“To get a sweep and to have our crowd have the impact they had, to have our alumni to have the impact, it was just such an impressive weekend,” Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi said.

The weekend culminated with a top-25 sweep for Oregon, and against a conference rival that was tearing it up coming into the series. Everything clicked and the team has never been more complete. 

First, the defense proved stellar throughout. Elon Butler threw two runners out on the base paths this weekend, Katie Flannery was, in Amari Harper’s terms, a brick wall at third base, freshman Taryn Ho looked like a seasoned veteran out at short stop and Kaylynn Jones held second base down with no problem.

“Defense wins championships,” Lombardi said. “And you got to see our defense just hold steady for us.”

It’s hard to pick just one player who saved the day out in the field. Flannery had two incredible off balance throws to get the outs on a couple bunts, Butler showed off her arm and the fear she instilled in the Huskies kept them from advancing, Ho and Jones flashed leather up the middle — it was a great weekend in the field.

“She knows she’s good enough. She’s just elite, what she’s doing,” Lombardi said. “I don’t look at her as a freshman.”

That confidence the defense provided led to even better pitching from the already elite Oregon staff.

“(The defense) does make it look easy,” ace Lyndsey Grein said. 

Grein started each game,only posting one subpar inning and the return of Elise Sokolsky proved substantial. Against one of the best offensive teams in the Big Ten, the two only gave up eight of the nine runs that the Huskies scored over the series. 

Though Grein pitched in all three games, Sokolsky, coming off an injury, was solid herself. In her first outing, she pitched 4.2 innings with two strikeouts and only gave up two runs. Her second outing built on the first; she went two innings, only gave up one hit and one run and got another strikeout. 

“I was really excited to be back out there with them,” Sokolsky said.

With the return of Sokolsky the pitching staff is rejuvenated and full again. Now, Lombardi can turn to anyone out of the pen, whether it be Grein, Sokolsky, Spencer, Milhorn or even Thompson. The depth is back and is a weight lifted off the shoulders going into the final couple series and into playoffs. 

Then there was the offense that was clicking. Emma Cox, who has been riding an incredible high at the plate going into the last couple series, crushed three home runs including a sixth inning go ahead grand slam; Butler crushed career home runs 50 and 51 after going hitless in the first two games of the series and Harper hit two shots, one off the scoreboard and one out to the street, in pivotal moments across the series. 

The Huskies were the first top-25 ranked team the Ducks had played in 59 days, and they did damage. Not only did the Ducks hand the Huskies their first conference loss, but they handed them their first conference series loss and followed that up by sweeping them on Sunday. 

Finally, everything worked in each of the three games . In the past, usually two or three cylinders were working at one time, and maybe there was one complete game where all three fired. 

“When (the cylinders) fire, we’re going to be extremely tough to beat and you got to see that all weekend long,” Lombardi said.

There were some hiccups along the way to the sweep. Oregon had to use three different arms in Game 2 and at times the offense got a little stagnant through the middle innings. 

But the recurring trend for the pitchers was the long ball. Those five home runs the staff gave up over the weekend did not hurt too much. With the defense working hard to keep traffic off the bases, all but one of Washington’s home runs were solo blasts. 

Regardless, the Ducks outscored the Huskies 16-9, a testament to the pitching staff to keep a huge offense off the board. 

A huge series sweep and a huge confidence builder going into the home stretch of the season. 

“I’m loving where they’re at. I think we’re in a really good spot here,” Lombardi said. 

Oregon has two series left, and a game against Oregon State on April 22nd. The first series is against a middle of the road Ohio State team that should be easy pickings for the Ducks. But the final series is going to be even tougher than Washington. The Ducks will end the season against UCLA down in Los Angeles; but, if they can carry this weekend series sweep through the final couple weekends, they should be a real threat come playoffs.