On a night of imperfection in most facets of its game, No. 5 Oregon (33-3, 7-1 Big Ten) found a way to win again anyway.

A ball glanced off Paige Sinicki’s glove? It didn’t matter.

A usually–powerful offense limped through five innings with just two runs and some costly base-running errors. All of those things could have spelled trouble in Oregon’s win over Michigan. 

Instead, spurred by Rylee McCoy’s RBI single, the Ducks mounted a stirring 3-2 win that pushed their record to 33-3, the best of any team in the Big Ten. 

“I just wanted to get it done for them,” McCoy said of her teammates. “Our pitchers got it done all day and the opportunity came, and I just wanted to get it done for them.”

Along with McCoy, Lyndsey Grein keyed the win. She struck out the side in both the first and third innings and continued to show why she is one of the best pitchers in the country. 

“Knowing Michigan and knowing who they are, we knew that was going to be like the postseason,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. 

Most importantly, Grein buckled down late and didn’t let Maddie Erickson’s homer and a sixth-inning solo shot from Jenissa Conway affect her more than just the two runs.

Elise Sokolsky entered after Conway’s blast and shut the door on the Wolverines’ comeback.  

“I’d let up as many home runs as I need if I got to celebrate Elise like today,” Grein said. “It lets you breathe knowing your teammates are going to have your back.” 

If there’s one common theme to the Ducks’ remarkable season, it’s been their ability to fight through every test and despite their impressive record, they continue to preach their self-imposed standard

“We win ball games like that,” Sinicki said. “When we are all bought into the standard and the culture.” 

It certainly wasn’t the game the Ducks would have hoped for. 

One of the first blunders of the night came when a ball glanced off Sinicki’s glove and was ruled a hit to begin the fourth inning. Five batters later, Erickson blasted a long homer to left off Grein. 

Another costly moment came when, after opening the fifth with a hit-by-pitch, Ayanna Shaw was thrown out after a Kaylynn Jones missed bunt. 

But none of the mistakes would matter for an Oregon team that continues to find ways to win. 

Instead, led by a Katie Flannery solo homer, a Stefini Ma’ake groundout and McCoy’s clutch single, the Ducks did just enough.

“We talk about our athletes, talking about picking each other up,” Lombardi said. “But our fans, they do that too.” 

The Ducks are an imperfect team, but 36 games into the season, no one has found a consistent blueprint for beating their best-in-the-conference roster yet. 

“That was electric,” Sinicki said. “Like coach said, that was like a super-regional game.”

The post No. 5 Oregon softball edges past Michigan 3-2 appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Revenge is even sweeter when it comes against a rival.

In a 9-1 win over the Oregon State Beavers (14-15) on Wednesday, the Ducks (32-3, 6-1 Big Ten) continued their tremendous season.  They led wire-to-wire in a game dominated by pitcher Elise Sokolsky, who threw seven innings with seven strikeouts, and a lineup that struck for three runs in the fourth and never looked back.

Put it all together, and the Ducks continue to have a consistent recipe for success. Timely hitting mixed with dominant pitching has them off to the best overall record in the Big Ten this year. 

On Wednesday, Sokolksy was Oregon’s brightest star. 

She retired all but three Beavers she faced, and allowed just the one hit, her one run allowed was spurred by a one-out error. 

Stefini Ma’ake opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first, giving her 11 homers on the season, which is good for second on the team only behind Rylee McCoy. 

Oregon went 11-31 total at the plate on Wednesday — all nine Ducks’ starters boast a batting average above .300.

Braiesey Rosa helped double the lead in the third by driving in Kedre Luschar on a sac-fly before Ma’ake’s second homer of the day extended the advantage to four. 

The Ducks added a run in both the fifth and sixth inning before a three-run seventh put the lead out of hand — with the way Sokolksy was pitching, any more run support was superfluous. 

McCoy, off to a blistering start to her collegiate career with a team-best .464 batting average, tacked on an RBI single in the seventh.

And Braiesey Rosa — who replaced Emma Cox behind the dish after an early-season injury —  drove in two more on an error.  

Any pitcher for the Ducks probably could have sealed the win, but head coach Melyssa Lombardi allowed Sokolsky to keep going, and rested her bullpen. 

Though its record is hardly flawless — a loss to these same Beavers being one of the Ducks three losses  — Oregon has established itself as one of the nation’s premier programs. 

The Ducks will look to continue their remarkable season as they host Michigan (27-9, 6-1 Big Ten) at the Jane. The Wolverines and Oregon will face off for the first time since 2013, with the games being Michigan’s first-ever games played in the state of Oregon.

The post No. 5 Oregon softball eases past Oregon State 9-1 appeared first on Daily Emerald.

After weeks of contemplating how to change college football for the better, Ducks football head coach Dan Lanning finally landed on a decision that he called “the obvious choice.” 

In a move lauded by some and called an abomination by football purists, Lanning and the Oregon football program announced their intention to replace the traditional gridiron football spring game with flag football. Lanning and company cited concerns about concussions in a meaningless game and the overall “lack of grace” in the sport. 

That’s right, Duck fans: the only head injuries that can be expected the day of the spring football game will be from students getting a little too crazy in the student section. 

“We just think there’s too much going on sometimes,” Lanning said immediately following the announcement. “Kind of like in the Ohio State game at the Rose Bowl, sometimes it’s hard for our guys to keep up. So I think this will give us a good opportunity to get back to the roots of the game, where we are all winners deep down.” 

“I mean we say FEBU,” Lanning said. “But for now that means ‘flag everybody but us’.” 

The announcement, made just weeks before the program’s annual spring showcase on April 26, has been met with outrage from football fans on social media worldwide.

“Has Dan Lanning gone soft?” one X user wrote. “Dude loses one game to the best team in the world, and he’s suddenly afraid of his guys hitting each other in a game.”

Lanning’s players, however, see it a different way. 

“I mean, growing up, I would just juke guys out of their socks, and they had no chance at grabbing my flag,” linebacker Bryce Boettcher said. “I think it’s a good opportunity to showcase my talents and show them why I’m the best in the world.” 

Fans, however, have voiced a different sentiment. 

“The spring game should be about two things: BORGs and tackle football,” one UO student said. “They are taking the football away from us in 2025? What has the world come to?” 

Lanning said that the Oregon football science team has been doing countless hours of research on how to best prevent head injuries. But, in a decision between having select timeouts for players to dunk their faces in jugs of bottles of Saratoga water, and moving the spring game to flag football, Lanning chose the latter. 

“They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for flags,” Lanning said. “Don’t forget that.” 

Disclaimer: All quotes and facts in this article are completely satirical and fake, in light of April Fools Day.

The post BREAKING NEWS: 2025 spring game changing to flag football appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Just with another dominant win added to their already impressive record. 

In a 20-1 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, No.6 Oregon produced all the same hallmarks of a win less than 24 hours prior. 

The offense was explosive, the pitching was suffocating, and, well, Oregon is a lot better than most teams in the nation—especially Rutgers. 

It took the Ducks a little longer to get going — a 12-run fifth inning made the score as lopsided as it was — but Oregon was never really challenged throughout. 

Paige Sinicki and Rylee McCoy epitomized the offensive outburst, with the latter blasting the first of her two homers in the first to kick off her 3-4 day. 

Sinicki, Remmington Hewitt, Stefini Ma’ake and Kedre Luschar connected for the other big blasts on the day — all four of which came in the 12-run fifth. 

Oregon tallied 20 hits on the day — a new program record. The Ducks also belted six home runs — the most of the Melyssa Lombardi era,

Elise Sokolsky got the start and allowed two runs in 2.2 innings. Taylour Spencer and Lyndsey Grein combined to go the rest of the way for the Ducks, who were able to spread out the pitching staff’s workload well over the weekend. 

Oregon will head into a matchup on Wednesday against Oregon State — one of the three teams that have defeated the Ducks in 2025 — the added rest of the two blowout wins will certainly be welcomed. 

To defeat the Beavers, Oregon will need to rely on its offense which went a combined 20-34 on Saturday. The Ducks brought 19 runners to the plate in the fifth. 

Rutgers scored just three runs over the weekend’s two games. Oregon had five innings with three or more runs scored over the pair of contests. 

Scarlet Knights’ starter Laurelai DePew was tagged for seven runs over 2.2 innings in her start. Kelsey Hoekstra didn’t fare much better, allowing li10 runs — four earned — in her outing. 

Rutgers’ two runs came in  bottom of the third on a home run by LA Matthews.

The Ducks scored two runs in the first and third innings, before scoring an incredible 12 runs to end the game offensively. 

Oregon emptied the bench in the closing innings as  17 different Ducks saw action.

Oregon traveled 2,909 miles away from its home to take a form of extended batting practice. The Ducks will look to take this momentum into their Wednesday matchup in Corvallis. 

The post No. 6 Oregon softball sets program record in 21-2 win over Rutgers appeared first on Daily Emerald.

It’s cruel, but it’s true: sports fans always gravitate toward the future and yearn for what could come next. 

Such could be said about the Oregon women’s basketball team; a revitalized program that will likely clinch its first NCAA Tournament berth in three seasons. 

The Ducks will likely be among the 68 teams selected to go to March Madness. They might even have a good chance to win a game or two depending on their bracket and opponents. But, with the end of the season comes the search for what could come next. 

With that in mind, the Daily Emerald has created a “who stays who goes” tracker for the Ducks, factoring in graduations, some of the team’s biggest needs and the program’s two incoming recruits.

Newcomers

Janiyah Williams

Ranked as the No. 37 incoming freshman in the nation by 247Sports, Williams projects as a high-level guard who could take over some ballhandling responsibilities as a freshman. Williams averaged 16.2 points per game and 8 rebounds as a junior at Oklahoma’s Edmond Memorial High School in 2023. A 5-foot-8 guard, Williams projects as a high-level scorer and a potential top-scoring option later in her career as a Duck. 

Sara Barhoum

A commit for nearly a full calendar year, Barhoum is a part of a loaded Clackamas High School roster that includes the No. 2 recruit in the nation, Jazzy Davidson. Barhoum is an unranked prospect by ESPN and projects as a depth scorer similar to Katie Fiso and Ari Long this past season. 

Key Departures: Peyton Scott, Phillipina Kyei and Deja Kelly

While head coach Kelly Graves credited this year’s senior class for helping the program be in a “completely different place” than it was a year ago, he’ll now have to make up for the immense hole this year’s five seniors have left. 

Oregon will have to replace three of its four top scorers and search for a new primary ball handler with Kelly’s departure from the program. 

Kyei will leave a massive impact on the Ducks as her time in Eugene comes to an end. She grabbed 25 rebounds and scored 20 points in her final game at Matthew Knight Arena. 

“She’s meant so much to the program,” Graves said of Kyei. “She’s been here for the highs and the lows. She’s been a steady force within the program. When we were recruiting last spring, she met with every recruit. She was the one that helped us build this thing. She’s invested into the University of Oregon.”

Biggest Needs

Center

Kyei’s departure quite literally leaves a giant hole in the Ducks’ future plans. The 6-foot-8 center could be depended upon for 20+ minutes most nights and an easy 10 rebounds. Graves and company will likely need to dip into the transfer portal to replace her role in the frontcourt, with Sarah Rambus and Amina Muhammad Oregon’s only players listed at 6-foot-3 or above. 

Primary Ball Handler

She never fully was the dominant force expected when she transferred to Eugene, but Deja Kelly’s impact on the Ducks can’t go unnoticed. Even when baskets weren’t falling for the guard, she still had a massive impact on the Oregon offense as a whole. Elisa Mevius and Sofia Bell have both flashed as solid primary guards in the past, but the Ducks will likely have to dip into the transfer portal to snag another top scorer. 

The post Women’s basketball’s newcomers, departures and biggest needs appeared first on Daily Emerald.

It wasn’t exactly the game plan No. 8 Oregon (29-3, 2-1 Big Ten) had in mind before its 4-3 loss to Washington (20-9, 1-2 Big Ten). 

An early deficit. A starter who retired two batters. Two freshmen tasked with the biggest at-bats of the game. 

And when it mattered most Sunday night, in the Ducks’ bid to continue a remarkable start to the season, they didn’t get it done.

With a runner on second and two outs, Rylee McCoy (1-4) grounded out to end the game. 

UW’s early offensive output came on an RBI single from Sophi Mazzola and a homer from Jade Bubke. Lyndsey Grein kept the Ducks in the game by holding the Huskies to three runs despite recording just four strikeouts and throwing the team’s most innings in the series.

With that, it looked like the Ducks might reprise the role of spoiler in a potential comeback against UW. 

First, Stefini Ma’ake delivered a massive three-run game-tying double with two down in the sixth. 

Entering Sunday, Ma’ake was hitless in her last six games. During that time, the Ducks’ offense started to slump, especially in the second game of doubleheaders. 

However, with a thunderous swing and deep fly ball to center, the freshman tied up the game at a pivotal moment. 

Oregon’s outburst wouldn’t last long. 

Washington avoided any further trouble and soon capitalized, asC harity Sevaaetasi drove in a run on a single down the left field line. 

A lack of timely hitting throughout wasn’t the Ducks’ sole reason for losing on Sunday. 

Starting pitcher Taylour Spencer retired just two of six batters she faced and walked three. They also managed little against Huskies’ starter Sophia Ramuno, being held scoreless through her 2.1 innings of work.  

The struggles continued as the Ducks stranded runners in the third, fourth and fifth innings. 

But they were highlighted in the biggest moments, as Braiesey Rosa struck out with the go-ahead run on second in the sixth and Flannery grounded out with two runners on to end the game. 

But the late heroics wouldn’t come again for Oregon, which left the Ducks with a bittersweet rivalry series win. 

It’s just a minor blip on the Ducks’ resume, but still a reminder altogether of a challenging  conference with no easy games on its docket. 

The Ducks will take on the Seattle University Redhawks Monday at 3 p.m.

The post No. 8 Oregon’s bats go silent in 4-3 loss to Washington appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Oregon women’s basketball (19-11,10-8 Big Ten) received the 10-seed in the Birmingham Region of the NCAA Tournament and will take on the 7-seed Vanderbilt Commodores (22-10, 8-8 SEC) in the round-of-64. The Ducks’ first game in March Madness will tip-off on Friday in Durham, North Carolina. 

With a win, Oregon will face the winner between the 2-seed Duke Blue Devils and 15-seed Lehigh Mountain Hawks. 

Oregon was blown out in the first round of the Big Ten Championship by the Indiana Hoosiers, but did plenty early in the season to earn itself a sure-fire ticket to the dance. 

It might not be the perfect seeding for head coach Kelly Graves’ squad, but the Ducks have officially clinched their first berth in three seasons. 

To beat those Commodores Oregon will need to improve its defensive intensity, an element that struggled in the Big Ten Tournament with the absence of Elisa Mevius. 

Vanderbuilt will no-doubt be favored, but still, a stress-free NCAA Tournament bid for the Ducks is impressive for their first season in the conference. 

The post Breaking: Oregon women’s basketball named 10-seed in Region of NCAA Tournament appeared first on Daily Emerald.

In the months before, the longevity of the softball season seems more abstract, with each game of Oregon softball’s 57-game regular season representing an equal 1.85% of the season. When teams are in the lengthy grind of it, the “tomorrows” and “next weeks” leave players lacking any real finality.

But with that slog of the schedule comes the moments to take a step back and reflect on a team’s current standing. Oregon softball (20-1) is about a third of the way through its season, which means it’s no longer too early to reflect on Oregon’s hot start — one that includes the team’s longest winning streak since 2021 (15). 

What’s real

The freshman

Biggest, strongest, fastest. Pick your superlative for Oregon’s freshman class — they all seem to work. Oregon’s freshman class has solidified itself as one of the best in the nation in the early going. Rylee McCoy looks like one of the best first basemen in the country. Stefini Ma’ake is a power threat every time she’s at the plate. Despite being out with an injury in the short term, Emma Cox looks like an everyday starter behind the plate for the next three years. The depth is there, too — Kaylynn Jones has taken quality at-bats and walked over 20% of the time. Oregon’s biggest strength has been its freshman class this year, and they will only get better with time. 

Lyndsey Grein

Grein’s stuff and demeanor on the mound are legitimately special. Throughout her 54 innings of work on the season, Grein’s stuff has been seen to be legitimately special. She gets swing-and-misses on pitches on her poorly located pitches and sets up everything else off her fastball. It’s clear her stuff will translate against better competition, too. Oregon softball has a legitimate superstar ace on its hands in the Virginia Tech transfer. 

The speed

Oregon leads the NCAA with 81 steals. Head coach Melyssa Lombardi’s Ducks can fly. 

Cause for concern

Overall pitching depth

Two things can be true: Oregon softball’s pitching has been elite — excelling to the tune of a 1.71 combined ERA, 10th best in the NCAA. The Ducks also need a legitimate fourth option in the circle. Grein, Taylour Spencer and Elise Sokolsky have been incredible for the Ducks. But Oregon needs either lefty Staci Chambers (2.07 ERA last season, hasn’t pitched since Feb 8 due to injury) or freshman Rowan Thompson (0.1 innings pitched, three walks) to regain form before conference play. 

What needs more time

Offensive woes against quality opponents

Drowned out by the Ducks’ marquee 1-0 win over then-No.5 University of Tennessee was that the Ducks had one hit against the Lady Vols. Time will tell if the cause for concern is legitimate — Oregon’s offense has been good against other quality competition. But, in the Ducks’ first test against the truly elite, they no doubt struggled. 

Overall 

Go on, do it. Feel good about these Ducks. With the Ducks meshing well in the early going, there’s real reason to be excited about Oregon softball this year. It might not always be perfect, and there will surely be some growing pains. But a third of the way through the season, there’s plenty of optimism —  and for good reason.

The post Krasnowski: Assessing Oregon softball’s hot start appeared first on Daily Emerald.

The ball bounced to the right off Braiesey Rosa’s glove, the catcher forced to jog back to pick it up before throwing the ball to her infielders. 

It was that kind of night.

Fans booed and jeered the umpires as Oregon State (9-13) celebrated a strikeout in a key spot as No. 12 Oregon’s (21-2) frustrations were close to boiling over. 

It was that kind of vibe. 

Katie Flannery looked to have a rally-starting hit only for the ball to find an outstretched Beaver glove. 

It was that kind of struggle. 

“I thought today we were just making things a little too hard,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. 

Throughout their 5-2 loss to Oregon State, the Ducks felt like they were continuously pushing the boulder to the top of the mountain, but never reaching the peak. They fought, digging into second-string reserves, and finding a way to fight out of an early deficit. But ultimately, a three-run sixth inning from the Beavers was the difference in a tight contest.

“She did a good job,” Lombardi said of Oregon State pitcher Logan Hulan, who threw seven innings of eight-strikeout ball.“We needed to do a good job either getting on top of the ball or taking the pitch.”

“I don’t think it was Hulan,” shortstop Paige Sinicki said. “I think we just beat ourselves in that game. She wasn’t doing anything special, or anything more special than what we’ve seen this season.”

Oregon entered significant favorites Saturday, the Ducks winners of 15-straight and most recently a top-10 victory over Florida State. Rivalry games, though, care little for resumes. 

Oregon State surprisingly struck first via a two-run homer from Tristan Thompson. 

Throughout the contest, a mostly green and yellow crowd at the Jane hung with every out and opportunity;  there were plenty of them. 

Oregon (2-12 with runners on, no extra-base hits) stranded runners on base in each of its first three innings of offense. It wasn’t until the fourth that Oregon tied the game up and Duck fans could let out a sigh of relief — for now. 

Another wild finish for the two teams that almost always play each other close was officially in store when Remmington Hewitt hit what looked to be a sac-fly to center. But OSU outfielders collided in the outfield and allowed two runs to score on the error. 

After the Ducks rallied to tie it at two, the Beavers loaded the bases off of reliever Lyndsey Grein in the top of the sixth and added three fatal runs. The first came in via a walk, then, the more critical blow came in a two-run double to left off the bat of Jada Lewis. 

“We need to have better strikezone awareness,” Lombardi said. 

The Ducks went down in order in the final two innings and their 16-game winning streak was snapped. 

Oregon and Oregon State will play once more this season with the rematch scheduled for March 8 in Corvallis.

“This one hurts, especially at home,” Sinicki said.

Oregon returns to action Sunday against No. 8 Florida State and Abilene Christian. 

The post No. 12 Oregon softball has winning streak snapped in 5-2 loss to Oregon State appeared first on Daily Emerald.

With three games left in the regular season, Oregon women’s basketball (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten) sits in eighth place in the Big Ten, having already punched its ticket as one of the 12 teams that will play for the conference Championship in Indianapolis. 

Despite leveling out with some strong play of late, it’s been a season of ups and downs for head coach Kelly Graves’ squad. 

After storming out of the gate with six straight wins, one of which came against then-No. 17 Baylor, Oregon has been a mostly average team for the remainder of the season. The Ducks’ clear peak of the season came on Jan. 30 with a win over then-No. 16 Michigan State, but the victory was soon met with three straight losses that damaged their NCAA Tournament hopes. 

Still, with the Big Ten’s competitiveness and the pair of high-quality wins, Oregon’s tournament dreams are entirely in its own hands. Recent wins over Washington and Minnesota have surely helped the Ducks bolster their Big Ten Tournament seeding, improving the likelihood of a NCAA Tournament berth. 

The Ducks are ranked No. 37 in NET, with 13 Big Ten teams in the top 50 and nine Big Ten teams ranked ahead of them. An away showdown with Nebraska is their last chance to improve their resume against a sure-thing NCAA Tournament team. The pair of remaining games against Rutgers and Washington are effectively must-wins.

Helping the Ducks get hot at the right time has been a breakout performance from Deja Kelly, who scored back-to-back 20-point games for the first time since the second and third contests of the season. Kelly has scored 14, 21 and 20 points while playing 35 or more minutes over the Ducks’ last three games. 

“That’s why we were blessed and excited to get Deja here,” Graves said after Kelly hit a pair of clutch free throws to beat the Huskies. “She’s made for these types of games.”

ESPN’s Charlie Creme slated the Ducks as the No.9 seed in the Birmingham regional, with a matchup against hypothetical No.8 Oklahoma State in the first round. In Creme’s model, the Big Ten has 13 teams in the tournament –– the most in the nation. Creme projected that all four of the Big Ten’s newcomers would earn berths.

The Ducks made the tournament in 2021 and 2022 but have missed each of the last two tournaments. The final seedings will be announced on Selection Sunday, March 16. 

The post Oregon women’s basketball NCAA Tournament resume review appeared first on Daily Emerald.