Weekend Slate Will Test Oregon's Mettle
02/22/18 | Softball, @GoDucksMoseley
The Oregon softball team faces four ranked foes in three days this weekend in Palm Springs, and wants to execute better in the short game after a one-run loss to Ole Miss last week.
Ask and ye shall receive, UO softball coach Mike White is learning.
After Oregon softball's powerful opening weekend to this season, in which the Ducks hit 17 home runs in six games, White wanted to see how the team would handle a low-scoring affair, in which small-ball was necessary to manufacture runs. He got one last Saturday night, in Oregon's first loss of the season, 1-0 to Ole Miss.
And on the heels of recent Women's College World Series performances in which the UO softball team came up short of a title, White wanted to test the Ducks more often in the preseason. He'll get that this week, at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., where the Ducks will face four ranked opponents in three days, beginning Friday against No. 18 Oklahoma State.
The loss to Ole Miss was fifth-ranked Oregon's first of the season, after nine consecutive wins. When the team returned to practice Tuesday, two days after the one-run loss and prior to this weekend's tournament that also includes No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 11 Tennessee and No. 7 Louisiana State, the Ducks knew what they were in for.
"Short-game is what we're going to work on today, I can 100 percent guarantee you," senior shortstop DJ Sanders said.
Sanders has contributed to Oregon's early season power surge, with six of the team's 19 home runs through 10 games. But in the nine-inning loss to Ole Miss, Oregon had two on and less than two out in each of the last three innings, yet couldn't manufacture a run.
To win against SEC teams like Ole Miss, as well as Texas A&M, Tennessee and LSU this weekend, will require mastering another acronym, White said.
"S-A-C-B — sac bunts," the UO coach said Tuesday. "We didn't execute three innings in a row, and that was the killer for us. You get into the postseason, you're going to have to do that."
A year after Oregon won an NCAA-record-tying 35 straight games to open the season, White compiled a 2018 schedule that presented a much stiffer challenge. His hope is that games like last week's against Ole Miss in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, or those at this week's Mary Nutter Classic, will pay dividends down the road, during the Pac-12 gantlet and hopefully another trip to Oklahoma City.
"The atmosphere down there and the way it played out was very much like a postseason game," White said. "It was a lot of stress, a lot of pressure — you could see it amongst our players. We got quiet, withdrew a little bit. We couldn't get the short game down, and it was like, 'Oh boy, there's some great coaching moments coming up here.' Even though we lost, it's what we do after we lose that really matters the most."
A few Ducks bring momentum into the Mary Nutter Classic, beginning with junior ace Megan Kleist. The right-handed dropball specialist struck out 26 in two starts last week, including a career-high 16 while pitching into the ninth against Ole Miss.
Knowing Kleist can handle two weekend starts in Pac-12 play, White this week will get a better idea of who can pitch the third game of a conference series. It could be Miranda Elish, who has 27 strikeouts and just one walk in 15 1/3 scoreless innings so far this season. Or it could be her sophomore classmate Maggie Balint; both figure to be needed against this weekend's slate of ranked opponents.
At the plate, senior Jenna Lilley will look to sustain momentum after hitting .567 through the opening two weeks of the season. Always a strong finisher to the season, Lilley sought to replicate that focus from the start as a senior, and it has paid dividends.
But ever the perfectionist, Lilley like her head coach wants to see the Ducks execute better in the short game beginning this week.
"(Assistant coach Chelsea Spencer) always says it's the little things," Lilley said. "It's the basics: catching and throwing. I put bunting in there. I think bunting is a basic we should be able to go to when we need to."
After Oregon softball's powerful opening weekend to this season, in which the Ducks hit 17 home runs in six games, White wanted to see how the team would handle a low-scoring affair, in which small-ball was necessary to manufacture runs. He got one last Saturday night, in Oregon's first loss of the season, 1-0 to Ole Miss.
And on the heels of recent Women's College World Series performances in which the UO softball team came up short of a title, White wanted to test the Ducks more often in the preseason. He'll get that this week, at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., where the Ducks will face four ranked opponents in three days, beginning Friday against No. 18 Oklahoma State.
The loss to Ole Miss was fifth-ranked Oregon's first of the season, after nine consecutive wins. When the team returned to practice Tuesday, two days after the one-run loss and prior to this weekend's tournament that also includes No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 11 Tennessee and No. 7 Louisiana State, the Ducks knew what they were in for.
"Short-game is what we're going to work on today, I can 100 percent guarantee you," senior shortstop DJ Sanders said.
Sanders has contributed to Oregon's early season power surge, with six of the team's 19 home runs through 10 games. But in the nine-inning loss to Ole Miss, Oregon had two on and less than two out in each of the last three innings, yet couldn't manufacture a run.
To win against SEC teams like Ole Miss, as well as Texas A&M, Tennessee and LSU this weekend, will require mastering another acronym, White said.
"S-A-C-B — sac bunts," the UO coach said Tuesday. "We didn't execute three innings in a row, and that was the killer for us. You get into the postseason, you're going to have to do that."
A year after Oregon won an NCAA-record-tying 35 straight games to open the season, White compiled a 2018 schedule that presented a much stiffer challenge. His hope is that games like last week's against Ole Miss in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, or those at this week's Mary Nutter Classic, will pay dividends down the road, during the Pac-12 gantlet and hopefully another trip to Oklahoma City.
"The atmosphere down there and the way it played out was very much like a postseason game," White said. "It was a lot of stress, a lot of pressure — you could see it amongst our players. We got quiet, withdrew a little bit. We couldn't get the short game down, and it was like, 'Oh boy, there's some great coaching moments coming up here.' Even though we lost, it's what we do after we lose that really matters the most."
A few Ducks bring momentum into the Mary Nutter Classic, beginning with junior ace Megan Kleist. The right-handed dropball specialist struck out 26 in two starts last week, including a career-high 16 while pitching into the ninth against Ole Miss.
Knowing Kleist can handle two weekend starts in Pac-12 play, White this week will get a better idea of who can pitch the third game of a conference series. It could be Miranda Elish, who has 27 strikeouts and just one walk in 15 1/3 scoreless innings so far this season. Or it could be her sophomore classmate Maggie Balint; both figure to be needed against this weekend's slate of ranked opponents.
At the plate, senior Jenna Lilley will look to sustain momentum after hitting .567 through the opening two weeks of the season. Always a strong finisher to the season, Lilley sought to replicate that focus from the start as a senior, and it has paid dividends.
But ever the perfectionist, Lilley like her head coach wants to see the Ducks execute better in the short game beginning this week.
"(Assistant coach Chelsea Spencer) always says it's the little things," Lilley said. "It's the basics: catching and throwing. I put bunting in there. I think bunting is a basic we should be able to go to when we need to."
Players Mentioned
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