EUGENE – Turns out the Oregon Ducks are pretty salty in the role of a postseason frontrunner, too.
Following a regional tournament where the Ducks won after having their backs repeatedly stuck to the wall, Oregon ran Liberty out of Jane Sanders Stadium on Saturday to win the Eugene Super Regional.
It was the latest set of lessons the Ducks learned during a season that, outside the program, had low expectations for 2025. Saturday’s 13-1 win over the Flames was Oregon at its best – pitcher Lyndsey Grein on fire, and an offense that mixed power and speed to keep Liberty on its heels for seven innings.
Oregon (53-8) is headed to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2018 because it successfully battled adversity early this postseason, then turned on Liberty in a big way during the super regionals.
After losing their Big Ten conference tournament opener, losing to Stanford 14-1 in the regional semifinals, then trailing the Cardinal twice by four-run margins in the championship game, the Ducks found something.
It didn’t emerge immediately. Oregon had to battle eight innings to beat Liberty 3-2 in the super regional opener. But Saturday? That was a tour de force where the Ducks didn’t let up until overwhelming the Flames with a seven-run seventh inning.
In a nutshell, Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said wins come in many forms, something it took a while for the Ducks to understand.
“Sometimes you think how you have to win has to look a certain way, and then when it didn’t, it would affect us,” Lombardi said. “We started to understand that that it doesn’t have to look a certain way. It’s just that you believe and you celebrate and you stay in each moment, and that at the end of the day you’re going to find a way.”
How did Saturday’s win look to Lombardi?
“Pretty good,” she said.
Particularly at the end, when Grein recorded her 10th strikeout of the game, finishing off Liberty. The Ducks mobbed Grein, eventually pulling her to the ground for a celebratory dog pile.
While it’s not surprising Grein was one of Saturday’s stars, there was reason for doubt. She didn’t make it out of the third inning Friday, giving up three walks and two hits to 10 batters before Lombardi made a pitching change. It had been more than a month since Grein (29-2) was truly dominant.
For a few moments, it didn’t look like Saturday was going to be Grein’s day, either. She gave up a homer to leadoff hitter Savannah Woodard, followed by a single to Rachel Roupe. Yet there would be no early hook. Grein struck out the next three Liberty hitters to calm the Ducks’ nerves. She never let up, retiring 19 consecutive hitters before giving a fluke infield single in the seventh.
“I looked around at my teammates and I was like, there’s no way I’m going to let that happen again,” Grein said. “They don’t need that. So I just decided to step up and do whatever I had to do.”
Grein watching Oregon’s bullpen come up with a bail out Friday allowed her to be “free to pitch. On top of that, you add an outstanding defense and outstanding offense, my job is really the easy part.”
Grein threw 55 pitches to 10 hitters Friday as Liberty worked the junior pitcher deep into counts. Grein was in command Saturday, as 71 of her 98 pitches were strikes.
“They knew the holes in our swings. I think she was hitting those spots and being effective. She’s a great pitcher, so when she’s on, she’s on,” Liberty right fielder Rachel Roupe said.
Saturday was the culmination of a seven-year process. The Ducks were WCWS regulars a decade ago, making five trips to Oklahoma City from 2012-18. Since Lombardi took over, the closest Oregon came to a World Series was 2023, when Oklahoma State swept the Ducks in a super regional.
Paige Sinicki, Kai Luschar and Kedre Luschar are seniors who have been involved in Oregon’s bid to return to the WCWS the past four years.
“It’s just starting to feel real. We’ve been working for this for so long,” said Sinicki, who had a homer and a triple and drove in four runs against Liberty.
Oregon, the No. 16 seed heading into the NCAA regionals, won’t be the WCWS favorite. There’s traditional power Oklahoma, and Texas with former Ducks coach Mike White, and others that will be in the spotlight.
Lombardi, who has previously been to 12 World Series while coaching at Oklahoma, said most of the work has been done.
“The hardest thing about the World Series,” said Lombardi, “is getting there.”
Nick Daschel | [email protected] | @nickdaschel | @nickdaschel.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.