Stingy pitching, timely hitting and chaos on the base paths have been the driving forces behind Oregon softball’s near-perfect start to the season.

Sunday, those three factors brought the final game of the Oregon Classic to an early end.

Kai Luschar capped a six-run fifth inning with a walk-off RBI single as the No. 14 Ducks defeated Loyola Chicago 9-1 at Jane Sanders Stadium.

It was the 15th straight win for Oregon (20-1), which is off to its best start since going 24-1 to open the 2021 season.

The Ducks’ success in their first home weekend of the season came despite the absence of coach Melyssa Lombardi, who was away from the team tending to a personal matter. Associate head coach Sam Marder stepped in for Lombardi.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Marder said. “I think that we definitely faced a little adversity this weekend down our head coach. The biggest thing is we just wanted to make sure she knew we had her back. We’re the best when she’s here but it’s a testament to her that we can go be successful when she’s not here, too.”

The Ducks were up 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth but the chances for a big inning quickly gained momentum when Dezianna Patmon led off with her sixth home run of the season, a no-doubter just inside the foul pole in left field.

Back-to-back singles by Stefini Ma’ake and Paige Sinicki put two on base for Kedre Luschar, who brought them home with a one-out, three-run blast to left-center field that put the Ducks up 7-1.

Oregon put the next batters on when Katie Flannery was hit by a pitch and Kaylynn Jones singled to left.

Sophomore catcher Braiesey Rosa came up and drove a pitch down the left-field line for a RBI double that scored pinch-runner Regan Legg from second and moved Jones to third. It was Rosa’s first hit as a Duck in 17 career at-bats.

One batter later, Kai Luschar ended the game with her single.

Loyola Chicago ended Oregon’s string of 17 scoreless innings when Ali Pawlowicz hit a solo home run in the second inning off Taylour Spencer (3-1) – the only hit she allowed in five innings of relief of starter Rowan Thompson, who walked the first two batters.

“That kind of lit a fire under me for sure,” said Spencer, who got 10 straight outs after giving up the homer.

That one-run lead held up until the fourth when the Ducks scored three runs on a bases-loaded throwing error.

Oregon opened the tournament Friday with wins against San Diego and Portland by scores of 9-5 and 9-1, respectively.

On Saturday, the Ducks came back with a 6-0 win against San Diego as Lyndsey Grein (11-0) pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts to increase her NCAA-leading win total.

Also in the game, McCoy hit her team-leading ninth home run.

Oregon then defeated Loyola Chicago 8-0 in six innings as Elise Sokolsky pitched a three-hit shutout with six strikeouts.

“I think our pitching staff took a lot of the strain on this weekend,” Marder said. “I was really proud of how they led in that way. They said, ‘We’re going to be good, we want the ball, we’re gonna lead our team,’ and I was really proud of that.”

What’s next for the Oregon softball team

The Ducks remain home for the Jane Sanders Classic, which includes two games against No. 9 Florida State and one against Oregon State – the first of three nonconference games against the Beavers this season, and the only one in Eugene.

Oregon plays the Seminoles at 6 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. They play Oregon State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Ducks will also play Abilene Christian at 5 p.m. Sunday and 10:30 a.m. Monday next week.

Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG

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