| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Oregon |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Record | 239–116 (.673) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | Glendale, Arizona, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Oklahoma |
| Playing career | |
| 1993–1994 | Central Arizona College |
| 1995–1996 | Oklahoma |
| Position(s) | Catcher |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1997 | Oklahoma (Student asst.) |
| 1998–2007 | Oklahoma (asst.) |
| 2007–2018 | Oklahoma (AHC) |
| 2019–present | Oregon |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 239–116 (.673) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| As a Head Coach: Big Ten regular season (2025) As an Assistant: 4× Women's College World Series (2000, 2013, 2016, 2017) 10× Big 12 regular season (1999, 2000, 2009, 2012–18) 5× Big 12 Tournament (2001, 2007, 2010, 2017–18) | |
| Awards | |
| As a Head Coach: Big Ten Coach of the Year (2025) As an Assistant: NFCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year (2017) 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]
Lombardi graduated from University of Oklahoma in 1997 with a degree in Health and Sports Science. [2]
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]
The 2024-2025 season marked Oregon's move from the Pac-12 conference to the Big Ten, along with Washington and UCLA. Lombardi led Oregon to a 19-3 conference record, winning the Big Ten Conference Championship for the regular season. This was Oregon's first conference championship since Lombardi took over the program, their most recent championship coming in the Pac-12 in 2018. As a result, Lombardi was named the Big Ten Softball Coach of the Year. [4]
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. [5]
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.
| 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 Finals | ||||
| 2022 | Oregon | 33–19 | 10–14 | 5th | NCAA Regional Finals | ||||
| 2023 | Oregon | 38–17 | 14–10 | 5th | NCAA Super Regional | ||||
| 2024 | Oregon | 30–21 | 13–10 | 4th | NCAA Regional Finals | ||||
| Oregon: | 185–106 (.636) | 56–63 (.471) | |||||||
| Oregon Ducks (Big Ten Conference)(2025–Present) | |||||||||
| 2025 | Oregon | 54–10 | 19–3 | 1st | Women's College World Series | ||||
| Oregon: | 54–10 (.844) | 19–3 (.864) | |||||||
| Total: | 239–116 (.673) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||