“Can we go to another gear as a team?” Ducks head coach Melyssa Lombardi said after Oregon softball’s win over Iowa. “I think this series certainly shows that we did that. You looked at the first game, you’ll look at the second and the third game, we won in all different ways.”

No. 18 Oregon (29-9, Big Ten 10-2) finished up the series with the Iowa Hawkeyes (21-16, Big Ten 5-10) with a matinee game on Easter Sunday with a 6-2 win. Oregon thrived off a phenomenal day in the field. Taryn Ho, Katie Flannery and Emma Cox fielded their positions with expertise and killed a number of Hawkeye rallies. The whole package was exhibited this weekend: great fielding, great pitching and great defense, setting the Ducks up well for a strong push into the rest of conference play.

“The defense was my absolute highlight,” Lombardi said. “I just thought the defense was tremendous.”

Grein (4.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 K) was given the ball as the Ducks looked to sweep the series. The senior had already had a chalk-full weekend in the circle, but that didn’t keep her from having another solid day in the circle. She was pulled in the fifth after a couple of knocks that put the Hawkeyes within one.

The Ducks scored for the 10th inning in a row across the series to open up the finale. A sacrifice fly from Amari Harper brought in Kaylynn Jones, who tripled off a botched running grab from Tory Bennett in right field.  

“Someone who I thought was just really, really good at the plate all weekend was K-Dub (Jones),” Lombardi said. “K-Dub was constantly on base, she came up with big hits, she came up with big walks. She is a sophomore, and I would think she’s a senior.”

Oregon plated 24 runs through the first two games of the series, but its offense started to quiet in game three. The streak of consistent scoring snapped in the second and the Ducks didn’t cross the plate again until the fourth inning with two-run blast from Ayanna Shaw, her first of her career.

“It felt like a homerun,” said Shaw. “I was watching, making sure it got over.”

While the offense waited to put another crooked number up, the defense produced its own magic.

Kiara Sipe singled to begin the fourth, and Leah McAnally doubled down the third base line. In a chaotic play, the lead runner Sipe ran through her stop sign at third base and she realized too late and got stuck in a run-down between home and third. During that time, McAnally took off for third. Emma Cox, while chasing Sipe back to third, tossed to Taryn Ho. Ho tagged out the retreating Sipe then, in a split second, turned to face the diving McAnally and tagged her out. The double play ended the inning.

“In practice, we do live situations all the time,” Ho said. “So when it comes to game time, it’s easy and it’s just second nature.”

The Ducks got another out on another run-down between third and home in the following inning, but it was not nearly as eventful.

Taylour Spencer (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER) came in for Grein and did her job. She got ground balls and was helped out by a brick wall infield. Iowa had hit the ball hard, but Flannery at third was a vacuum and so was Ho at shortstop, who laid out to snag a line drive before it could get past her. 

“Loved it, she retired eight out of nine batters,” Lombardi said. “Came in and just pounded the zone.”

Oregon pulled away with a three-run sixth inning. Jones tripled again and scored after the throw from the outfield went out of play, Ho had an RBI groundout and Stefini Ma’ake ripped an RBI single to extend the Ducks’ lead to 6-2. 

“We’re just doing it for the next person, and we’re not being selfish,” Ho said. “We’re doing whatever we can to score the run. It doesn’t have to be a home run.”

Spencer, with a four-run cushion, had no problem closing the game out and earning her first career save. The Ducks secured the sweep and their 10th conference win on the season.   

Oregon travels to College Park, Maryland for a three-game set against the Maryland Terrapins. The first game of the series will be broadcast via Big Ten Network while the last two are on Big Ten Plus. All games will have a radio broadcast through KWVA.