On Opening Day, every team wants to start off on the right foot, to get a win and to have as few mistakes as possible. Oregon softball did that in superb fashion with a Lyndsey Grein no-hitter in their first game of the 2026 season. The rest wasn’t quite so perfect. 

The Ducks’ season kicked off Friday with two games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic down in Clearwater, Florida. The first game against the University of Missouri showed Grein back and maybe even in better form. 

Game 1: Oregon 3-0 Missouri

Grein achieved one of the greatest feats a pitcher can: a no-hitter. In her first start of the season, Grein toed the rubber and struck out 14 Tigers, walked only two and ended the day with 100 pitches on the dot. 

The Ducks offense was stagnant for much of the game. Until the sixth inning, the Ducks only had two hits on the day, both coming from sophomore second baseman Kaylynn Jones. Jones ended their first game 3-3 and scored one of Oregon’s runs. 

As Grein was throwing a gem of her own, Mizzou’s Marissa McCann was having a nice day of her own until the sixth inning, when the Ducks finally broke through. 

Oregon redshirt sophomore Ayanna Shaw led off the sixth inning in a scoreless game.  She drove a ball out to right center field that landed for an Oregon triple — the best Ducks scoring opportunity of the day up until that point. 

Wasting no time, junior third baseman Katie Flannery got a ball deep enough into left field to let Shaw tag-up at third base. The Ducks went into the bottom of the sixth with a 1-0 lead.

After Grein did her thing — two strike outs and a line out to Flannery — the Ducks took the seventh inning by storm, adding insurance runs. 

Catcher Emma Cox singled to start the last inning. Two more singles from shortstop Addison Amaral and Jones loaded the bases for centerfielder Elyse Kresho who hit into a double play: Kresho lined a ball to third base and Legg was doubled up.

Shaw made sure that Grein had runs on the board as she drove a ball into left center for her second extra base hit of the game, this time for a double. Both Amaral and Jones scored, giving the Ducks a 3-0 lead going into the last frame.

Grein struck out her first batter, induced a ground ball to Flannery at third, and caught the final batter of the game window shopping, freezing her for a strikeout looking and sealing her no-hitter.

Game 2: Clemson 6-5 Oregon

Elise Sokolsky took the mound for the Ducks in game 2 against Clemson University as the Ducks looked to follow up a stellar game one with another win.

After a short break between games, the  Ducks got on the board early. With one out, the Ducks worked the bases loaded on three straight walks from Clemon’s Lexie Hames. Hames was taken out for Abby Dunning. 

Cox reached on an error from Clemson third baseman Marian Collins, allowing Elon Butler to score. Following that, a sacrifice fly from Amaral drove in Rylee McCoy, and it was 2-0 Ducks by the end of the first inning. 

Clemson got its offense going in the bottom of the second with a walk followed by a single into right field just out of reach and past a diving Jones at second base.

Sokolsky’s 1-1 pitch to Clemson’s Corri Hicks later that inning was launched into center field, clearing the fence and giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Sokolsky bounced back, getting a strikeout, flyout and groundout in succession to end the second inning. 

Left fielder Amari Harper, with one out in the top of the third, launched a solo homerun into center field, tying the game back up at three apiece.

The top of the fourth started with two walks administered to Shaw and Stefini Ma’ake. A sacrifice bunt by Flannery drove in Shaw after a throwing error from the first baseman who was trying to nab Shaw at third base. Flannery advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt which Kresho, who came in for Ma’ake and stayed in the game in centerfield, got thrown out at home.

A sacrifice fly from Butler scored Flannery, putting the Ducks ahead by two, 5-3 going into the bottom of the fourth.

Sokolsky got a strikeout to start the fourth, but was pulled for Taylour Spencer after walking her the second batter she faced in the inning. 

To end the day, Sokolsky pitched 3.1 innings, struck out four, walked four and gave up three runs and three hits. She also registered her 400th career strikeout. 

A Cox double, a Shaw single and Kresho hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth. A Flannery pop-up to the second baseman ended the inning with no runs for the Ducks.

The Tigers got back within one in the bottom of the sixth on a one out Mac Pavese home run to center field: the third homerun to centerfield in the game. 

Following that homerun, Grein was back in the pitching circle to help close the game out for the Ducks, having just thrown a no-hitter only hours ago. She got a groundball for the second out, but things fell apart quickly for the Ducks. 

Two dropped pop-ups allowed the tying run to score. The first was a dropped pop-up by second baseman Jones. The next batter, Ava Wilson, popped up to very shallow left field, which was flubbed by Butler. 

Since it was two outs, the runner on first was running on contact, and was able to round the bases tying the game up for the first runs scored by Clemson since their three-run second inning.

A single into center field by Jamis Brockenbrough drove in Wilson from first. Clemson took a late 6-5 lead.

Grein got another pop up, to Jones again. This time, it was caught, but the damage was done. 

Despite an Amaral walk, Oregon did nothing at the plate to end the game. Sierra Maness replaced Dunning for Clemson, and shut the door on a 6-5 Tigers win.

Tomorrow, on Day Two of the NFCA Leadoff Classic, the Ducks take on Liberty University at 1:00 pm and the University of Tennessee at 4:00 pm, with broadcasts on Game Changer (video) and KWVA (radio).  

Read The Daily Emerald’s tournament preview here.