Oregon blows out Liberty, advances to Women’s College World Series

A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the Liberty University player from Coburg, Oregon. Paige Doerr graduated from Marist Catholic High School.

Oregon softball’s seven-year Women’s College World Series itch has been officially scratched, and then some, thanks to the Ducks scratching Liberty from the NCAA Tournament Saturday at Jane Sanders Stadium in a 13-1 rout to win the best-of-three NCAA Super Regional two games to none.

Oregon used excellent pitching from their ace, senior transfer Lyndsey Grein — who pitched all seven innings with 10 strikeouts and gave up just three hits — along with 14 hits against four Liberty pitchers.

Senior shortstop Paige Sinicki was 3-for-5 at the plate, including a home run and a triple. Freshman catcher Emma Cox blasted a three-run homer to make it 6-1 in the fifth inning before the entire team went on a seventh-inning tear, adding seven more runs.

“Our seniors just totally took over today,” said head coach Melyssa Lombardi, who is taking the Ducks to a first WCWS since 2018. It’s also the first since she arrived in Eugene in 2019 after helping take Oklahoma to three national championships in 2013, 2016 and 2017 as the Sooners’ associate head coach. 

“And they led this group all the way, but what’s been cool is all year we’ve had different people lead and not have to depend on just a couple,” Lombardi said. “I just can’t say how proud I am of them and so excited that we get to go to Oklahoma City.”

The 16-seeded Ducks will play Thursday against the winner of Sunday’s elimination game between No. 8 South Carolina and No. 9 UCLA. The Bruins tied that series 1-1 Saturday by scoring four runs in the seventh inning to win 5-4. 

No. 12 Texas Tech has also advanced to Bracket 1 and will play the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 4 Arkansas and Mississippi in that side of the bracket. 

“The fans were amazing all weekend,” Sinicki said. “Having it at the Jane was awesome and electric. We couldn’t have done it without them. They kept us in all of these ball games. Super-thankful for the fans and so glad we got to celebrate with all of them today as we go to the World Series.”

Lombardi said the journey back to the WCWS has been long but filled with so much team building and joy.

“It means so much, because I think of all of the other versions before version seven,” she said of her seven seasons coaching Oregon. “That pushed hard for us to get to where we needed to. This would not be possible without any of the other versions.”

The game was emotional on several fronts, but perhaps never more so than when freshman phenom Rylee McCoy, the Ducks’ leading home-run hitter with 19, returned to the lineup as the designated player six days after being hit in the face by a line drive against Stanford, and received a standing ovation from another standing-room-only crowd of 2,517. 

“It was amazing,” said McCoy, who went 2-for-4 at the plate while Stefani Ma’acke filled in at first base for McCoy for the second straight game. “I don’t ever want to take a game off, so being back and standing in the box and everyone giving me a standing ovation and cheering for me, I got chills, I’m so appreciate of the Duck fans and everyone in the community and all of your thoughts and prayers, I mean, I really feel them. I appreciate this school so much.”

Cox’s dinger was a three-run shot, hit high down the left field line that was just fair, for a 6-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning that scored Sinicki and pinch runner Ayanna Shaw before Cox crossed the plate.

Grein, who also started Friday night but only pitched a couple of innings, talked about adjustments she and the coaching staff made so she could come back and have one of her best outings of the season Saturday, picking up her 29^th win against just two losses.

Having Elise Sokolsky and Staci Chambers pitch so well in relief Friday night, and then such outstanding defense and hitting production Saturday from her teammates was key, said Grein, who transferred to UO from Virginia Tech to be part of this 2025 UO squad.

“My job is really the easy part compared with what these guys do,” Grein said. “And just trusting in my preparation and trusting in coach just made today a lot more freeing to perform.”

One of the three hits Grein gave up was a first-inning home run to the Flames senior second baseman, Savannah Woodward, a high shot to right center that cleared the wall.

“I looked around at my teammates, and there was no way I was going to let that happen again,” Grein said. “They don’t need that, so I just decided to step it up and just do whatever I had to do and just give it my best.”

Liberty’s strategy of slowing down the nation’s leading base stealer, the Ducks’ leadoff hitter Kai Luschar, continued Saturday. After successfully challenging two key plays in Friday night’s opener, in which Luschar appeared to score from third for a 1-0 UO lead, and a later steal of second, Liberty head coach Dot Richardson was at it again on Saturday, right at the start.

Richardson used both of the Liberty’s challenges in the first inning. The first, Luschar’s steal of second for her 59th of the season – which tied the Big Ten record set by Washington’s Angie Marzetta in 1993 – was upheld by the umpires. But the second, after Luschar stole third, was successful and took Luschar off third base for the final out of the inning as the Ducks were threatening to make it 1-0.

However, the latter challenge wasn’t about whether Luschar left the bag early, but whether she was actually safe at third. Replays showed Flames’ 3rd basemen actually tagged Luschar out.

But Ducks fans didn’t like that challenge any more than the others during the two games.

Once again, they flooded the field with thunderous boos, but Richardson seemed to soak it all in, even raising her arms toward the crowd as she came out to discuss the second steal with the umpiring crew.

Richardson said one of the Flames’ seniors, Lilly Heidorn, began noticing Luschar taking her foot off first base Friday night, before attempting a steal.

“She lifts up her foot on the base before she gets momentum to go,” Richardson said of Luschar. “We had a player, actually, on our team that I had to fix that with.”

Richardson said she told the umpires before both games to watch for it, “so I wouldn’t have to waste challenges on those,” she said. “But I ended up having to use those challenges, so it would have been great not to have to use them.”

But it only temporarily slowed the Ducks’ momentum.

Liberty senior Rachel Roupe, the Flames Conference USA player of the year this season, was visibly emotional in the post-game press conference.

“It’s just been so fun,” said Roupe, who played her last college game. “To do things that you dream of as a little girl (and see them) come to life right in front of you, it’s like, ‘Wow, it was worth it.”

The Flames knocked off the tournament’s top seed, No. 1 Texas A&M, last weekend in College Station to advance to their first-ever Super Regional.

It was also worth it for the Ducks, who now have a chance to do something no Oregon softball team has ever done: win a national title.

“There is no ceiling,” Grein said, when asked how far these Ducks can go. “There will never be a ceiling for this group. We can accomplish whatever we put our minds to.”