Softball Recap: #6 Oregon Ducks vs #5 UCLA Bruins – Game 1

The #6 Oregon Ducks welcomed in the #5 UCLA Bruins to Eugene on Friday night, kicking off a monumental 3 game series over the weekend, with both teams coming in at 12-1 in conference play, sitting atop the Big Ten. We had a good old-fashioned pitcher’s duel through the first few innings of the game, with the only baserunners being three UCLA singles and a walked batter through the 3rd inning of play. But that changed in the 4th inning when Rylee McCoy stepped up and absolutely crushed a ball over the center field wall, giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead after 4 innings.

The Ducks would add on another pair of runs in the 6th inning on a two-run home run by Kedre Luschar, giving Oregon a 3-0 lead with just one inning to play. The Bruins would keep fighting though, hitting a two-out solo home run in the top of the 7th inning, but that would be all they would get, and the Ducks would hold on to win 3-1.

This team is REAL, y’all. I don’t know how many more ways I can express that. This was a massive game, against a very, very good opponent, and they still dug deep and found a way to come out on top. And that’s in no small part to how absolutely dominant Lyndsey Grein has been this season, including Friday night. She went 5.1 IP and struck out 8, while not giving up any runs. On the season, she’s 24-1 with a 1.15 ERA. That is INSANE. Absolutely incredible work all year. And a massive reason why Oregon has been so damn hard to beat all season.

Game two of the series is on Saturday, April 19th, at the Jane.

‘Sco Ducks, man.