Before the Melyssa Lombardi era of softball, Oregon and UCLA had this constant battle of who was the best team in the Pac-12. Both teams had impressive résumés, and softball fans had a hard time choosing the real champion of the conference.
When Lombardi took the reins of the Ducks in 2019, UCLA won its 13th national championship while the Ducks finished No. 9 in the Pac-12, one of their lowest rankings in program history.
Since then, Oregon has struggled to beat the Bruins. In the past four years, it’s only won four games against UCLA, which includes Friday’s shutout win. The Ducks have never been able to win two consecutive games against the No. 3 team in the country, and that streak continues as the Bruins beat the Ducks 7-4 on Saturday.
“We need to make sure our fight is always there,” said Hanna Delgado. “We need to continue to find that and use it.”
After a one-hour weather delay due to Oregon’s funky March snowstorm, both teams came out ready to hit.
Two of the Pac-12’s best pitchers, Stevie Hansen and former Oregon pitcher Brooke Yanez, faced each other for the first time and most fans expected a pitching duel, but that wasn’t the case.
In the top of the first inning, UCLA scored its first run after first baseman Jordan Woolery hit a deep single to left field after shortstop Maya Brady hit a double with a blooper over the third baseman’s head. During the bottom of the inning, Oregon responded with an Allee Bunker RBI after Terra McGowan walked and a single from Delgado.
The Bruins’ Megan Faraimo entered to relieve Yanez in the bottom of the first with runners at the corner with one out to try to end the inning, but after she overthrew the ball to first during a routine groundout, Oregon took the lead.
Each inning after, Oregon continued to put 11 runners in scoring position, but it couldn’t find that extra hit to get them home.
“It’s tough, you know,” Lombardi said. “We had an opportunity to win this game and it not be this tight of a ball game.”
Leading up to the fourth inning, UCLA was only able to put four runners on base, and three of them came all at once. With only one out in the top of the fourth, the Bruins loaded the bases with three straight batters. On an 0-1 count to center fielder Lauryn Carter, she hit a grand slam deep over the left field wall for her first home run of the season.
Once the teams returned to the field after the second weather delay of the day, Allison Benning was handed the ball for the first time since March 11 against Washington. In her longest appearance this season, she had her career high with four strikeouts and paired it with three hits, two walks and two earned runs in two innings.
Oregon finally responded to the fourth inning grand slam by a two-run home run from McGowan that brought the score within one. But UCLA catcher Sharlize Palacios hit a two-run home run to push the lead back to three. The Ducks put runners in scoring position in the final inning of the game, but weren’t able to bring them home again.
“You’re never out of the game until it’s over,” Lombardi said. “We battled until the last out.”
As the Ducks approach the halfway point of conference play, this is the second series in a row where they have been tied 1-1 heading into a Sunday game. After facing one of the top teams in the country, they will face in-state rival Oregon State (1-6) for a three-game road trip that should add to Oregon’s win column.
“We are right there,” Bunker said. “We need this.”
