Sunday, March 23
Eugene, OR
12:00 PM
University of Oregon
29-3
4
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3
Illinois
13-15
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4
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6
7
R
H
E
Illinois
0
2
0
0
0
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8
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Oregon
1
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1
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1
4
8
1
Photo by: Kyu Edminster
Ducks Sweep Illinois on Rosa’s Walk-off Homer
03/23/25 | Softball
EUGENE, Ore. – Braiesey Rosa hit a home run on the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift No. 8 Oregon to a 4-3 walk-off victory over Illinois Sunday at Jane Sanders Stadium.
"I love walk-offs," said coach Melyssa Lombardi. "Because walk-offs say that as long as we have innings, as long as we have outs, we expect to win the ball game and that anybody in this lineup can do it. Braiesey just had a really nice day and to come up that first pitch and walk it off, I mean, that's why we play, for moments like that."
The Ducks trailed, 2-1, after the second inning, but tied the game at 2-2 in the third inning and scored another run in the fourth to pull in front, 3-2. That held up until the sixth inning when the Fighting Illini tied the game at 3-3 on Ellie Haggard's solo home run.
Rosa's blast gave Oregon a series sweep of Illinois as the Ducks improved to 29-3 on the season. That is the program's best 32-game mark since going a school-record 35-0 to open the 2017 season.
"We had to push through," said Lombardi. "Illinois was not going to walk away and let us sweep them.
"What you did yesterday really doesn't matter. What is it that you're going to do today? Championships are won on Sundays. So how great can you be on Sundays? That's when championships are won."
How It Happened: The Ducks scored single runs in the first, third, fourth and seventh innings to prevail in the final game of the series.
Rylee McCoy's two-out RBI single gave Oregon a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Paige Sinicki reached on a bunt base hit and stole second. She moved to third on Katie Flannery's fly out. McCoy then served the ball back through the middle to drive in Sinicki.
The Illini answered with two runs in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead.
The Ducks drew even with a run of their own in the bottom of the third. Kai Luschar beat out an infield single and Sinicki followed with a triple into the right field corner to bring Luschar home.
Oregon took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Elyse Kresho ran for Dezianna Patmon, who walked. Kresho advanced to second on Stefini Ma'ake's single. Rosa then singled into left field to score Kresho.
"It's so fun watching Braiesey right now," said Sinicki. "She's getting it done for us in so many different ways, and I've just loved seeing how she stepped up for us.
"It's awesome, honestly, to see it through our whole lineup. It's never just two people winning the game. So, for Braiesey to get it done and just different people every day stepping up, it's just an awesome feeling."
Leading off the top of the sixth, Haggard homered off Elise Sokolsky, who had kept the Illini at bay prior to that.
Lyndsey Grein came on in relief and got the final six outs to earn her NCAA-leading 16th game of the season against only one loss. She struck out two batters in the top of the seventh to set the stage for Rosa's game-winner.
Notable: Rosa became the first Oregon player to hit a walk-off home run since Terra McGowan homered to beat Arizona on May 7, 2021 … Sinicki made her 160th consecutive start at shortstop and extend her hitting streak to a career-high seven games … Oregon had three steals Sunday to raise its season total to 108, third-most in program history.
Quotable:
Paige Sinicki on the team's Sunday mentality
"Sticking to our process and really figuring out a way to make Sunday feel like Friday for us. I'm excited that today that this group was able to learn that piece right there, because that's going to go so far when we're in the Big Ten championship or even in the World Series; it's just such a learning moment for us."
Up Next: Oregon visits Rutgers for a two-game series that starts Friday at 1 p.m. PT (Big Ten Network).
- www.GoDucks.com -
"I love walk-offs," said coach Melyssa Lombardi. "Because walk-offs say that as long as we have innings, as long as we have outs, we expect to win the ball game and that anybody in this lineup can do it. Braiesey just had a really nice day and to come up that first pitch and walk it off, I mean, that's why we play, for moments like that."
The Ducks trailed, 2-1, after the second inning, but tied the game at 2-2 in the third inning and scored another run in the fourth to pull in front, 3-2. That held up until the sixth inning when the Fighting Illini tied the game at 3-3 on Ellie Haggard's solo home run.
Rosa's blast gave Oregon a series sweep of Illinois as the Ducks improved to 29-3 on the season. That is the program's best 32-game mark since going a school-record 35-0 to open the 2017 season.
"We had to push through," said Lombardi. "Illinois was not going to walk away and let us sweep them.
"What you did yesterday really doesn't matter. What is it that you're going to do today? Championships are won on Sundays. So how great can you be on Sundays? That's when championships are won."
How It Happened: The Ducks scored single runs in the first, third, fourth and seventh innings to prevail in the final game of the series.
Rylee McCoy's two-out RBI single gave Oregon a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Paige Sinicki reached on a bunt base hit and stole second. She moved to third on Katie Flannery's fly out. McCoy then served the ball back through the middle to drive in Sinicki.
The Illini answered with two runs in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead.
The Ducks drew even with a run of their own in the bottom of the third. Kai Luschar beat out an infield single and Sinicki followed with a triple into the right field corner to bring Luschar home.
Oregon took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Elyse Kresho ran for Dezianna Patmon, who walked. Kresho advanced to second on Stefini Ma'ake's single. Rosa then singled into left field to score Kresho.
"It's so fun watching Braiesey right now," said Sinicki. "She's getting it done for us in so many different ways, and I've just loved seeing how she stepped up for us.
"It's awesome, honestly, to see it through our whole lineup. It's never just two people winning the game. So, for Braiesey to get it done and just different people every day stepping up, it's just an awesome feeling."
Leading off the top of the sixth, Haggard homered off Elise Sokolsky, who had kept the Illini at bay prior to that.
Lyndsey Grein came on in relief and got the final six outs to earn her NCAA-leading 16th game of the season against only one loss. She struck out two batters in the top of the seventh to set the stage for Rosa's game-winner.
Notable: Rosa became the first Oregon player to hit a walk-off home run since Terra McGowan homered to beat Arizona on May 7, 2021 … Sinicki made her 160th consecutive start at shortstop and extend her hitting streak to a career-high seven games … Oregon had three steals Sunday to raise its season total to 108, third-most in program history.
Quotable:
Paige Sinicki on the team's Sunday mentality
"Sticking to our process and really figuring out a way to make Sunday feel like Friday for us. I'm excited that today that this group was able to learn that piece right there, because that's going to go so far when we're in the Big Ten championship or even in the World Series; it's just such a learning moment for us."
Up Next: Oregon visits Rutgers for a two-game series that starts Friday at 1 p.m. PT (Big Ten Network).
- www.GoDucks.com -
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grein, Lyndsey (16-1)
L: Yergler, Karley (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Haggard, Ellie 1
HR: Haggard, Ellie 1
RBI: Meade, Stevie 1 ; Haggard, Ellie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yeager, Jackie 1 ; Haggard, Ellie 2
HBP: Stiverson, Lizzie 1
Batting:
3B: Sinicki, Paige 1
HR: Rosa, Braiesey 1
RBI: Sinicki, Paige 1 ; McCoy, Rylee 1 ; Rosa, Braiesey 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Luschar, Kai 1 ; Sinicki, Paige 1 ; Kresho, Elyse 1 ; Rosa, Braiesey 1
SB: Sinicki, Paige 1 ; Shaw, Ayanna 1 ; Rosa, Braiesey 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ SoftballC
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
RHP
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