When Oregon softball head coach Melyssa Lombardi told the Daily Emerald earlier this season that “this is probably the fastest team I’ve ever had,” it seemed apt. It’s one of those stats that passes the eye test as much as the math backs it up, and her team has proven itself worthy of that moniker in 2024. The Ducks’ Kai Luschar leads the conference in stolen bases (16) and five others find themselves in the top 25 this season, but they also constantly look for the opportunity to do so. It hasn’t been to the tune of scoreboard-busting wins, yet, but the signs of a trump card are visible in Eugene.
The impact of that speed has been dampened so far this season, as Oregon’s offense has struggled its way through play early in the year. Seven times, it failed to score more than two runs. Those games came against good teams — No. 5 Clemson amongst them — but those are the teams that Oregon must beat in order to reach its full potential.
Also important is how unique that advantage is. No school save for Arizona State has as many players in the top 25 for stolen bases. “They can just make something out of nothing,” Lombardi said. “I love how aggressive everybody is on the basepaths.”
But if Oregon’s team is to rise out of a fiercely competitive Pac-12 conference — five West Coast schools appeared in ESPN’s preseason top 25 and two others received votes — it must rely on that facet of its offense.
“You can just tell that the other team gets nervous when most of our team gets on base because we all create chaos,” Luschar told GoDucks after Oregon’s 5-2, series-clinching win over No. 15 Cal on March 9.
That focus on what they call chaos is truly organized in a program-wide message — through the players, and through the coaches, who are on the lookout for any opportunity to grab an extra bag.
“In the beginning of the year, it was my goal to get a certain amount of stolen bases. We’re getting there,” Luschar told GoDucks.
Luschar’s goal? 35 bags — more than her totals in 2023 (14) and 2022 (7) combined. That number would be the most since 2015, when another Duck (Janie Takeda) stole 35 bases on 38 attempts.
“I don’t really notice,” Luschar said. “But I want to get one stolen base a game.”
Lombardi is more than aware of the impact that her team’s speed can have on each game.
“One thing that we do know is that we have speed, so how are we going to use [it]?” the sixth-year head coach told GoDucks. “[We use it] when it’s driving somebody in and using our speed to run around the bases but then also too if we do have to go to small ball then we have the speed to do that as well.”
Ranked outside the national top 25 for the first time since 2019 headed into the Pac-12 opening series against the Golden Bears, that speed looked like the spark that could light a fire under Oregon’s seniors. Despite making a run to the Super Regional last season, there’s the idea that this team will look very different next year: nine of the currently rostered players are either fourth or fifth-year seniors.
Those stolen bases, no matter how or when they occur, are vestiges of a waning edge that the Ducks have. With an relentless conference slate ahead of them, it’ll be on the small things — the unique things — to push them back towards the heights that they claim they can reach. It’s not stressful; “It’s fun,” Luschar said, but that will be something — maybe the most important thing — that they lean on this year.
