Lyndsey Grein and Elise Sokolsky had Jane Sanders Stadium on their feet and loud with every strikeout thrown on Friday night. But, it was Rylee McCoy who got the Lion’s Den roaring in the fourth inning.
The No. 5 Oregon Ducks (40-4, 13-1 Big Ten) kicked off the weekend series against the No. 6 UCLA Bruins (40-6, 12-2 Big 10), taking Game 1, 3-1.
Oregon starting pitcher Lyndsey Grein (5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 2 BB) started off the ballgame with a strikeout. However, the top of the first was the Kedre Luschar show, hauling in two fly balls to make quick work of the inning.
UCLA starting pitcher Taylor Tinsley (6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 0 BB) shut the Ducks down with three quick outs in the bottom of the first inning.
The top of the second inning saw Grein add three strikeouts while allowing a single, but was able to escape the inning without allowing the runner to advance beyond first.
The Bruins continued their dominant defense, going three up and three down in the bottom of the second inning.
Grein started the top of the third inning with two strikeouts, bringing her total to six on the day through nine batters, but then allowed the bases to become loaded. However, the Kedre Luschar show continued, as she caught a deep fly ball on the warning track to escape the inning without any runs getting on the board for UCLA.
Oregon struggled to get anything going on the offensive front, with three batters stepping up to the plate, and Tinsley making quick work with three straight outs in the bottom of the third inning.
The top of the fourth inning saw Rylee Slimp and Alexis Ramirez both record hits, but neither could get further than first base. Grein closed out the inning with her seventh strikeout of the game.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman Rylee McCoy struck the jackpot and finally got the offense going for the Ducks. She hit a solo home run into the center field bleachers and put the Ducks up 1-0.
Grein kept with routine in the strikeout column with a punchout to begin the top of the fifth inning. The defense for Oregon kept the inning short, picking up a flyout and a groundout to make quick work of the inning.
Tinsley put her third strikeout on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning, before Ayanna Shaw bunted to reach first base. Shaw then proceeded to steal second and put a runner in scoring position, but the umpires decided to review the play and determined Shaw left first base too early, leading to the third out of the inning.
Jordan Woolery started the top of the sixth inning with a line drive out to center field for a single. Then, after pinch runner Lauren Hatch took second on a wild pitch, Grein chose to intentionally walk Megan Grant, one of the strongest hitters for UCLA, putting a runner on first. After a fly out, Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi decided it was time for a pitching change, bringing out Elise Sokolsky (1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 0 BB) to the circle.
“Lyndsey pitched a phenomenal game,” Sokolsky said. “Whenever we talk about those hugs, it’s a continuation, rather than a passing of the ball.”
Sokolsky did exactly what she needed to do, continuing Grein’s pitching dominance, placing two strikeouts on the board in her two batters faced, and putting an end to the inning.
Kaylynn Jones got things going for the Ducks in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a single into left-center field. Katie Flannery sacrifice bunted to advance Jones to second base. Braiesey Rosa pinch hit for Kai Luschar, but struck out swinging, giving Tinsley her fourth strikeout of the game. However, Kedre Luschar blew the gates open for Oregon, hitting a home run out past center field, bringing Jones home and putting the Ducks up 3-0, three outs away from taking the game.
“I had a feeling [Tinsley] was going to pitch me up,” Kedre Luschar said. “Me and Coach had talked about my timing, and she said, ‘Trust your timing,’ so I trusted my timing, and I like those pitches that are a little bit elevated.”
UCLA’s offense finally got something to click in the top of the seventh inning, with Jessica Clements hitting a solo home run with two outs, making the score 3-1. But a ground out at first put an end to the game, giving the Ducks the win.
Oregon struck out 10 batters, making it two games in a row with above ten strikeouts for the Ducks, after putting eleven strikeouts on the board earlier in the week against Oregon State.
“I think the most satisfaction I get is the smile on my teammate’s face when we win,” Grein said. “That’s what keeps me happy.”
“We go out there and we play Oregon softball,” Sokolsky said.
The Ducks return to action playing more “Oregon softball” tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 P.M. as they continue to take on UCLA in a battle for the conference lead in Game 2 of the weekend series.