“I need more from this team,” head coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “I thought we competed, but I think we needed to make adjustments, faster adjustments.”

No. 14 Oregon (36-10, 16-3 Big Ten) started its last home series against Ohio State (24-23, 11-8 Big Ten) with a 3-0 loss. Lyndsey Grein gave up two blasts, the offense was held off by a usually less than effective pitcher and the Ducks dropped their first Big Ten game since Mar. 26 against Northwestern.

Grein (7.0 IP, 3 R, 10 K), for the 22nd time this season, took the ball and the circle for the start. Her start was a typical game for her through the first three: not a lot of hard contact, good control and a lot of strikeouts. But something changed in the second half of the game, and things went downhill for the senior.

“I thought Lyndsey battled, and that she gave us an opportunity to win the entire game,” Lombardi said.

Kiki Estrada, a potent bat in the Buckeyes’ lineup, got the better of Grein in back-to-back at bats. She crushed two solo shots off Oregon’s ace, both to the bleachers in center field. 

But for the first three innings, nothing was going on for either squad.

Oregon was not finding its usual spark at the plate and while the Ducks weren’t hitless, they certainly weren’t getting on the board. A handful of hits and an error gave the Ducks a the opportunities to punch in runs, but Buckeyes starting pitcher Lorin Boutte (7.0 IP, 0 R, 7 K)got the Ducks to reach for outside of the zone often, which resulted in weak ground and fly balls

“I thought she did a good job of getting us to be late on her rise ball, and to have a lot of balls in the air,” Lombardi said. “We need to be on time on those. We need to hit the ball hard on the line. 

Boutte, who came into the game with an inflated 6.52 ERA and a WHIP of 1.60, tossed one her better starts of the season — especially against a top-25 opponent — and added four strikeouts.

“Ultimately, for us, we got to put runs on the board,” Lombardi said.

Grein, meanwhile, was doing her thing to start the game. She struck out the side in the third, had only allowed two baserunners through the first three innings, both on walks, and did not give up a hit. 

That was until the top of the fourth. Estrada promptly demolished a first-pitch fastball halfway up The Bob in center field, and with one swing the Buckeyes broke onto the scoreboard first and sent a hush over the crowd at Jane Sanders Stadium. 

That was the first blow Ohio State delivered to the Oregon armor. 

Grein got two quick outs in the top of the fifth, but a double over the head of Harper in left and a walk set up Abbie Wilhelm. A sharp ground ball to Katie Flannery at third looked to end the inning, but Skyler Limon beat the race to third, which led Flannery to make a quick but low throw to Rylee McCoy at first. The ball skipped away from McCoy, Limon dashed home and it was 2-0 Ohio State.

That was the second blow to the Ducks armor. 

Taryn Ho and Flannery singled to breathe life back into The Jane in the fifth. An uncharacteristic day at the plate looked to wash away, and who else but Elon Butler to step up for Oregon in a key, late game moment.

No cleansing occurred. Butler roped a ball to left field, but it was caught. Kaylynn Jones slapped a hard groundball to second, but was unable to beat the throw. One out and two on ended with no runs.

“I just think we need to string some hits together and get the ball out of the air,” Lombardi said.

Boutte delivered the final blow as she retired the side in order in the top of the seventh. A fly out to center, an easy groundball to third base and another one to shortstop was it.

Oregon will look to bounce back on Saturday at 4 p.m. for Game 2. The game will be broadcast via Big Ten Plus (video) and KWVA (radio).