Oregon's Chambers' Heroics in the Circle Led to First Super Regional Berth since 2023
When Oregon's Staci Chambers, redshirt senior entered Sunday night's Eugene regional championship game against Stanford, the last time she threw more than four innings was on February 8 against UNLV.
However, on Sunday night, when the lights were brightest and the pressure was palpable in the air, Chambers settled in and provided the Ducks with four scoreless innings.
Chambers entered the must-win matchup after starting pitcher Lyndsey Grein gave up a first-inning grand slam to Cardinal freshman Joie Economides. Economides struck again off Grien with a three-run home run in the third inning.
Outstanding effort in relief from @staci_lashea!
— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) May 19, 2025
4.1 scoreless innings, 2 hits, 2 K, 1 BB.
M7 | Ducks 7, Stanford 7#GoDucks | #Version7 pic.twitter.com/5G1tkwqpnU
When Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi went to the bullpen after Economides second home run, to the surprise of many softball fans who thought the first pitcher in relief would be redshirt junior Elise Sokolsky, Lombardi handed the ball to Chambers. Chambers entered the day with a 5.09 ERA and took over the game in the third inning with her team down four runs, 7-3.
Interestingly, in the matchup Chambers faced her former pitching coach Danielle O'Toole-Trejo, who now holds the same position with the Cardinal. However, the Cal State Fullerton transfer was calm and ready for the moment.
The fifth year, Staci Chambers had only thrown 18 IP until last night’s regional finale. @OregonSB was forced to go to the bullpen and @staci_lashea delivered 4.1 IP (her longest outing since Feb 8th) and allowed ZERO earned runs. @MelyssaLombardi’s staff mentality paid off. pic.twitter.com/0Cf0MELbMG
— Sydney Supple (@Sydney_Supple) May 19, 2025
"I was just trying to put the team in a sport for us to win the game," Chambers said after the game, "Everything was slowing it down. The game was high energy, high intensity, and I needed to do the opposite in order to put our team in a position to win."
Chambers provided the consistency the Ducks needed. She threw 4.1 innings where she gave up just two hits and recorded two strikeouts. Perhaps in the largest moment in her Ducks career, Chambers struck out the final out of the third inning and corralled the damage with runners in scoring position on the corners.
As Oregon hosts the Super Regional beginning on Friday, May 23, the Ducks will use their full staff and arsenal of pitchers, including Chambers who after this past weekend demonstrated she is poised and ready for the big moments.
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Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
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