Softball dominates conference honors, Lombardi COY

After the Ducks put together a 47-6 record and won the Big Ten in the first year in the league at 19-3, Oregon's Melyssa Lombardi has been named Coach of the Year in a vote by the league's head coaches.

Nebraska's Jordy Bahl won both Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors, while Washington's Alexis DeBoer, daughter former Husky football coach Kalen DeBoer, won the Freshman of the Year Award with a season batting average of .372 with 20 home runs and 54 RBI.

The Ducks placed five on the All-Big-Ten first team:

LYNDSEY GREIN, Jr., P, Oregon
Kai Luschar, Sr., OF, Oregon
Kedre Luschar, Sr., OF, Oregon
RYLEE MCCOY, Fr., INF, Oregon
Paige Sinicki, Sr., INF, Oregon

(All caps indicates unanimous selections.

Two more Oregon players made the all-conference second team:

Kaylynn Jones, Fr., INF, Oregon
Elise Sokolsky, Jr., P, Oregon

The all-freshman squad included Kaylynn Jones, INF, Stefini Ma’ake, DP, and RYLEE MCCOY, while McCoy, Sinicki, and Kedre Luschar won All-Big Ten honors for defense.

Thursday the Ducks stumbled in the Big Ten Tournament with a 5-0 loss to Michigan at Bittinger Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, but the team awaits the announcement of their draw for NCAA Tournament, televised at 4 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2.

In the quarterfinal defeat by Michigan the Ducks managed just five hits and a couple of walks as they stranded seven baserunners.

Melyssa Lombardi told reporters, “We’re not done; there’s so much more to do. But in order for that to happen, we’ve got to be better than what we showed today. Michigan played really, really well on all sides of the ball. We didn’t play well enough. And that’s the difference.”

Despite the loss to the Wolverines, the No. 7-ranked Ducks appear to be in line to host a regional.

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