2025 WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

May 29, 2025

Lyndsey Grein

Melyssa Lombardi

Kedre Luschar

Paige Sinicki

Oregon Ducks

Postgame Press Conference

UCLA 4, Oregon 2

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from Coach Lombardi and then go to questions just for players. If you have an opening statement, feel free.

MELYSSA LOMBARDI: I absolutely loved our fight tonight. This group has been waiting all day, we have been waiting all year to be in this moment. And to walk on this field and watch these guys look up and see the crowd and see our fans, and to just know how hard they worked all year to get here was just an unbelievable feeling.

I loved our fight throughout the entire game. It was a dogfight. I thought Lyndsey did a great job on the mound. Our defense was great. It was a total pitcher's duel, and I just look at two swings that were the difference maker.

But I'm just proud of these guys, how they came back, tied the game up and gave us a chance to win the ball game.

Q. Paige, walk us through your perspective on the play at the plate when a couple years ago you were on the other side of an obstruction call in Stillwater that went the other direction. So what was your perspective on the play at the plate and how she impeded your path at that point?

PAIGE SINICKI: Yeah, for me at third base, I know I was just going to figure out any way I could score. I definitely got lucky in that situation. But for me to just go into the base as if she was in the way, as she was, that's all I had to do.

And no matter what, I was going to figure out a way to score for the team in that situation in the seventh inning. So that's what was going on and the thinking in my head, just figure out any way to score.

Q. Lyndsey, you said a couple weeks ago how hitters sometimes are just going to hit their marks, that's just the way the game works. In a game where it felt like all your stuff was working and the one bomb was the mark on your left, just how much did you learn from this game where maybe coming into tomorrow there are no mistakes from here on out?

LYNDSEY GREIN: Yeah, I think the hitters get a vote too. It's part of the sport. It's part of the game. It's having that next-pitch mentality to move forward for my team. That's all you can do.

There's no point in looking back at the past. Just continuing to have a short-term memory and a really competitive mindset to focus on what's coming next. The future might not look perfect, but it also could work out really well for the Ducks, and I think it will.

Q. Kedre, how do you personally reset in this one? If not for one of those two swings, both your swing early and what looked like a far more incredible catch in center than you made it look like to most of us, were obviously two of the huge plays in the game up until the end there. How do you personally reset when you have the type of night you did up to that point?

KEDRE LUSCHAR: Yeah, doing what I can for my teammates. It's never I want to get on base for me. I want to get on base for my teammates. Like what Paige said, she's going to do everything she can to score. That's how we all are. We're going to do everything we can to get it done for each other.

Q. Paige, as a veteran of this team, is there anything after a loss like this that needs to be said to the team heading into tomorrow's game where obviously from here on out there's no room for error? It's win or your season ends at this point.

PAIGE SINICKI: Yeah, I think this group is so good at bouncing back. We've shown it all year. So I'm excited to see what we're able to do tomorrow.

For us, when we can change our mindsets to being competitive, we're so unbeatable. And I think that's what we're going to see tomorrow, just how can we relax and trust what we've been doing all year, and really just dive into each other and really buy into that because, once we have that, we're so, so, so good.

So I think today maybe we didn't see the type of game that we usually play, but I think looking forward, like, I know all of us want to keep and continue playing games with each other. So I think you're going to see that type of fight show up every day.

Q. Lyndsey, after the first, your first pitch strikes went up rather significantly; and yet some of their offensive success, particularly their big bets, picked up after that even when you were attacking the zone. What adjustments did they make there, particularly from some of their better hitters, Pola and Grant and Woolery, as the game went on to have a little bit of success?

LYNDSEY GREIN: Yeah, I think I always try to stay locked in on what I can do for our team, you know? It's more about our plan versus the other team's plan.

So I think just figuring out the umpire's zone. That's step one. And from there, collaborating with Coach and figuring out how we're going to get these batters out and working with Emma as well. And like I said earlier, the hitters get a vote, too. So I think just working pitch by pitch, and yeah.

Q. Lyndsey, before this game, you were the last pitcher to face UCLA five innings, complete game shutout in that one back in late April. You had your stuff working again tonight. What differences were you working with tonight versus the last game against them?

LYNDSEY GREIN: Yeah, I mean, I think I like to stick to my process as well. That's what our team is really big on across the board. So sticking to what I do and what my process is with Coach and Emma and the rest of my team.

And, yeah, we're at the College World Series. That's the only difference. We're not at the Jane. And I think moving forward, just making Oklahoma City just like Eugene and making that for us or our team.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. You guys are dismissed.

Questions for Coach.

Q. Missy, like I referenced, the obstruction rule a couple years ago went against you guys and it snowballed the other way. How confident were you going into the review that it was going to be overturned and it was going to be a tied game at that point?

MELYSSA LOMBARDI: I think you never know what the reviews are going to come back to, but seeing the play and looking at it from my vantage point, it looked like it was obstruction from the beginning to the end of the play.

Q. Just how impressive is it for Lyndsey to have another quality outing against a good offense, especially when the game is kind of shaped to favor hitters right now?

MELYSSA LOMBARDI: I love what she's doing on the mound, and I love our team and how they fight behind her. I'm really proud of her.

We're on the other end of this, but these guys, you're going to see a really good-looking team tomorrow. I love how these guys play and how they play for each other. She works her butt off for these guys, and they do the same.

I'm proud of her fight. It's tough to be on the other end of it, but we've been here before and we have that experience. These guys do a great job of putting it away and being ready to go for tomorrow. And so I'm looking forward to seeing her and her teammates back on the field ready to compete.

Q. Despite the outcome, it seemed like they played with a lot of joy. You're talking about the fight right now. It's such a big moment for a lot of these players playing in their first World Series. You have been here before. Did you say anything pregame to calm nerves?

MELYSSA LOMBARDI: Stick to the process. It's something we have been doing all year long. It doesn't matter where we're playing, who we're playing, it's about us. That's the most important thing in understanding what our process looks like, and for them to continue on.

For this group, it's their first time today to play at the World Series. And what an unbelievable thing for us. We've been waiting all year to be here.

So, again, I love their fight. A couple things go our way, and we could be on the other side of this. But what I do know is every time something doesn't go our way, how do we bounce back? And we bounce back the way the Ducks know how to bounce back.

Q. Coach, you talk about bouncing back, and after all of your losses, you have not followed it up with another one. Haven't lost consecutive games this year. How much and what are you telling your team going into tomorrow in the elimination game?

MELYSSA LOMBARDI: For them, we talk a lot about to have the ability to start fast, stay fast and finish fast. And I thought we started a little slow today. For them, I think you're going to see them start fast tomorrow.

Q. Missy, kind of a two-parter on the last at-bat there, but, one, I don't know if you had a chance to look back at it yet, but did Elise miss her spot or did Clements just coming through with a big hit there?

And, two, not that you have very many good options with Pola next, but because Clements had homered off Elise earlier in the season, was there any thought of managing around that or getting around her in any way?

MELYSSA LOMBARDI: We're in the moment. We're in the heat of the moment, and we're making those decisions. And we felt great about the decisions, and that's the decision we made and went with it.

Elise came in in relief and was excellent on the mound. I loved what she was doing.

Q. It gets lost in a game like this, but how much should we not lose sight of what Kedre did in this game on both ends? Because the hit early, but, again, that catch at center that by replay it sure looked like if she doesn't catch that or it goes off her glove it's going over the wall. And, again, that gets lost to a great play at the end. The things that you guys did on your guys' end that very well could have been the game-changing plays in the other direction?

MELYSSA LOMBARDI: Yeah, definitely. I loved watching Kedre come up and make that big play in center field and to sit on that and get a hit for us and score that RBI.

Kedre has been doing that all year. Those catches, I'm not even surprised anymore. It's almost routine for her. And then just how she's been coming up clutch all year has been so impressive.

Again, just extremely proud of her, and looking forward to seeing her do it again tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. That'll wrap things up. Thank you.