Luschar draws bases-loaded walk in 10th inning to give Oregon a 6-5 win over Ole Miss in Women’s CWS

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Kedre Luschar walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to send Presley Lawton home and give Oregon a 6-5 victory over Mississippi in a Women’s College World Series elimination game Friday night.

Oregon (54-9) scored three times in the fifth inning to take a 5-2 lead, but Ole Miss (42-21) responded with three runs in the seventh to tie the score against starter Lyndsey Grein.

Pinch hitter Jamie Mackay knocked in two runs with a double to make it 5-5.

Oregon advances to play on Sunday against the loser of Saturday’s game between Oklahoma and Texas.

“Just an unbelievable battle by our team,” Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi said. “I’m so proud of their fight. All year long, they’ve been put into different situations and having to come through, and I feel like all these situations throughout the year has prepared them for this evening.”

Kedre Luschar and sister Kai combined for five hits and three runs for the Ducks. Aliyah Binford took the loss in relief for the Rebels.

“Incredible, hard fought game,” Ole Miss coach Jamie Trachsel said. “Obviously, you don’t want to be on this side of it, especially in the World Series. But to our team, just super proud of them. Proud of the season. It was special, the run that we had, the growth that we made throughout the entire year.”

Persy Llamas had two hits and drove in a pair of runs for Ole Miss, making its first World Series appearance. Her RBI single in the in the fifth inning tied it at 2.

But Oregon answered with three runs to take control against Rebels’ starter Brianna Lopez.

Ole Miss scored the game’s first run on a first-inning RBI single by Llamas. Oregon answered with two runs in the first to take a 2-1 lead.

Grein got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, but was pulled in the fifth after Jaden Pone reached third with two outs. Llamas singled sharply to right off reliever Staci Chambers to tie the score.

“Yeah, I think just we’re ready to go at any point and we all have each other’s backs,” Kedre Luschar said. “One thing about us is we’re going to fight no matter what, and it was really cool to see that tonight, that there was no way we were letting them beat us.”

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

By TIM WILLERT
Associated Press