The games at Jane Sanders Stadium sound like a skipping record. Fans saw another Oregon win in the same fashion they’ve grown accustomed to: great pitching from ace Lyndsey Grein and Elon Butler having another multi-RBI day and the offense putting up 10 total runs thanks to a late blast from Amari Harper. 

“Tonight’s atmosphere, it felt like the postseason,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said.

No. 18 Oregon softball (27-9, Big Ten 8-2) returned home after a long stretch on the road where the Ducks put in a solid performance in the midwest and came out of the stretch with a 5-2 record. The Iowa Hawkeyes (21-14, Big Ten 5-8) came into Eugene with a three game losing streak after a tough series against Washington.

Grein (6 IP, 2 H, 5 K)  took the circle for her 15th start of the season and shoved, only allowing four total Hawkeye base runners and registering her 600th career strikeout. Grein came into the game with 102 innings pitched on the season, making her the third most used pitcher in the Big Ten. 

“I thought she commanded the ball well,” Lombardi said. “There’s days where she gets a ton of strikeouts and maybe days where not as many. But we just need her to be really good at what she does. 

The hottest hitter for Oregon opened up the scoring for the Ducks. 

Butler absolutely demolished the second pitch of the game for a solo blast that reached the flag poles beyond right center field on the fly. Butler now had 23 RBI at The Jane — her home RBI count ties her for third-most RBI on the team. 

“Just able to be at home,” Butler said about her great performances at home. “Just being able to go through my routine and kind of reset and ground myself too is just really helpful.

The slugfest soon spread to Harper, who launched a two-run, no-doubt missile to The Bob. It was a quick three run cushion for Grein to begin the game.

“Not trying to do too much,” Harper said about her approach at the plate today. “Not trying to think too much. Just trust my barrel and see what happens.”

More offense came in the bottom of the fourth. Ayanna Shaw and Taryn Ho led the inning off with consecutive singles. While Shaw scored on a set of wild pitches, Ho and Regan Legg (pinch running for Rylee McCoy, who walked) had to wait to be driven in by Emma Cox.

Presley Lawton (pinch running for Cox) scored with two outs when Iowa left fielder Echo Mattiello laid out hoping to corral a sinking blooper from Kaylynn Jones. Mattiello initially had the ball caught, but the eject-o-mitt was on as the ball got away, plating the seventh Oregon run.

Elyse Kresho, who took over for Butler in right field, got her first career knock in the sixth. She drove an RBI double into the right centerfield gap and stood at second base beaming.

“These guys were going nuts in the dugout,” Lombardi said.

Harper delivered the knockout blow with a walk-off two run homerun to center field to seal the 10-1 run rule victory for the Ducks. 

The Ducks return for game two of the series on Saturday at 4:00pm. The game will be broadcast via Big Ten Plus (video) and KWVA (radio).