Oregon stays alive in Women’s College World Series with win over Ole Miss

It took two games over, technically, three days, but the Oregon softball team got its first Women’s World College Series win in seven years Saturday (yes, very early Saturday) in Oklahoma City.

“Total team effort,” UO head coach Melyssa Lombardi said of the Ducks’ 6-5 walk-off win in 10 innings over Ole Miss in an elimination game that started Friday night and ended four hours later at 12:33 a.m. CT. 

“Can’t say enough about this group,” Lombardi continued. “This group’s a special group. Version 7 is special, and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

Version 7, the name the 54-9 Ducks — who lost their opener, 4-2, to UCLA Thursday — have adopted this postseason as it’s Lombardi’s seventh season since taking over the program in 2019, moves on to play the loser of today’s Oklahoma-Texas game at 4 p.m. PDT, Sunday.

Lombardi said she doesn’t care who the Ducks face Sunday, but there is intrigue with either matchup. Lombardi helped the Sooners win three national titles (2013, 2016 and 2017) as their associate head coach before joining Oregon, and former Ducks’ head coach Mike White (who took Oregon to five WCWS appearances) leads the Longhorns.

After a very strange and error-prone start against Ole Miss (42-21) at Devon Park, and down 1-0 after the top of the first inning, the Ducks quickly found their rhythm.

Senior Dez Patmon ripped a two-run single to left field in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 Oregon lead.

The Rebels tied it 2-2 in the top of the fifth, but the Ducks came back with a three-run bottom half of the inning for a 5-2 lead on the speed of sisters Kai and Kedre Luschar and the power of freshman All-American Rylee McCoy. 

Kai Luschar started Oregon’s half of the inning with a slap shot down the third-base line and raced to second with a sliding double. Kedre Luschar’s bunt allowed Kai to score a program record 65^th run this season after the throw sailed over the Rebels’ first baseman and Kedre sped all the way to third.

McCoy then smacked a shot into the gap in left-center to score Kedre for a 4-2 lead. An RBI single by Kaylynn Jones got past short and into left field to score pinch runner Elyse Kresho for the 5-2 lead.

But Ole Miss was not done, coming back with its own three-run inning in the top of the seventh after the Ducks left three runners on base in the bottom of the sixth.

Lyndsey Grein, who pitched a career-high nine and a third innings, started the game and then later re-entered to finish it and record her 30^th win of the season against just two losses, allowed a couple of hits and a walk in the seventh as the Rebels rallied to tie it 5-5.

With the bases loaded after a single by senior Lair Beautae and a double by senior Aliyah Binford, who also pitched five innings of outstanding relief to keep Ole Miss in it, senior catcher Lexie Brady grounded out. But that allowed sophomore pinch runner, sophomore Tenly Grisham, to score from third on a fielder’s choice to cut UO’s lead to 5-3.

Junior pinch hitter Jamie Mackay, in her first-ever WCWS at-bat, then smashed a shot to left field for a two-out, two-run single that ultimately sent the game into extra innings after Oregon couldn’t score in the bottom of the seventh.

The pressure was on for both teams, neither of which wanted its season to end with two straight losses and be the second team sent home from the double-elimination tourney after Florida, which lost earlier Friday to Tennessee, 11-3.

In fact, the Ducks hadn’t lost two straight games all season, 8-0 coming off a loss this year, outscoring opponents 72-2 in those games. 

But that was now in jeopardy as the Rebels came to bat in the top of the eighth.

But Grein just seemed to get better and stronger on her way to hurling 144 pitches on the night.

“Lyndsey is just a straight-up competitor on the mound,” Lombardi said. “There’s no way she’s coming out of that game. No way. She’s going to finish it.”

Grein struck out seven Rebels, including lead-off hitter Jaden Pone in the top of the eighth, along with forcing two ground-outs.

But Binford also seemed to be throwing better and harder late in the game, striking out both Luschar sisters in the bottom of the eighth and getting McCoy to ground out.

Both teams went three-and-out at the plate in the ninth inning as, for the second straight night for the Ducks, the game went past midnight. 

Grein struck at the first two Ole Miss batters in the top of the 10^th before giving up a single to junior outfielder Taylor Malvin, but then she got Beautae to ground out.

Ducks’ freshman catcher Emma Cox led off the bottom of the 10^th with a tough grounder to short that resulted in no throw, putting the winning run on base. Sophomore Regan Legg came in to pinch run and sophomore third baseman Katie Flannery bunted as Rebels first baseman Mackay came in to field it, then turned to throw to second baseman Mackenzie Pickens. But the throw sailed over Pickens’ head.

Legg advanced to third and Flannery was on second with Stefani Ma’ake at the plate. Ma’ake grounded to Binford on the mound, who challenged Legg’s attempt to score from third, forcing her back to the bag, where Binford was able to throw her out on the tag by senior Angelina DeLeon.

Freshman Presley Lawton came in to pinch run for Flannery on third.

Kai Luschar’s grounder to short was also tough to handle as she beat the throw to load the bases with just one out.

Kedre Luschar came to the plate knowing a hit or a walk could win the game and keep Oregon’s hopes for a first-ever national title alive. (Only three teams — 1983 Texas A&M; 2003 UCLA; 2018 Florida State — have won the WCWS after losing an opening game.)

The count was quickly 2-0 and Kedre Luschar was able to hold on for the walk-off walk as Lawton scored the winning run.

“Ball down the middle is the only thing I’m swinging at,” Kedre said she was thinking. 

And despite it being a walk and not a hit, it still ranks among her top walk-offs ever, she said.

“Might be the top one — it was pretty fun.”