walk-off home run by senior transfer Dezianna Patmon. Oregon will host Liberty in Super Regionals beginning Friday, after the Flames knocked off tournament overall No. 1 seed Texas A&M.

Oregon had to come from behind in multiple ways Sunday. The Ducks needed to win twice, while Stanford only needed one win to clinch the regional after beating the Ducks on Saturday to take over “the driver’s seat” in Eugene. And in Sunday’s deciding game, Oregon had to dig out of a 7-3 hole entering the bottom of the third.

“These guys were on a mission to get what they want,” said UO coach Melyssa Lombardi, whose program will play a Super Regional at The Jane for the first time since 2018. “To watch them come together as a team and compete on every pitch was amazing. This to me is the last little piece I’ve been waiting for from this team. They needed to know that whether we’re up, we’re down, it doesn’t matter — that they can get what they want. They did that today.”

The Ducks run-ruled the Cardinal in the opener, with seniors Kai Luschar, Kedre Luschar and Paige Sinicki combining to go 7-for-9 with seven RBIs and eight runs, freshman Rylee McCoy tying the UO single-season record with her 19th homer — before suffering a scary injury in game two — and Elise Sokolsky throwing three scoreless innings of relief. The nightcap saw senior transfer Staci Chambers throw 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, while Patmon tripled and scored the tying run in the sixth before ending the regional with a three-run homer in the seventh.

The Jane was electric as Oregon scored in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game, in support of the shutdown relief effort from Chambers. And the venue exploded into ecstasy when Patmon’s homer in the seventh flew out to left-center field.

“This is why you come to Oregon, right? To have big moments like this,” Patmon said. “I wasn’t hanging up the cleats today. We talked about that as seniors — we were not done.”

How It Happened (Game 1): Playing as the designated visitors to open the day, Oregon shot out of the starting blocks. Kai Lushcar was hit by a pitch before McCoy and Stefini Ma’ake walked to load the bases with one out. Sinicki then walked as well to force in a run, and Patmon beat out a two-out infield single to plate McCoy and make it 2-0.

The Cardinal tied it in the bottom half against UO starter Lyndsey Grein (28-2), but the Ducks had her back in the second. Katie Flannery walked and Kai Luschar singled to open the inning, Kedre Luschar doubled home Flannery and McCoy followed with a three-run homer. Ma’ake then reached second on a hit and an error, was bunted to third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Emma Cox for a 7-2 lead.

A solo homer got Stanford within 7-3 in the bottom of the second, and the Cardinal scored twice more in the fourth. But the Ducks plated five runs in the fifth, on a three-run homer by Kedre Luschar, an RBI triple by Sinicki and a wild pitch that brought the senior shortstop home.

Oregon then scored three more times in the sixth, and Sokolsky pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning to clinch the run-rule win with her fifth save.

How It Happened (Game 2): Oregon’s resiliency would be tested much more in the nightcap, and in multiple ways. Stanford loaded the bases with two out in the first before the UO catcher Cox was unable to glove a foul pop-up for the third out; the at-bat thus extended, the Cardinal hit a grand slam for a 4-0 lead.

Then, in the second, a two-out single struck McCoy in the face at first base, knocking her out of the game. Lombardi said postgame that “Rylee’s in a good spot,” though didn’t have other details available.

The Ducks were down. And they were wounded. But they were not defeated.

“Rylee’s one of my best friends in the entire world,” said Cox, who already was having to process the dropped foul ball. “When she got hurt it definitely was very emotional. But I’ve never seen a team come together more than we did in that moment.”

Cox got things started herself in the bottom of the second, walking to lead off the inning. Patmon also then walked, and two batters later Flannery blasted a three-run homer to make it 4-3.

The Cardinal homered again in the third, a three-run shot. That brought Chambers out of the bullpen, and she kept the Cardinal scoreless until handing the ball to Sokolsky for the final out in the top of the seventh.

“I was just trying to put the team in a spot for us to win the game,” said Chambers, who allowed two hits and a walk across 4 1/3 innings. “Everything was about just slowing it down; the game was high energy and high intensity, and I needed to do the opposite.”

Cox, looking for redemption after her early error and to pick up her injured teammate and friend McCoy, came through in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer to score Sinicki. The Ducks were within 7-5 at that point.

In the bottom of the fifth, Kedre Luschar reached on a dropped third strike, stole second, took third on a single by Ayanna Shaw and scored on a wild pitch. Then, in the sixth, Patmon led off with a triple and tied the game at 7-7 when she scored on a two-out infield single by Kai Luschar.

Both runs were followed by sparkling defensive plays by Oregon. In the top of the sixth, Sinicki ranged deep into the hole à la her childhood idol Derek Jeter and threw out a runner for the first out. And the first out of the top of the seventh saw Shaw range deep into the gap in right-center to track down a fly ball.

“We’ve been talking all year about how defense wins championships,” Lombardi said. “There you go.”

That set the stage for the bottom of the seventh, with the game tied, 7-7. Sinicki singled with one out and stole second, taking third on an error. After Cox was intentionally walked, Patmon blasted the first pitch she saw for a walk-off homer that sent Oregon to Super Regionals, and sent fans in The Jane charging the field to celebrate.

“It means everything,” Patmon said. “We were competing to play at The Jane again. We have the best stadium, and I stand on that.”

Notable: The Ducks set season records for runs (466) and RBIs (415) with Sunday’s production. … McCoy tied the UO single-season home record held by Ann Marie Topps (2007). … Kai Luschar’s stolen base in game one was her 58th of the season, one shy of the Big Ten record held by Washington’s Angie Marzetta (1993).

Up Next: The Ducks open Super Regionals against Liberty on Friday (7 p.m., ESPNU).