QuickTake:

A year after turning a conference tournament disappointment into a Women’s College World Series run, the Ducks will host a regional round again, as the No. 14 seed.

Stefini Ma’ake would have preferred to win the Big Ten softball tournament.

The Oregon Ducks had put themselves in position to do so, finishing second in the conference’s regular season and earning a first-round bye.

It didn’t work out. For the second year in a row, Oregon was upset in its opening game, this time being sent home 11-9 by Wisconsin.

It was disappointing. But Ma’ake, a sophomore infielder, also knew it didn’t have to define what came next.

A year ago, Oregon shook off a similar conference tournament defeat and eventually advanced to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2018. Now, as the No. 14 seed in the NCAA softball postseason, the Ducks return to Jane Sanders Stadium, hosting a regional round for the second consecutive year and looking to once again show that a conference tournament stumble doesn’t have to carry over into the heart of May.

“After the game we were just like, you know, we were in the same situation last year and we hosted a regional and super regional,” Ma’ake said. “I think it was just being able to learn from what we had done.

“That Wisconsin game — it kind of hurt us then, but I think we know that it’s time to move on and that we can’t dwell on it because we have bigger things ahead.”

The Ducks earned their hosting spot by going 40-12 overall, 20-4 in Big Ten play and picking up steam as the season progressed.

Coming off last season’s Women’s College World Series appearance, Oregon played a grueling, front-loaded schedule that saw the Ducks take five of their 12 losses in the first 10 games of the year. Since then, they have gone 35-7, a run that included a road series win over UCLA, the No. 8 seed in this year’s postseason.

And until Thursday’s loss to Wisconsin, the Ducks hadn’t lost consecutive games since Feb. 19, a trait that has coach Melyssa Lombardi confident coming into this weekend’s regional.

“I think anytime we don’t get what we want, one thing that we do a really great job of is we debrief as a group and figure it out,” Lombardi said. “What are the things that we did well? What are the things that we need to do better? And what are the solutions moving forward?

“If you look at our group from the beginning of the year to now, we’ve gotten to where we’re at right now because of those debriefs.”

The Ducks have already had one debrief after facing their regional-opening opponent, Idaho State. Of the three teams traveling to Eugene — Saint Mary’s and Mississippi State are the others — the Bengals are the only one Oregon has already played this season. The Ducks won that matchup 4-3 in February, with Elon Butler hitting a walk-off double in the eighth inning.

Idaho State will arrive in Eugene with plenty of momentum. The Bengals won the Big Sky Conference tournament last week, outscoring opponents 41-16 over three games.

And while the Ducks wouldn’t have minded bringing momentum of their own into the weekend, Lombardi said the early exit from the Big Ten tournament gave Oregon something else: time.

“I think about some of the things we need to get figured out, and it gave us an opportunity to do that,” Lombardi said. “I think this group’s in a really good place. I like the power that we have at the plate. I like our pitching, and I really like our defense. So I just think it’s just important for us to play as a team.”

It helps, Ma’ake said, that they know what they’re getting into: an opponent they’ve already seen, a postseason scenario they’ve already lived through and a home setting that has already proven it can matter.

“I experienced it last year and honestly, if I was an opponent, I wouldn’t want to go play at the Jane just because we saw how the Jane was rocking last year,” she said. “I could barely hear the girls on the field.

“I think we got one more gear, and if we shift that this weekend we’ll be in a pretty good spot.”

2026 NCAA Eugene Regional schedule

Friday, May 15
Game 1: Mississippi State vs. Saint Mary’s – 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 2: Oregon vs. Idaho State – 7 p.m. PT (ESPNU)

Saturday, May 16
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner – 2 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser – 4:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser – 7 p.m. 

Sunday, May 17
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner – 4:30 p.m.
Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, if necessary – 7 p.m.

Tyson Alger covered the Ducks for The Oregonian and The Athletic before branching out on his own to create and run The I-5 Corridor. He brings more than a decade of experience on the University of Oregon sports beat. He has covered everything from Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy-winning season to the Ducks’ first year in the Big 10.