As fans from both sides littered the near-sellout crowd, Lyndsey Grein stood in the middle of the circle taking in the game and the moment around her.
In front of her, 12,400 fans filled the famous Devon Park, the most an Oregon (56-11, 19-3 Big Ten) team has ever played in front of her. Behind her, an Ole Miss team sat, determined to accomplish the same thing as the Ducks — fight off elimination.
This had to have been the kind of night Grein envisioned when she picked Oregon last offseason: a crowd filled to the brim, incredibly high stakes, and a national spotlight on her and her team.
Friday, it was all on Grein — the attention, the opportunity, the moment, the team around her. And in front of a crowd that rewarded every moment with passionate response, the No.16-ranked Ducks stayed alive in the Women’s College World Series, sparking an extra-inning rally to beat Ole Miss (42-21, 11-13 SEC) 6-5 on the back of 9.1 four-run innings from Grein.
To cap off a game it was in control of before relenting a three-run seventh to force extras, Oregon relied on a pair of infield singles and a fielder’s choice before Kedre Luschar walked home the winning run.
The loss sends the Rebels home. Oregon will take on the loser of the Texas and Oklahoma game on Sunday at 4 p.m. in another elimination game.
To lead for as long as it did, Oregon relied on back-to-back hits from Kai and Kedre Luschar. Then, knocks from Rylee McCoy and Kaylynn Jones helped extend its fifth-inning lead to three.
But the advantage wouldn’t last. Grein surrendered three runs to the Rebels in the seventh inning. The biggest blow in the inning came off the bat of sophomore Jamie Mackay, who singled home a pair with two outs.
But Grein eventually reseized the moment in the Ducks’ favor, holding Ole Miss scoreless over the final three innings of the game to set up Luschar and the Ducks’ late heroics.
Everyone seemingly played a part in the win, from Paige Sinicki’s baserunning and defense to Dez Patmon’s — who opened the scoring for the Ducks with a two-run single — timely hitting. Kaylynn Jones was an underappreciated star on the night, tacking on a third run in the fifth and working the count each time she came to the plate.
The Ducks rose to every occasion, battling once again in an elimination game and executing when called upon to seize the win. Their reward? A showdown with one of the two teams that made the finals last season.
But to get that point, Oregon had to rely on a clutch at-bat from its best hitter this season. Luschar walked on a 3-1 count with the bases loaded in the tenth, tossing her bat to the dugout and clapping her hands in celebration. It was one euphoric moment for the Ducks on a night full of them, the win ensuring they would have at least one more game to keep creating them.
