EUGENE — We are live from Jane Sanders Stadium for this afternoon’s NCAA Regional winner’s bracket game between No. 16 seed Oregon and Stanford.

The Ducks (48-7) beat Weber State 8-0 in five innings Friday night and the Cardinal (41-11) defeated Binghamton 9-2 to setup today’s matchup. The winner advances to the regional final at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

The loser plays the winner of Weber State and Binghamton in an elimination game at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the regional final.

Oregon is 85-54 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 63-26 in Regional play, with 10 Super Regional appearances.

Refresh this page to follow live updates from today’s game (1 p.m., ESPN2).

2nd: STANFORD 2 OREGON 0

Top: Joie Economides smacks a solo home run to left, 2-0 Stanford. Caelan Koch strikes out swinging. Kylie Chung doubles off the wall in left center. Lyndsey Grein relieves Elise Sokolsky. Allie Clements

1st: STANFORD 1 OREGON 0

Top: Taryn Kern singles to center and Kedre Luschar boots it for a two-base error. Emily Jones RBI single up the middle, 1-0 Stanford. River Mahler pops out to short. Jade Berry grounds out to first, runner advances. Kyra Chan grounds out to first.

Bottom: Kai Luschar flies out to right. Paige Sinicki works a walk. Rylee McCoy hit by a pitch. Kedre Luschar grounds out to the pitcher, runners advance. Alyssa Houston relieves Kylie Chung. Emma Cox strikes out swinging.

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Stanford

2B Taryn Kern

CF Emily Jones

SS River Mahler

3B Jade Berry

LF Kyra Chan

1B Joie Economides

RF Caelan Koch

P Kylie Chung

C Allie Clements

DP Alyssa Houston

Oregon

LF Kai Luschar

SS Paige Sinicki

1B Rylee McCoy

CF Kedre Luschar

C Emma Cox

DP Stefini Ma’ake

RF Dez Patmon

2B Kaylynn Jones

3B Katie Flannery

P Elise Sokolsky

The softball regular season has come to an end, which means it’s time for the West Coast Conference to announce it’s end of season awards.. After a solid season, several Beavers earned postseason honors. Here’s who the voters highlighted.

Oregon State Softball: Looking Back at the 2025 Season

Pitcher Logan Hulon and Outfielder Jada Lewis were both named to the All-West Conference First Team. Lewis was the Beavers’ best batter this seaosn, leading the team in most offensive statistics, including batting average, OPS and OBP. She was also one of the best in the conference at stealing bases, succeeding on 16 of her 17 attempts this season. Hulon was the team’s ace on the pitching mound, putting together a 13-12 record over the season. She finished the year with an ERA of 2.86 and a WHIP of 1.27.

Two more Beavers made the All-West Coast Conference Second Team. One of them was the Beavers’ other starting pitcher, Elle Garcia. Garcia was neck and neck with Hulon in most statistics for the season, with an 11-11 record, a 3.44 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. OF Morgan Howey also made Second Team. Howey was also one of the team’s best batters, and one of the best fielders in the conference, with only 1 error on 115 fielding chances.

Former Oregon State Softball Coach Named to Hall of Fame

Another pair of Oregon State infielders made the list of Honorable Mentions. Jaeya Butler was another solid bat for the Beavers, and Tristian Thompson was the team’s best slugger, with a .538 slugging percentage and 10 home runs. Finally, infielder Paige Bambarger was named to the WCC’s All Freshman Team.

A few Beavers were also singled out for academic honors. Elle Garcia was named to the conference’s All-Academic Team, while Morgan Howey and Logan Hulon were named Honorable Mentions.

While they didn’t earn a postseason bid in 2025, this season was a strong statement from the Beavers, and there is plenty to build on for next year.

HONOLULU — Midway while sailing across the Pacific with just his cat named Phoenix, Oliver Widger reflected on why he thinks his many followers — more than a million on TikTok and Instagram — are drawn to his story of quitting his 9-to-5 job and embarking on a journey from Oregon to Hawaii.

“The world kind of sucks and, like, I don’t think I’m alone in how I felt with my work,” Widger, 29, told The Associated Press on Wednesday via Zoom. “You can be making $150,000 a year and you still feel like you’re just making ends meet, you know what I mean? And I think people are just tired of that and working really hard for nothing and want a way out.”

People are inspired by someone who found a way out, said Widger, who is among a growing number of people who have undertaken such voyages in recent years.

Being diagnosed four years ago with a syndrome that carried a risk of paralysis made him realize he hated his job as a manager at a tire company, a job requiring him to be clean-shaven and wear pressed shirts. He heard about people who sailed from California to Hawaii and decided that was the life for him.

He abruptly quit his job with “no money, no plan” and $10,000 of debt.

“I knew one thing: I’m buying a sailboat,” he recalled. “I’m sailing around the world.”

He liquidated his retirement savings, taught himself to sail mostly via YouTube and moved from Portland to the Oregon coast, where he spent months refitting the $50,000 boat he bought.

Now, Widger is harnessing the power of social media to fund his round-the-world sailing dream.

Since he set sail in April, followers have been tuning into his “Sailing with Phoenix” social media posts to view videos of him and his feline first mate battling the waves and bouts of seasickness, enjoying dazzling sunsets, recounting tricky boat repairs or just reflecting on life at sea.

As he discussed his journey with the AP, a netted bag carrying bottled water and snacks swung wildly over his head as the boat rocked.

He recalled highlights of the voyage so far, including marveling at the speed dolphins cut through the water and finding flying fish on the deck. There have been stretches when there were no birds in sight for days. It can be a struggle to sleep when the boat is creaking while being buffeted by waves or to steady a boiling pot for the MREs he has been subsisting on.

There have been harrowing moments like when a rudder failed and the boat tilted sideways in the surf for three hours as he made repairs, and the time he locked himself in the engine compartment and pried his way out with a wrench.

Widger acknowledged he is relatively inexperienced as a sailor, but he has implemented safety measures and communication backup plans, including a satellite phone and an emergency beacon.

Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Harms of the U.S. Coast Guard in Hawaii hasn’t been following the journey closely, but said he is relieved to hear Widger has the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, known as an EPIRB.

It’s a critical tool for rescuers to locate a mariner’s position during an emergency, especially in the Pacific, the largest ocean, Harms said.

Widger’s journey provides a good opportunity to educate the public about sailing safety, such as the importance of wearing a personal flotation device whenever topside on the boat, monitoring the weather closely and registering emergency tools like the EPIRB, Harms said.

“That’s a really critical piece for anybody that’s getting motivated by his story to go set off on their own adventure,” Harms said.

Until his arrival, likely in Honolulu, Widger is making sure everything is in place to avoid Phoenix having to undergo Hawaii’s animal quarantine. A mobile vet will sign off on Phoenix’s health when they arrive, he said.

Widger wasn’t aware of the deadly danger of cat feces to the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, but he has been keeping all his trash, including kitty litter, on board. Even though he said he is legally allowed to throw it overboard, seeing so much plastic in the ocean motivates him not to.

In addition to managing the practicalities of daily life on a boat, he is coping with going viral in the middle of the ocean by creating social media content and making decisions about merch his fans want to buy.

He credits it all to his neck issue, which “shook up my world and it changed my perspective on everything.” He also hopes he can be an inspiration for anyone who’s in a rut.

“Everything I’ve done I thought was impossible,” Widger said. “Sailing around the world is such a ridiculous dream. Whatever your dream is, just go, just do it.”