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Melyssa Lombardi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Melyssa Lombardi
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamOregon
ConferenceBig Ten
Record155–85 (.646)
Biographical details
BornGlendale, Arizona
Alma materOklahoma
Playing career
1993–1994Central Arizona College
1995–1996Oklahoma
Position(s)Catcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997Oklahoma (Student asst.)
1998–2007Oklahoma (asst.)
2007–2018Oklahoma (AHC)
2019–presentOregon
Head coaching record
Overall155–85 (.646)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As an Assistant:

Women's College World Series (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017)
10× Big 12 regular season (1999, 2000, 2009, 2012–18)

Big 12 Tournament (2001, 2007, 2010, 2017–18)
Awards
As an Assistant:

2017 NFCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year
4× NFCA National Coaching Staffs of the Year (2000, 2013, 2016–17)

11× Regional Coaching Staffs of the Year (1999-01, 2004, 2012–18)

Melyssa Lombardi is an American softball coach who is the current head coach at Oregon.[1]

Early life and education

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Lombardi graduated from University of Oklahoma in 1997 with a degree in Health and Sports Science.[2]

Coaching career

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Oregon

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On July 9, 2018, Melyssa Lombardi was announced as the new head coach of the Oregon softball program, replacing Mike White who left to be the head coach of Texas.[3]

Controversy

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When Lombardi became the head coach of the Oregon softball program, several players transferred from the program including Miranda Elish, Lauren Burke, Mary Iakopo, Shannon Rhodes, Megan Kleist, Maggie Balint, Alyssa Pinto, Mia Camuso, and Alexis Mack. Another player, Maddie MacGrandle, who transferred into the program that year quit the team midseason. This exodus of talented players left only one starter from the previous season's lineup still on the team, Haley Cruse. Most players did not speak publicly about their reasons for leaving but those who did cited concerns about the team culture.[4]

In her third season with the Ducks, the NCAA gave Texas the 15-seed and did not seed the Ducks, instead sending them to the Austin Regional. Oregon and Texas met in the finals, setting up the first showdown between Lombardi's team and Mike White's team, which included Burke, Iakopo and Rhodes. Oregon won the first game 3-2 in an extra inning walk-off. Cruse scored the winning run to beat her former coach. Texas won the second game, 1-0 as the Ducks couldn't get anything going offensively. Burke scored the only run of that game. Since Oregon had already dropped a game earlier in the regional this was their second loss, eliminating them from the tournament while Texas moved on to the Super Regionals.

Head coaching record

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College

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Oregon Ducks (Pac-12 Conference) (2019–2024)
2019 Oregon 22–30 5–19 9th
2020 Oregon 22–2 0–0 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Oregon 40–17 14–10 3rd NCAA Regional
2022 Oregon 33–19 10–14 5th NCAA Regional
2023 Oregon 38–17 14–10 5th NCAA Super Regional
2024 Oregon 32-22 13–10 4th NCAA Regional
Oregon: 187–107 (.636) 56–63 (.471)
Oregon Ducks (Big Ten Conference) (2025–Present)
2025 Oregon 0-0 0–0
Oregon: 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–)
Total: 166–93 (.641)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ "Melyssa Lombardi". GoDucks.com. Oregon Athletics. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  2. ^ "Melyssa Lombardi". SoonerSports.com. Oklahoma Athletics. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  3. ^ "Oregon taps OU's Lombardi as softball coach". ESPN.com. ESPN. July 10, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  4. ^ "Oregon Softball's Transfer Epidemic: Maggie Balint Discusses How the Ducks Roster Crumbled Under a New Regime". January 28, 2019.