Friday, March 13
Eugene, OR
6:00 PM
University of Oregon
19-7, 0
8
vs
2
Penn State
19-7, 0
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Penn State
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
2
2
0
Oregon
3
0
2
3
0
0
X
8
13
2
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Defending B1G Champs Dominate Conference Opener
03/13/26 | Softball
No. 18 Oregon softball was in command both at the plate and in the circle to beat Penn State on Friday, 8-2.
EUGENE, Ore. — A dozen strikeouts from the circle and a half-dozen extra-base hits in the batter's box made for one fun night at Jane Sanders Stadium.
Lyndsey Grein was dominant for the Ducks in the circle, and Elon Butler and Amari Harper each hit a pair of homers as the No. 18 Oregon softball team opened Big Ten play with an 8-2 win over visiting Penn State on Friday. Grein threw a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts, and Rylee McCoy also homered as the defending Big Ten champs began their bid to repeat by making a loud statement.
Oregon's No. 2 through No. 6 hitters — Kaylynn Jones, Butler, Harper, McCoy and Stefini Ma'ake — combined to go 11-for-19 with five homers and a double, while scoring all eight runs and driving in all eight.
"Absolutely, I think hitting is contagious," said Butler, who now has a team-high eight homers on the season. "When someone hits in front of you, it just gives you that extra belief in yourself, that you can do it as well. So it's definitely contagious. You saw that today."
Butler and Harper hit back-to-back homers in the third inning, as Oregon (18-7, 1-0 Big Ten) jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Harper and McCoy then went back-to-back in the fourth.
"Even a lot of our base hits were hard," said Harper, who is right on Butler's heels with seven homers. "(It's nice) just knowing that if one person doesn't have their best day, we have eight other people in the lineup that can pick you up. We were backing each other up left and right."
Oregon's win in the conference opener came on the same day that UO coach Melyssa Lombardi's son, Gianni, scored 21 points in a high school basketball state semifinal game. Lombardi was able to watch Marist High advance in the quarterfinals in person Thursday, and she said her team gathered around her in the batting cages prior to Friday's game, watching a stream of Marist's semifinal win that set up a spot in Saturday's state championship game.
"What's pretty cool is, Gianni came here when he was 9 years old, and he is like a little brother to all of these guys," Lombardi said. "And they're like big sisters to him. So just to see them excited for him has been pretty special. They've got one more game, and I'm just so proud of him and his team. So to get two big wins for state, and then to get a big win today (in softball), the Lombardis are feeling good."
How It Happened: Grein (11-3) threw a 1-2-3 first inning, and the UO offense quickly staked her to a lead. Jones singled with one out in the first and Butler followed with her first homer of the game. After Harper was retired, McCoy doubled and Ma'ake singled her in for a 3-0 lead.
"I thought all three cylinders were firing," Lombardi said. "I loved Lindsay's shutout inning in the first that set the tone, and then to watch our offense come in and put three on the board in the first inning I thought was really important, just to set the tone for the entire game."
Butler and Harper hit back-to-back solo shots to lead off the third. Penn State's first hit of the night was a solo homer in the fourth, but Oregon answered in the bottom of the inning as Jones singled with one out, Harper brought her in with a two-run homer with two out, and McCoy followed with a solo shot to make it 8-1.
"The energy going up to bat, I felt really calm," Harper said. "I think that is just a great positive thing to kind of carry over into each at-bat, and I could feel Rylee kind of getting into the same headspace."
Penn State got another run on a solo homer with two out in the fifth, an inning in which Grein struck out the side. She allowed just one more baserunner the rest of the way, and she struck out the final two hitters of the night.
Notable: Grein threw her first seven-inning complete game since a season-opening no-hitter against Missouri. Her 12 strikeouts Friday were her most since that game as well. … Butler's fourth career two-homer game gave her 25 RBIs in her last 13 games. … Harper's multi-homer game was the first of her career.
Up Next: The Ducks host the Nittany Lions for game two Saturday (4 p.m., B1G+).
Lyndsey Grein was dominant for the Ducks in the circle, and Elon Butler and Amari Harper each hit a pair of homers as the No. 18 Oregon softball team opened Big Ten play with an 8-2 win over visiting Penn State on Friday. Grein threw a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts, and Rylee McCoy also homered as the defending Big Ten champs began their bid to repeat by making a loud statement.
Oregon's No. 2 through No. 6 hitters — Kaylynn Jones, Butler, Harper, McCoy and Stefini Ma'ake — combined to go 11-for-19 with five homers and a double, while scoring all eight runs and driving in all eight.
"Absolutely, I think hitting is contagious," said Butler, who now has a team-high eight homers on the season. "When someone hits in front of you, it just gives you that extra belief in yourself, that you can do it as well. So it's definitely contagious. You saw that today."
Butler and Harper hit back-to-back homers in the third inning, as Oregon (18-7, 1-0 Big Ten) jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Harper and McCoy then went back-to-back in the fourth.
"Even a lot of our base hits were hard," said Harper, who is right on Butler's heels with seven homers. "(It's nice) just knowing that if one person doesn't have their best day, we have eight other people in the lineup that can pick you up. We were backing each other up left and right."
Oregon's win in the conference opener came on the same day that UO coach Melyssa Lombardi's son, Gianni, scored 21 points in a high school basketball state semifinal game. Lombardi was able to watch Marist High advance in the quarterfinals in person Thursday, and she said her team gathered around her in the batting cages prior to Friday's game, watching a stream of Marist's semifinal win that set up a spot in Saturday's state championship game.
"What's pretty cool is, Gianni came here when he was 9 years old, and he is like a little brother to all of these guys," Lombardi said. "And they're like big sisters to him. So just to see them excited for him has been pretty special. They've got one more game, and I'm just so proud of him and his team. So to get two big wins for state, and then to get a big win today (in softball), the Lombardis are feeling good."
How It Happened: Grein (11-3) threw a 1-2-3 first inning, and the UO offense quickly staked her to a lead. Jones singled with one out in the first and Butler followed with her first homer of the game. After Harper was retired, McCoy doubled and Ma'ake singled her in for a 3-0 lead.
"I thought all three cylinders were firing," Lombardi said. "I loved Lindsay's shutout inning in the first that set the tone, and then to watch our offense come in and put three on the board in the first inning I thought was really important, just to set the tone for the entire game."
Butler and Harper hit back-to-back solo shots to lead off the third. Penn State's first hit of the night was a solo homer in the fourth, but Oregon answered in the bottom of the inning as Jones singled with one out, Harper brought her in with a two-run homer with two out, and McCoy followed with a solo shot to make it 8-1.
"The energy going up to bat, I felt really calm," Harper said. "I think that is just a great positive thing to kind of carry over into each at-bat, and I could feel Rylee kind of getting into the same headspace."
Penn State got another run on a solo homer with two out in the fifth, an inning in which Grein struck out the side. She allowed just one more baserunner the rest of the way, and she struck out the final two hitters of the night.
Notable: Grein threw her first seven-inning complete game since a season-opening no-hitter against Missouri. Her 12 strikeouts Friday were her most since that game as well. … Butler's fourth career two-homer game gave her 25 RBIs in her last 13 games. … Harper's multi-homer game was the first of her career.
Up Next: The Ducks host the Nittany Lions for game two Saturday (4 p.m., B1G+).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grein, Lyndsey (11-3)
L: Bridget Nemeth (3-3)
Batting:
HR: Natalie Lieto 1 ; Michela Barbanente 1
RBI: Natalie Lieto 1 ; Michela Barbanente 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Natalie Lieto 1 ; Michela Barbanente 1
SB: Michela Barbanente 1
Batting:
2B: McCoy, Rylee 1
HR: Butler, Elon 2 ; Harper, Amari 2 ; McCoy, Rylee 1
RBI: Butler, Elon 3 ; Harper, Amari 3 ; McCoy, Rylee 1 ; Ma'ake, Stefini 1
SH: Flannery, Katie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Kaylynn 2 ; Butler, Elon 2 ; Harper, Amari 2 ; McCoy, Rylee 2
SB: Shaw, Ayanna 1
HBP: Harper, Amari 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
lf/dp
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballUTIL
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballMelyssa Lombardi | Postgame - Penn State (Game 1)
Saturday, March 14
Elon Butler | Postgame - Penn State (Game 1)
Saturday, March 14
Amari Harper | Postgame - Penn State (Game 1)
Saturday, March 14
Rylee McCoy | Postgame - JSS Classic (Day 3)
Monday, March 09
