Sports

It was a beautiful day in Clearwater, Fla., for some Oregon softball on Friday. On opening day, the Ducks took the win in the first game of their doubleheader against the Missouri Tigers by a final score of 3-0. With a tight game against the No. 12 Clemson Tigers, the No. 5 Oregon was not able to take the win in the second, falling 6-5 to close out opening day. 

The first game of the season began with a bit of a slow start, as no points were on the board for either team until the top of the sixth. Finally, the Ducks got the first score with Katie Flannery sacrificing a fly ball to left field for an RBI, enabling Ayanna Shaw to come home. After that first run, the Ducks just kept on going at the top of the seventh. Shaw doubled to left center, getting two RBIs as Addison Amaral scored from second and Kaylynn Jones from first.

Lyndsey Grein got 14 strikeouts for the game, a career high for her. Grein had an amazing seven-inning no-hitter against Missouri. Along with…

CLEARWATER, FL. — It was a beautiful opening day for Oregon softball as the No. 5 Ducks played a doubleheader, defeating the Missouri Tigers 3-0 earlier in the day before taking on the No. 12 Clemson Tigers to close out opening day. Senior pitcher Lyndsey Grein threw a no-hitter to open the Ducks’ season, setting a new career high with 14 strikeouts. Oregon, the reigning Big Ten champions, looked to continue its legacy heading into the new season but split the doubleheader, falling to Clemson 6-5 in the nightcap.

“Love how we came out and fought today, these guys were in it with their energy, you could see different people take on strain throughout both games,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “I think the second game was tough. I think we were just a little up and down. And just a couple plays that made a difference.”

As the away team, Kaylynn Jones led off the game for Oregon but was retired on a groundout to first base. Clemson starting pitcher Lexie Hames struggled…

EUGENE, Ore. — A wave of pink flooded the stands and court at Matthew Knight Arena as Oregon women’s basketball faced the Illinois Fighting Illini during its Stomp Out Cancer game. Wearing pink-and-white jerseys, the Ducks also celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day, featuring an all-women broadcast crew. Oregon entered the matchup on a three-game winning streak following a 68–61 victory over Maryland last Saturday, and extended that streak with a 76–73 win over Illinois.

The game began with Katie Fiso scoring the first points on a layup. Following her basket, the Ducks jumped out to a seven-point lead before Illinois got on the board with a layup of its own.

Oregon maintained its offensive momentum in the first quarter, as Avery Cain knocked down a 3-pointer within her first minute in the game. While Illinois struggled from the field, Oregon shot efficiently, missing just three of its 14 attempts and closing the first quarter with a 23–14 lead.

…

NORTH BEND, Ore. — Freshman guard Lauryn Garrigus scored 19 points as the North Bend Bulldogs (16–3, 5–1 in 4A) defeated the Cottage Grove Lions (11–8, 3–5 in 4A) by a final score of 54–48 on Tuesday evening. 

It was not an earned win, not an easy task by any means, as the Bulldogs only held onto a four-point lead going into the halftime locker room. But a 16–8 scoring run in the third quarter, headlined by seven Garrigus points, helped North Bend hold on.

“[Garrigus] is awesome offensively and defensively,” North Bend head coach Doug Miles said. “We put so much pressure on her for a freshman. She’s pretty special, and she always does what she does.”

Senior Makya Alsup led the Lions in scoring with 20 points, and senior Mariah Bailey added 18 more to the total in a losing effort. Instead of looking at the negatives, Cottage Grove head coach Kim Beer saw the way his team played as a positive.

“North Bend’s a good team, they’re a ranked team,” Kim said. “…

NORTH BEND, Ore. — Sophomore guard Ryan Deloach finished with 20 points, including a half-court buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter, to lead the Cottage Grove Lions (5–14, 3–4 in 4A) to a 66–50 road win against the North Bend Bulldogs (5–14, 0–6 in 4A) on Tuesday evening.

Nine of Deloach’s points came in the third quarter, and the shot ignited the Lions. His performance on both sides of the ball helped Cottage Grove snap its three-game losing streak.

“You don’t see those a lot,” Cottage Grove head coach Seth Hutchison said. “But you take them, use them, and build on them into the fourth. We just viewed it as another shot and an opportunity to put us up three more, and then we got to go play eight more minutes.”

Lions’ junior Casey Pickle scored 12, while his teammate Cade May finished with 11, drilling a trio of 3-pointers. The pair, along with Deloach, all finished in double figures.

Junior guard Conner Johnson led North Bend in scoring with…

When Bushnell Beacons senior catcher Nate Stevens signed with the college baseball powerhouse Arkansas Razorbacks after his senior year of high school in 2019, he did not expect the whiplash six years he was about to have. 

The prime time spot with the Razorbacks didn’t work out, so Stevens turned his efforts to the middle of the United States at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS. He then battled through an eventual COVID-19 canceled season, but still notched an NJCCAA All-Academic Third Team nod. After another solid year at JCCC, he packed his bags and headed west for another shot at division one, this time with the Washington State Cougars. It still wasn’t the time, though, as he only appeared in nine games his sophomore year before redshirting as a junior. 

Another change was needed, and this time Stevens found his spot. He made the drive south to Eugene, OR, to play for the NAIA Bushnell Beacons. A knee surgery in 2024 piled on some bad…

SPRINGFIELD, ORE. — It was a sunny afternoon for Oregon as January baseball at Bushnell headed into Saturday’s doubleheader against Simpson during opening weekend for the Beacons. The Beacons and Red Hawks played a doubleheader on Friday, with a high-scoring first game that the Red Hawks took 16-14 after getting 12 runs in the first three innings. The Beacons took the victory in the second game, 7-6, tying the series 1-1 and then winning the series on Saturday, 3-1.

Game 1

The Beacons started off with right-handed pitcher Jacob Courtney and got a strike to start off the game with a groundout at first. Courtney then got two strikeouts to close out the top of the first, recovering from a three-ball count and getting three strikes in a row. 

With designated hitter Nate Stevens batting second for the Beacons, he got a double off the back fence and later stole third. Albert Jennings and Mason Millar got walked with Millar getting hit by a pitch to…

EUGENE, ORE. — The Bushnell Beacons opened their season with a doubleheader against the Simpson University Red Hawks (0-4), who traveled from Redding, California. The Eugene weather was surprisingly favorable for baseball, as clear days in January are a rare commodity in the Willamette Valley.

The Beacons come into the season as playoff hopefuls, ranked third in the preseason coaches poll for the Cascade Collegiate Conference.

Game 1 

Bushnell started lefty pitcher Austin Wolfe, a junior from Beverton, Ore. The RedHawks trotted out senior Gage Hoyle, who toes the rubber at 6-foot-2.

The Beacons got in trouble in the top of the first with runners on first and second and no outs. Wolfe then got Red Hawks slugger Cayden Lee to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. With two strikes on first baseman Owen Hayes, Bushnell thought they were out of it, but leadoff hitter Jackson Berry stole home when Wolfe looked away from the plate. It surprised the…

JUNCTION CITY, Ore. —  Kaden Schafer finished with 25 points as the Junction City Tigers (13–6) cruised to an 82–41 victory over the Cottage Grove Lions (4–14) at Craig Rothenberger Court on Friday night.

The combination of offensive execution, as well as full-court press defense for the majority of the game, proved to be a massive difference maker compared to the first time these two teams met earlier this month. A game that Cottage Grove won 49–47.

“I thought we started out with urgency on defense and got after it and tried to set the tempo,” Junction City head coach Bart Rothenberger said. “When you come out hard on defense, it helps the offense.”

Schafer, a senior forward, helped the Tigers pull away early with 16 first-half points. At 6-foot-3, he impacted the game on defense, in the paint, and from beyond the arc.

“He performed for us, and more importantly, he played hard on the defensive end,” Rothenberger said of Schafer. “You've got to remember…

EUGENE, ORE. — The sun shining, the smell of popcorn and hot dogs wafting through the air, and the cheer of the faithful fans at Jane Sanders Stadium. All that is just around the corner for the Oregon Ducks softball team. The team is poised and believes nothing can stop them. 

“We talked a lot about having an endless belief in all that we are going to do this year,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “Having an unbreakable connection and having no finish line.”

Oregon enters the 2026 season ranked as the No. 5 team in the preseason top 25. After last year's defeat at the Women’s College World Series, the Ducks have reloaded the roster. 

“We’re version eight, it's a different version, we celebrated version seven so much, and it was such an awesome ride,” Lombardi said. “But what I think is great is every version is so different, and you get to start from scratch and build upon it.”

The team is led by star right-handed pitcher Lyndsey Grein, who ranks…