In March 2024, then-Cal sophomore Elon Butler smashed six RBI on two home runs and a sacrifice fly to lead the Bears to an 11-5 win against Oregon at Jane Sanders Stadium. 

Almost two years later, Butler was back at the plate in Eugene, and turned in another six-RBI performance in the Ducks’ first home game of the spring season. In the second, she delivered her moment.

Her great day at the plate, coupled with Lyndsey Grein’s perfect performance on the day, helped Oregon run-rule Stetson in the first game of the Oregon Classic and beat Idaho State in extra-innings in the second. 

No. 18 Oregon softball (10-6) is back home at Jane Sanders Stadium to begin the Oregon Classic and a stretch of three weekends with a home series. The Oregon Classic will see the Ducks play three different teams across the weekend: Idaho State University, Stetson University and Samford University, with the Ducks Friday matchups set against Stetson and Idaho State.

Game 1: Oregon 10-1 Stetson

Left field at Jane Sanders Stadium saw a lot of action as Oregon slugged its way through the first game of the Oregon Classic. Behind Elon Butler’s hot bat, the Ducks run-ruled the Stetson Hatters 

Oregon ace Lyndsey Grein also had herself a day. She started the day with a fly out, but then fell into a groove and struck out the next eight Hatters batters she faced. She finished after four and was perfect on the day.   

“Emma makes me look good,” Grein said. “For me, it’s just throwing the ball through her mitt.”

The Ducks jumped on the board early with a Butler double in the left center field gap that scored Kaylynn Jones and Ayanna Shaw. A fake steal gave Butler enough time to crash home from third, which gave Grein a 3-0 lead by the end of the first.

Oregon worked the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the second and Butler drove them all home with a sizzling line-drive grand slam in the same place she doubled the inning previous, tying her career high in RBIs (set in Eugene in 2024) at six.

“I love it here,” Butler said. “It was good to play my first home game, so it was amazing.”

Addison Amaral tattooed a towering two run blast into the left field netting in the bottom of the third. The Ducks had scored in each of the first three innings and led the Hatters 9-0. At that pace, Oregon looked to secure their second run-rule victory of the season.

Before all was said and done, the Ducks scratched across one more run on a Braiesey Rosa single. Rowan Thompson got her first appearance of the season, and while she did give up a home run, Oregon held on to run-rule Stetson 10-1 after five innings.

Game 2: Oregon 4-3 Idaho State

A nail biter for the Ducks in extra-innings rose again. But as fate would have it, the Ducks had Butler up to begin the eighth with the ghost runner, Presley Lawton, on second base. Who else could come through again but Butler as she drove a ball just above the leaping Bengals short stop into left field? Lawton flew home, beat the throw and Butler had her Oregon moment. 

“I didn’t feel for a second this team panicked,” Associate Head Coach Sam Marder said. “I felt this team just knew it was a matter of time (before) we broke through.” 

Earlier, Sokolsky was bitten by the homerun bug for the fifth time this season after Bengals right fielder Kira Day launched a towering fly ball into left field that gave Idaho State a two run lead after the second. Sokolsky bounced back and struck out Kennedy Dudley to end the frame.

A one out, opposite field single for Kaylynn Jones started something for Oregon as Shaw followed up with a single of her own, which gave the Ducks two on base with one out. Harper moved both up on a dribbler back to the circle, and Butler drove in her seventh run on the day with a rocket off the ankle of Bengals pitcher Kasey Aguinaga. 

In the innings after the Day home run, Sokolsky settled down. She retired the side in order in the third, struck out two in the fourth and gave up only one base hit that was just out of reach of a diving Taryn Ho at shortstop.

In the bottom of the fourth, Ho drove a ball into the right center gap and flew around the bases for a triple. The tying run was 60 feet away with one out, and Emma Cox drove her in with a sacrifice fly to right. 

Sokolsky’s day was done after a double and a hit-by-pitch in the top of the fifth. Though she bounced back after the long ball, the Ducks wanted to get out of the fifth with little to no damage, so Maddie Milhorn was called upon. 

The Bengals regained their lead with a Jaden Moore bullet of a double off the bottom of the center field wall. Day scored from second, and the Bengals still had runners on second and third base with one out. Milhorn, though, pitched out of it and escaped the inning despite surrendering the lead.

Grein was back out in the pitching circle for the Ducks in the sixth. She pitched four perfect innings in the game against Stetson just a few hours previous, and she was perfect again in the sixth.

“When you step onto that field, you cross that line, it’s go time.” said Grein. And she delivered. She was perfect in every inning she pitched and ended the day with 14 strikeouts. 

Butler continued to be hot at the plate. She led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to left field, and the Ducks had the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Stefini Ma’ake pinch hit for Rosa and drew an HBP, and Ho moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt.

Oregon tied up the game for the second time after Cox drove in Butler from third with a groundball off the pitcher, but that was it for the inning.

After a scoreless seventh inning, the game went into the eighth tied 3-3. 

“When you have an offense like this, you know we’re going to come through at some point,” Grein said.

Rosa displayed gold glove defense to keep the game alive for the Ducks. With a full count and two outs in the top of the eighth, a slicing line drive in right field seemed ticketed to land. Rosa fully laid out and took the ball right off the ground to end the inning. 

“I was so proud of her,”  Butler said. “It’s good to see her finally thrive and just do her thing.”

Butler was the hero again. A line drive into left field scored the winning run for the Ducks, Butler’s eighth RBI on the day, and the Ducks took both games off Butlers’ hot bat.

“Honestly, my first thought is that we’re winning this game.” Butler said. “I had no doubt in myself and in my teammates that we were going to win this game.”

Oregon will be back tomorrow against Stetson at 3:30 p.m. and Samford at 6 p.m.. Both games are available on Big Ten Plus and KWVA.