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Oregon demolishes Liberty to reach first WCWS since 2018
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Oregon will head to its first Women’s College World Series appearance since 2018, and it took getting past the darling of the NCAA Tournament in the Super Regionals to get there!
The Ducks entered the postseason as the No. 16 seed in the final field. However, Oregon found itself hosting the Eugene Super Regional after Liberty took out Texas A&M, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
The Flames entered that Super Regional with the same fight and grit they displayed against the Aggies, forcing Game 1 on Friday to go into extra innings. The Ducks eventually captured that game, 3-2, setting up Saturday’s Game 2 as a win-and-advance moment for Oregon.
That game would prove to be all about the Ducks with a solo home run from Paige Sinicki contributing to a 2-run 2nd inning for Oregon, and the team never looked back. A 3-run home run by Emma Cox and a 7-run 7th inning powered Oregon to a 13-1 blowout win over Liberty, eliminating the Flames from the tournament.
Sinicki was the offensive star for Oregon with 3 hits, 2 runs and 4 RBI in the blowout victory, including a bases-clearing triple in the final inning. The 13 runs scored are the most ever for the Ducks in a Super Regional game.
In the circle, Lyndsey Grein went the distance with 10 strikeouts and no walks, scattering just 3 hits and a lone earned run in the win. The Ducks are currently just the 3rd team to punch their ticket to Oklahoma City for the WCWS, joining No. 2 overall seed Oklahoma and No. 12 seed Texas Tech.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.