A good weekend for UO softball; Ducks basketball shifts to postseason

Lyndsey Grein was tired.

Later, Oregon softball coach Melyssa Lombardi would concede she probably should have already lifted her starter from the circle. But the Ducks were two outs away from stamping home their fourth win of the weekend, and Grein was in the thick of trying to secure her second complete game of the season.

And even though Grein had already pitched 20 innings since Wednesday, the senior from Mokena, Ill., couldn’t help but smile in the circle as a Nevada pinch-hitter fouled off pitch after pitch before the Oregon ace finally pulled the string with a change-up to complete the nine-pitch strikeout.

The problem for Grein was that the strikeout was only the second out of the inning. On Grein’s next pitch, Nevada’s Bailie Clark swung out of her shoes and connected for a solo shot.

It was 7-3 Oregon. Lombardi came out to get her ace, and Grein watched from the top step of the Oregon dugout as freshman Maddie Milhorn got the next batter to line out to secure the win.

“That’s the part I love about softball,” Grein said of the zoomed-in perspective of her final two batters. “I think if it were easy, everybody would do it. The challenging moments definitely make it entertaining.”

That was the weekend in a nutshell for the Ducks.

Competing in their final five games during the Jane Sanders Classic before beginning Big Ten play this week against Penn State, the Ducks constantly battled.

They came from behind in both of their wins on Friday against Oregon State and Sacramento State. After falling to Nevada in their first game on Saturday, Milhorn responded in the nightcap by scattering a pair of hits over six innings in a 2-1 win over Sacramento State.

And in the Sunday rematch with the Wolf Pack, the Ducks shook off a bizarre two-run home run in the top of the first — Hannah Di Genova’s fly ball bounced off center fielder Ayanna Shaw’s glove and over the wall — to plate five runs in the bottom of the inning while sending 11 batters to the plate.

“Just really set the tone from the start,” Lombardi said. “One thing we’re doing is, if we give up something, we’re coming right back and matching it.”

With Oregon’s talent in the circle, the Ducks aren’t often relinquishing control of a game once they’ve seized it.

Grein, a 2025 first-team All-American, has been dominant in 2026. Sunday’s win improved her record to 10-3 in a season that’s seen her cut down on walks and increase her strikeout rate while limiting opponents to a .162 batting average.

Her off-speed pitches were especially effective on Sunday, which made the chances of Nevada catching up to Milhorn in relief minimal.

The 5-foot-11 freshman from Vancouver, Wash., has struck out 23 batters in 17.2 innings this season, largely thanks to a right arm that touches 72 mph.

“She absolutely has a cannon attached to her body and just throws straight gas,” Grein said. “I think she’s just revealing who she is. She took a couple of games to settle in, which everyone does, and now she’s gotten comfortable and been able to show what she can do.”

The timing is perfect for the Ducks. After a challenging nonconference slate that saw Oregon post 18 wins and 7 losses, the No. 18-ranked Ducks now begin their second season of Big Ten play after claiming last year’s regular-season crown.

“Now it’s about us defending our title and getting into Big Ten play,” Lombardi said. “I think this group has a really good understanding of who they are and what we’re capable of. So now, to get just one opponent and one game a day and to put everything you’ve got into that, I think it’s going to be really good for us.”

Oregon men begin Big Ten title run with Maryland

For those who tuned out: The Oregon men beat Washington 85-79 on Saturday to close out the regular season.

What that scoreline doesn’t tell you is that Oregon trailed by 3 points with 11 seconds left in the game.

It doesn’t tell you that Kwame Evans Jr. scored 9 points in those final 11 seconds.

It doesn’t tell you that Oregon had to regroup after squandering a 21-point lead in the first half, or that Washington’s coach got ejected, or that the frantic final minute nearly did in UO’s own 67-year-old coach.

“There are quicker ways to kill me, if the guys really want to do that,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “I know that.”

In his final game at Matthew Knight Arena, Nate Bittle had 15 points, seven rebounds and blocked the 175th shot of his career. Evans, somehow, finished with a team-high 20 points — including hitting 11 of his 13 shots from the line.

“It was a tough year for us,” Evans said. “Winning the last game was a good feeling.”

It’s not quite the last game, though. Oregon begins its run in the men’s Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday and, despite a 5-15 mark in conference play, has a favorable matchup with Maryland. The 16th-seeded Ducks downed the 17th-seeded Terrapins in January on the road, limiting Maryland to just 27.7 percent shooting in a 64-54 win.

Now, can the Ducks win the six required games in six days to claim the Big Ten title and sneak into the NCAA Tournament? It would be some miracle.

Then again, those last nine seconds on Saturday were a minor one on their own.

“It’s just been a great, great ride here. My last home game,” Bittle said. “I couldn’t thank (Evans) enough for doing that.”

Women awaiting Selection Sunday

The Oregon women did not win their Big Ten Tournament.

But thanks to steady play throughout the regular season, it shouldn’t be required for Kelly Graves’ squad to have a memorable Selection Sunday.

Following Oregon’s quarterfinal loss to Michigan last week, the Ducks still find themselves in the thick of most bracketologists’ projections. USA Today has Oregon as a six seed, while CBS and ESPN have Oregon as a seven.

It would be Oregon’s second consecutive trip to March Madness — and one that could really pay dividends for a team led by dynamic and still-learning sophomores Katie Fiso and Ehis Etute.

“I’m really proud of our team, especially these two,” Graves said after Oregon’s Big Ten loss to Michigan. “I think they showed so well. We’re going to use this as an opportunity to now move on to the next tournament and hopefully have a nice run as well.”