After taking game one of the three-game series Friday night, 3-1 at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene, the Oregon women got blanked 8-0 by No. 5 UCLA on Saturday.
The Ducks fell back into a first tie with the Bruins in the Big Ten at 13-2, 44-5 overall. The two teams will cross bats Sunday in third and final game of the series, the series decider, at 2 p.m. PDT at the Jane, the last time the two teams will meet before a possible clash at the Big Ten Tournament May 7-10.
In the top of the sixth Oregon trailed 2-0 and started the inning defensively with a groundout to the pitcher and a flyout to right, then things went bananas. The Bruins erupted for six runs on a single, a single, a walk, a three-run double, a wild pitch, an intentional walk and a three-run homer.
Down 8-0, the Ducks needed a run in the bottom of the inning to avoid a run-rule loss. Leadoff hitter Kai Luschar singled and stole second, her 46th stolen base of the year, but two more groundouts to short and a strikeout followed, ball game over.
For the game Oregon had three hits, all singles. Bruin starting pitcher Addisen Fisher hurled six scoreless innings, getting 13 of the 22 batters she faced to ground out to the infield.
In the UCLA third the leadoff hitter walked, then Glove Glove shortstop Paige Sinicki misplayed a hot smash to put two on with no outs. A bunt and a sacrifice fly gave the visitors a 1-0 lead, then they plated another run after a walk, an intentional walk and two wild pitches, 2-0.
The Ducks went down in order in the third and fourth. Dez Patmon led off the fifth with a single and took second on an error, but pinch runner Regan Legg died at third after three more groundouts.
Kai Luschar goes all-out for the #SCTop10 catch in foul territory to end the top of the fifth!!!
— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) April 20, 2025
M5 | UCLA 2, Ducks 0#GoDucks | #Version7 pic.twitter.com/KLZH7CQFfD
Coach Melyssa Lombardi told sportswriter Joe Krasnowski of the Eugene Daily Emerald, “We didn’t play well enough in any area,”
“They know they didn’t play well. The biggest thing for them is to understand we didn’t play well.”
Just seven games remain on the regular season schedule. After Sunday's top ten showdown with the Bruins Oregon is off for five days until a Friday-Saturday-Sunday set at Indiana, then they travel to South Bend for a Monday single against Notre Dame, 21-26-1 this season.
Oregon and Tennessee rise into the Top 10. Two new teams enter the Softball America poll.
— Softball America (@SoftbalAmerica) March 10, 2025
See the full Top 25 here: https://t.co/muABgryGRM pic.twitter.com/zuQUcTJb0s