UO bb

Oregon’s baseball team dropped their opener with Michigan State, 2-0 at East Lansing, Michigan Friday, but the Ducks came back and beat the Spartans on Saturday, 13-5 & Sunday, 3-1. Oregon (16-8, 33-13) hosts Saint Mary’s on Tuesday, May 6, 6:05 p.m., PK Park, Eugene, televised on B1G+ Network.

OSU bb

Oregon State baseball (34-12) has one more game in Hawaii Monday, May 5, before returning home. The Beavers won the opener with the Rainbows, 11-4, Friday. On Saturday, OSU won 3-2, but Sunday, Hawaii won 5-0. Tonight’s game is at 9:35 p.m., televised on Spectrum Sports/ESPN+.

OSU sb

Oregon State’s softball team swept three WCC games at Pacific, Stockton, CA. The Beavers won Saturday, twice, 6-1 & 6-2. On Sunday, OSU beat Pacific 9-0. The Beavers (5-6, 22-21) play Loyola Marymount, Monday, May 5, noon, also at Stockton, CA.

Ducks SB Wins Big 10

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon softball didn't have to win Sunday in order to clinch the outright Big Ten regular-season title. The Ducks went ahead and did anyway. Looking to maintain momentum for the postseason and strengthen their case to host NCAA Regionals, the No. 3 Oregon softball team celebrated Senior Day at a sold-out Jane Sanders Stadium with a 7-6 win Sunday over Michigan State. UCLA's loss to Northwestern earlier in the day meant the Ducks were outright Big Ten champs regardless, but they'll enter the conference tournament Thursday with some momentum after Sunday's win. "I think it sets us up nicely," said UO senior Kedre Luschar, who had her fifth straight multi-hit game Sunday, and drove in three runs in all three games against the Spartans. "We always talk about how Sunday is the start of our week, so just being able to have today's win and just today's energy, taking that into the start of the tournament is going to be big for us." Oregon (47-6, 19-3 Big Ten) will open the Big Ten Tournament hosted by Purdue with a quarterfinal matchup Thursday. The Ducks will face the winner of Wednesday's first-round game between Michigan and Wisconsin. Luschar was one of six seniors honored in a postgame ceremony, along with her sister Kai Luschar, shortstop Paige Sinicki, catcher Abby Mulvey, pitcher Staci Chambers and outfielder Dezianna Patmon. They helped the Ducks clinch a share of the Big Ten title with a win Saturday, then celebrated their title and their final regular-season game at The Jane by popping bottles of sparkling cider on the outfield grass Sunday. "What I really love about this senior class is just how much they care," UO coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "… This senior group has been very welcoming and wanting to help the freshmen, because they understand that they're huge for us. To me, the quicker our athletes can settle in, the quicker that we can do things on the field. And what is required of that is for people to be able to be themselves. And I think our seniors have done a great job of letting everybody just be who they are and then flourish." Oregon's freshmen and seniors combined to score six runs and drive in six Sunday, with freshmen Stefini Ma'ake and Emma Cox hitting homers. They helped back UO pitching on a day aces Lyndsey Grein and Elise Sokolsky each surrendered three runs. Now, that mix of newcomers and veterans leads the Ducks into the postseason. "Very excited just to continue the journey with these girls," Ma'ake said. "It's something special, and (we're) just never wanting the journey to end." How It Happened: Grein started in the circle for the Ducks, but allowed two runs in the second and then a solo homer to open the third. On came Sokolsky, who had thrown 10 straight scoreless innings against the Spartans across a relief appearance Friday and a five-inning shutout Saturday. Sokolsky allowed one run in the fourth Sunday, and two more in the seventh. But she improved to 15-2 on the season nevertheless. "This weekend, it was required for Elise to show that she can show herself multiple times," Lombardi said. "Lindsay has been doing that all year; she's been going against the same team multiple times all year long. So it's good to see Elise be able to do the same thing. It's important. We're going to need that down the stretch." By the time Sokolsky surrendered a run in the fourth, Oregon had rallied to take the lead. Trailing 3-0 entering the bottom of the third, the Ducks scored five times, taking a lead they never surrendered. Kai Luschar walked and took third on a double by Sinicki, before Rylee McCoy walked to load the bases. Kedre Luschar singled in two runs to make it a one-run game, and the Ducks tied it on a fielder's choice by Cox. Ma'ake then followed with a towering two-run home run to left field for a 5-3 lead. "That one felt good off the bat," she said. "Oh yeah, I knew that was gone, but I didn't know how far it went. Everyone kept telling me, like, oh my gosh, you hit it to the tennis courts. I was like, nice." A two-out solo homer for Michigan State in the fourth made it 5-4. The Ducks got the lead back to two in the fifth, on a leadoff solo home run by Cox. Not content with a 6-4 lead, the Ducks added on again in the sixth. Sinicki walked with one out and stole second, then scored on a two-out triple by Kedre Luschar. That run proved crucial when the Spartans scored twice in the seventh. "We know that no matter what, we're going to keep trying to score," Luschar said. "We're not going to be complacent if we're ahead by one or two. Like, we want more, and we're always hungry for it." When the Ducks held on for the 7-6 lead, they got about the business of celebrating their seniors, and their outright Big Ten title. The celebration was emotional, but didn't quite have the same feeling of finality as some Senior Days, given that Oregon is in position to potentially host NCAA Regionals. Senior Day Families: "I'm pretty confident that we're going to be here again, so it didn't feel like the last one here," Luschar said. "And if it is, we still get to play with each other. So that's what we care about most." Notable: Oregon's 47-6 record matches the 2017 team for the best in program history. … Kai Luschar finished the game with 101 career stolen bases, one short of Janie Takeda's school record of 102 (2012-15). … Kedre Luschar hit .545 and drove in nine runs over the weekend. … Sinicki hit .571 with a double, a triple, a homer and five RBIs. Up Next: The Ducks will be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten quarterfinals Thursday (1:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).