Thursday, May 7
College Park, MD
1:30 PM
University of Oregon
40-12
9
vs
11
Wisconsin
32-18
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 0 |
| Oregon | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 1 |
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Regionals Up Next After B1G Tournament Loss
05/07/26 | Softball
Oregon dropped a slugfest to Wisconsin on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — NCAA Regionals are up next for the Oregon softball team after the No. 11 Ducks lost Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament at Maryland.
A slugfest that went back and forth into the middle innings ended in an 11-9 defeat for the Ducks at the hands of Wisconsin. Stefini Ma'ake had two homers and five RBIs and Elon Butler homered while scoring three times, but the Badgers hit four homers to post their first win over Oregon in 11 tries.
"That was tough," UO coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "We just didn't have the ability to contain them today."
The Ducks (40-12) entered the week at No. 9 in the RPI rankings. That puts them in a strong position to host an NCAA Regional next week at Jane Sanders Stadium when the Road to OKC is unveiled on Selection Sunday (4 p.m., ESPN2).
"I expect to see our names called, and I expect to see us in a really good spot," Lombardi said. "I don't think one game should have that much impact."
A year ago, Oregon dropped its Big Ten Tournament opener and rebounded by earning a spot in the Women's College World Series. This year's Ducks now will look to do the same.
"Any time something doesn't go our way, this group knows how to respond, and I expect them to fully respond and be ready to go for postseason," Lombardi said. "I love this group. I believe in this group. This group is really, really good. Today was a tough day for us, but you have to leave it, and you've got to move on to be ready for what's next."
How It Happened: The Badgers got to Oregon's pitching from the outset, scoring four runs off UO ace Lyndsey Grein in the top of the first. The UO offense had her back, as Butler walked to lead off the bottom of the first, Emma Cox singled and Ma'ake brought them around with a three-run homer.
Elise Sokolsky pitched a 1-2-3 second inning, the only time in the game the Ducks set down the Badgers in order. That allowed the Ducks to take a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the second on a solo homer by Butler followed by back-to-back doubles by Amari Harper and Cox.
Wisconsin retook the lead with two runs in the top of the third, and added another in the fourth. Trailing 7-5, Oregon stormed back in front in the bottom of the fourth — after the first three runners reached, Harper missed a grand slam by inches and settled for a two-run single to tie it, and a sacrifice fly by Ma'ake plated Butler for an 8-7 lead.
The Badgers tied it in the fifth by scoring off Taylour Spencer, and took the lead in the sixth, 9-8, after Grein re-entered. Two more runs for Wisconsin in the seventh made it 11-8 before Ma'ake hit her second homer of the day in the bottom of the inning.
Notable: Butler's three runs gave her 65 this spring, tying the UO single-season record set a year ago by Kai Luschar. … Butler's 18 home runs are one off the UO record that teammate Rylee McCoy tied last spring. … Ma'ake had her fifth career multi-homer game. … Her sacrifice fly in the fourth was Oregon's school-record and NCAA-leading 36th of the season.
Up Next: The Ducks learn their NCAA Regional destination Sunday (4 p.m., ESPN2).
A slugfest that went back and forth into the middle innings ended in an 11-9 defeat for the Ducks at the hands of Wisconsin. Stefini Ma'ake had two homers and five RBIs and Elon Butler homered while scoring three times, but the Badgers hit four homers to post their first win over Oregon in 11 tries.
"That was tough," UO coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "We just didn't have the ability to contain them today."
The Ducks (40-12) entered the week at No. 9 in the RPI rankings. That puts them in a strong position to host an NCAA Regional next week at Jane Sanders Stadium when the Road to OKC is unveiled on Selection Sunday (4 p.m., ESPN2).
"I expect to see our names called, and I expect to see us in a really good spot," Lombardi said. "I don't think one game should have that much impact."
A year ago, Oregon dropped its Big Ten Tournament opener and rebounded by earning a spot in the Women's College World Series. This year's Ducks now will look to do the same.
"Any time something doesn't go our way, this group knows how to respond, and I expect them to fully respond and be ready to go for postseason," Lombardi said. "I love this group. I believe in this group. This group is really, really good. Today was a tough day for us, but you have to leave it, and you've got to move on to be ready for what's next."
How It Happened: The Badgers got to Oregon's pitching from the outset, scoring four runs off UO ace Lyndsey Grein in the top of the first. The UO offense had her back, as Butler walked to lead off the bottom of the first, Emma Cox singled and Ma'ake brought them around with a three-run homer.
Elise Sokolsky pitched a 1-2-3 second inning, the only time in the game the Ducks set down the Badgers in order. That allowed the Ducks to take a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the second on a solo homer by Butler followed by back-to-back doubles by Amari Harper and Cox.
Wisconsin retook the lead with two runs in the top of the third, and added another in the fourth. Trailing 7-5, Oregon stormed back in front in the bottom of the fourth — after the first three runners reached, Harper missed a grand slam by inches and settled for a two-run single to tie it, and a sacrifice fly by Ma'ake plated Butler for an 8-7 lead.
The Badgers tied it in the fifth by scoring off Taylour Spencer, and took the lead in the sixth, 9-8, after Grein re-entered. Two more runs for Wisconsin in the seventh made it 11-8 before Ma'ake hit her second homer of the day in the bottom of the inning.
Notable: Butler's three runs gave her 65 this spring, tying the UO single-season record set a year ago by Kai Luschar. … Butler's 18 home runs are one off the UO record that teammate Rylee McCoy tied last spring. … Ma'ake had her fifth career multi-homer game. … Her sacrifice fly in the fourth was Oregon's school-record and NCAA-leading 36th of the season.
Up Next: The Ducks learn their NCAA Regional destination Sunday (4 p.m., ESPN2).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Herr (11-5)
L: Grein, Lyndsey (23-6)
Batting:
2B: H. Blomberg 1 ; Whidden 1
HR: Bojan 1 ; H. Blomberg 1 ; Showalter 1 ; Conger 1
RBI: Bojan 1 ; H. Blomberg 1 ; Showalter 1 ; Lewis 1 ; Whidden 2 ; Lucey 1 ; Bark 1 ; Wery 1 ; Conger 2
SH: Crane 1
SF: Lucey 1 ; Bark 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bojan 1 ; H. Blomberg 1 ; Parent 1 ; Showalter 1 ; King 1 ; Lewis 2 ; Foster 1 ; Whidden 1 ; Bark 1 ; Conger 1
Batting:
2B: Harper, Amari 1 ; Cox, Emma 1
HR: Butler, Elon 1 ; Ma'ake, Stefini 2
RBI: Butler, Elon 1 ; Harper, Amari 2 ; Cox, Emma 1 ; Ma'ake, Stefini 5
SF: Ma'ake, Stefini 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Butler, Elon 3 ; Harper, Amari 1 ; Cox, Emma 1 ; Ma'ake, Stefini 2 ; Ho, Taryn 1 ; Flannery, Katie 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
UTIL
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OF
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RHP
/ Softball2026 Oregon Softball | Ohio State Cinematic Recap
Thursday, April 30
Melyssa Lombardi: "We're ready to go."
Wednesday, April 29
Emma Cox: "Process driven."
Wednesday, April 29
Kaylynn Jones: "Compete."
Wednesday, April 29
