Associate head coach Sam Marder is in her fifth season on Melyssa Lombardi's staff, which was named the NFCA Regional Staff of the Year in both 2024 and 2025.
Marder's first four years in Eugene have coincided with four of the program's all-time top 10 seasons for slugging percentage, three of the best in terms of home run production and two top-10 marks for batting average and doubles.
The 2025 offense experienced a banner season under Marder's watch. Nationally, Oregon ranked third in hits (583), fourth in scoring (7.67 runs per game), fifth in RBI (438), eighth in batting average (.345), 10th in on base percentage (.438), 11th in home runs (86), 11th in triples (19) and 14th in slugging percentage (.574). Additionally, the Ducks ranked in the top five of the Big Ten in batting average, hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, walks (243) and on base percentage.
The team set or tied six program season records in 2025: runs, scoring, RBI, total bases (970), sacrifice flies (25) and stolen bases (175), and posted the second-best mark in school history in hits, triples, home runs and walks.
Oregon won the 2025 Big Ten regular season title and advanced to the WCWS for the first time in seven years with a 54-10 record (19-3 in the Big Ten). Two offensive players earned NFCA All-America second team honors: Kedre Luschar and Rylee McCoy. McCoy tied the school record with 19 home runs and was a Top 3 finalist for NFCA National Freshman of the Year. She also set the program record for extra base hits with 32. The Ducks were well-represented among offensive players on the 2025 NFCA All-Region and All-Big Ten teams. Kai Luschar, Kedre Luschar, Rylee McCoy and Paige Sinicki were members of both teams, while Stefini Ma'ake, Kaylynn Jones and McCoy were on the Big Ten's All-Freshman Team.
Highlighting the team's 2024 season were a .497 slugging percentage and 78 doubles. That spring was also when All-Pac-12 first teamer Ariel Carlson posted one of the best seasons in Oregon history, becoming the first player ever with 15 or more home runs (16), doubles (15) and steals (18). Carlson's 16 home runs are tied for fifth all-time at Oregon.
Her efforts in 2023 helped lead Oregon to its most successful season to date of the Lombardi era as the Ducks advanced to the NCAA Super Regional round for the first since 2018. Oregon went 38-17 overall and 14-10 in Pac-12 play in 2023 and spent every week of the season ranked in the NFCA and USA Softball polls. The Ducks ranked in the top four of the Pac-12 in batting average (.306), home runs (64), runs per game (5.78), slugging percentage (.494) and stolen bases (75).
Marder was also instrumental in the impressive seasons of Allee Bunker and Terra McGowan, who both earned the first All-America certificates of their careers. McGowan was also named the Diamond Sports national catcher of the year. Hanna Delgado and Morgan Scott joined Bunker and McGowan on the 2023 all-Pac-12 teams.
Bunker will go down as one of the all-time greats in program history. She finished her career ranked third in hits (285), second in doubles (46), fourth in RBI (169), fifth in runs (161) and seventh in batting average (.365). She was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2023 WPF Draft by the USSSA Pride.
During her first season in Eugene, Marder helped oversee a 15 percent increase in run production over the previous year as the Ducks averaged nearly six runs a game and advanced to the NCAA Regional Final for the second season in a row. Oregon also led the league in stolen bases per game (1.69).
Carlson made her way into the school record book with 15 home runs (tied for sixth), while McGowan became the first catcher to lead the team in batting (.375) since 2005. McGowan, Bunker, Delgado and Stevie Hansen were all named to the 2022 All-Pac-12 team, while Hansen, Sinicki and Allison Benning made the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.
Additionally, McGowan, Bunker, Delgado and Hansen were all named to the NFCA All-Pacific Region team.
Marder arrived in Eugene on June 28, 2021, after successful stints as a hitting coach with multiple programs following a standout career as a player. Her decade of collegiate coaching experience prior to her move to Eugene included stops at Oklahoma, Texas Tech, College of Charleston and Boise State. She also played two seasons in the National Pro Fastpitch league and was a three-time All-American at Ohio State from 2007-10.
At Oklahoma (2021), Marder was a part of the Sooners’ 2021 national title team as a volunteer analyst. She helped their offense to a record year in which they led the country in batting average, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and walks while scoring 10.63 runs per game.
Prior to her year at Oklahoma, Marder coached for four seasons at Texas Tech from 2017-20, spending the first two years as an assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach in 2019. While with the Red Raiders, Marder was in charge of the hitters and catchers.
Under Marder’s guidance, the Red Raiders saw a big improvement in their offensive numbers, going from hitting .243 as a team in her first in year in 2017 to batting .294 in 2018, before finishing second in the Big 12 with a .319 team average in 2019. She helped lead Texas Tech to a regional appearance in 2019, leading a balanced offense that saw six starters hit over .300 while four drove in at least 40 runs and five players hit at least eight homers.
While in Lubbock, Marder helped guide Jessica Hartwell to NFCA All-America honors in 2018 after she hit .400 while finishing second in the Big 12 with 20 home runs and third in the league with 61 RBIs. She also worked with catcher Kelcy Leach, a Big-12 All-Freshman performer in 2018 and second-team all-conference honoree in 2019.
Marder spent the 2014-16 seasons as an assistant coach at the College of Charleston, where she was in charge of working with the program’s hitters in addition to assisting with the defense. The Cougars turned in two of the top 10 hitting seasons in program history during her three seasons on staff, hitting .288 (4th) in 2014 and .286 (6th) in 2016. Marder also helped CoC set the school record for fielding percentage in a season with a mark of .974 in 2016.
She got her start in coaching as an undergraduate assistant while completing her Bachelor's Degree from Ohio State in 2011. She then served as a volunteer assistant at Oregon during the fall of 2011 before earning her first full-time position as an assistant coach at Boise State. She spent two seasons with the Broncos in 2012 and 2013. Marder worked primarily with the defense in 2012, leading the Broncos to a school record for fielding percentage that year before assuming the role as hitting coach in 2013, guiding an offense that saw three players hit over .340 for the season.
Playing Career
Marder enjoyed a decorated career as a player at both the professional and collegiate levels. She was a three-time All-American at Ohio State before being named the NPF Offensive Player of the Year in her second pro season.
She still holds the Buckeye career records for home runs (61), RBIs (191) and walks (232) and was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. Her career walks total also ranks sixth all-time in NCAA history. Marder is also ranked in the top 10 in three other career categories at Ohio State and was a four-time All-Big Ten and All-Region selection from 2007-10.
Marder earned first-team All-NPF honors following each of her two seasons as a professional with the Akron Racers. She hit .403 with seven homers and 17 RBIs in her first year in 2011 before earning league player of the year honors after batting .343 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs in her second year in 2012.
The Calabasas, Calif., native was a standout at Calabasas High School, where she was a three-time all-league selection. Her brother, Jack Marder, is currently an assistant coach with the Oregon baseball program.
