EUGENE — Maggie Balint, Oregon’s last returning pitcher and arguably its most important player entering 2019, is leaving the program and will transfer.
Balint was expected to take over as Oregon’s ace this season following the transfers of Megan Kleist (Louisiana-Lafayette) and Miranda Elish (Texas), but she was not with the Ducks during their team retreat this weekend or practice on Monday. A source with knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed Balint’s absence was due to her intention to transfer, though she was not in the NCAA transfer portal as of Monday morning.
UPDATE: Balint issued a statement via Twitter on Tuesday confirming she is leaving the program.
“It is with a very heavy heart I am sorry to announce that I am no longer going to be playing softball at the University of Oregon,” Balint wrote. “Due to lack of trust and much frustration over the past 6 months I have found myself questioning if Oregon is a good fit for me. So after careful consideration I’ve decided that I need to move on. As I try to figure out the future please know what a privilege and honor it was playing at Jane Sanders Stadium. I will never forget all the great memories especially the night 2,500 people stood and cheered for me, the most special moment of my softball career. I am so blessed to have played with some of the greatest athletes who I am lucky to call friends. Most importantly, I will never forget the fans, you showed nothing but love and support for me through my ups and downs and for that I am forever grateful! Thank you duck nation, you will always be in my heart.”
The junior right-hander was 7-1 with a 2.11 ERA with 62 strikeouts over 59.2 innings last season while coping with two bulging discs in her back.
As a freshman in 2017, Balint was 21-3 with a 1.12 ERA and .93 WHIP, all team-bests, with 152 strikeouts over 126 innings en route to being named first team All-Pac-12.
Balint’s decision to leave the program comes after former Oregon coach Mike White told the Register-Guard a differing account of his meeting with UO senior women’s administrator Lisa Peterson about a raise prior to his accepting the job at Texas, where he agreed to a five-year contract for a reported $450,000 annually. In an email to the Oregonian/OregonLive, White made the same claims and said his salary is $505,000.
“I said that I was not interested in bargaining as Texas told me up front that they did not want to get into a bidding war,” White wrote via email. “I respected that but felt I owed it to UO, the fans and the players to at least give Oregon the chance to keep me at UO and pay me in the top 5 coaches for salary. I told Peterson that I had a price in mind that was going to be what I believed to be below what Texas was going to offer. I told Peterson that my price was $400,000. When she heard that she laughed at me and replied, ‘If that is what Texas is going to pay you then go ahead.’”
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said the school was willing to negotiate with White but was “not in a position to pay outlier salaries," specifically $500,000.
Last week, first-year Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi credited Balint for her leadership in helping incoming transfers Jordan Dail and Maddie MacGrandle get acclimated with the team.
“We really relied on (Balint) a lot this fall and she did a great job on the mound,” Lombardi told the Oregonian/OregonLive two weeks ago. "She is a competitor. She really gets after it. I’m really looking to her to lead. Pitchers, they’re the only ones that stand in that circle and they need to know how to lead. I think we got to see a little bit of that from her this fall and I’m really looking forward to seeing her take that lead in the spring.”
Balint is the seventh player to leave Oregon softball this offseason, joining former Ducks Miranda Elish, Lauren Burke, Shannon Rhodes and Mary Iakopo, who all left to play for former UO coach Mike White at Texas, Alyssa Pinto (Ole Miss) and Kleist, who is completing her degree at Oregon before heading to Louisiana-Lafayette next season.
With Oregon entering the third week of the winter quarter and nearly every school already having resumed classes, it’s unlikely Balint could play elsewhere this year.
Justin’s World of Softball first reported Balint’s departure, which leaves Oregon with 16 players, including only Dail and MacGrandle in the circle. The two sophomores, who combined for 133 innings last season at Virginia Tech and Texas A&M, respectively, will have to make up for over 400 innings of work the Ducks lost from last season.