Back in 1999 actress Heather Locklear and Atlanta Braves pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine starred in a Nike commercial that told a story in 60 seconds.
In the ad the two Cy Young Award winners, both future Hall-of-Famers, inducted together in 2014, are jealous of the attention Mark McGwire gets from fans (Locklear) for bashing home runs.
Glavine asks Maddux, "How long are they gonna worship this guy?"
A Rocky-style training montage unfolds, the two 20-game winners deciding that they want part of the limelight, chopping their way through a line of batting tees, rotating with a medicine ball, even hitting each other across the abs with a baseball bat in search of home run power.
Munching her popcorn while inexplicably walking up the third base line, Locklear finally notices Glavine sending one into the seats in batting practice. "Hi Tom," she calls out. The two millionaire pitchers exchange a forearm bash. "Chicks dig the long ball!"
Twenty-seven years later, the women of Oregon softball are hitting home runs of their own. Ranked No. 9 in the country with a 41-11 record, 20-4 in the Big Ten, they took two of three from UCLA over the weekend in Los Angeles, overtaking the Bruins for the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
On Thursday they'll play the winner of Wisconsin versus Purdue in the quarterfinals, broadcast live on the Big Ten Network from College Park, Maryland. With a good showing in the league playoff they can lock up a home regional in the NCAA Tournament. The bracket gets announced on Sunday.
Ducks forge a winning mark with discipline, togetherness and a balanced approach
Unlike the versions of themselves Glavine and Maddux played in the Nike Ad, Version 8 isn't obsessed with the long ball. Head coach Melyssa Lombardi's 2026 squad wins with pitching, baserunning, and defense as well. And they're peaking at the right time.
They hit .301 in February, up to .389 in May. Against the Bruins, who actually lead the league with an eye-popping 173 round trippers, the Ducks took two of three on the road with timely hitting and a great pitching outing from Elise Sokolsky, who scattered seven hits on Friday but kept UCLA power hitters Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery (35 and 33 home runs each this season) in the ballpark over six innings of work
Sokolsky and the Ducks won 8-2 in the first game, then the Ducks outslugged the home squad 13-11 Saturday afternoon. Sophomore first baseman Stefini Ma'ake earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors after mashing two home runs and a double, 7-11 (.636) over the weekend with eight RBI.
BOOOOOOM!!!
— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) May 2, 2026
Stefini Ma'ake goes yard and the Ducks have the lead!
T5 | Ducks 2, Bruins 1#GoDucks | #Version♾️ pic.twitter.com/vUrMVZILLc
The Ducks don't hit as many home runs as the top teams in the NCAA (UCLA and Oklahoma are tied for the top mark with 173; Ohio State, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech all have over 100) but they're one of the best-balanced teams in Division I.
There are some scary lineups around the country. Amari Harper and Elon Butler of the Ducks both top .500 (.515 and .514) in on-base percentage. Butler set a new school record for total bases. She paces the squad with 17 home runs.
Perhaps their real strength is connection. It's a group that never gives up in the late innings. Second baseman Kaylynn Jones leads a scrappy defense as well as hitting .352 this year with a robust .462 on-base percentage.
Opponents are hitting just .188 against ace hurler Lyndsey Grein, who has earned a 23-5 record and posted a 2.47 ERA while striking out 194 in 159 innings. As a staff the Oregon pitchers have held opponents to a paltry .225 average, striking out more than a batter an inning while issuing only 2.5 walks a game.
Dogged competitors, they don't like the long ball at all.
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