No. 4 Ducks Host No. 2 Oklahoma

History shouldn't have any bearing on Thursday's top-five softball showdown at Jane Sanders Stadium. But it could give some indications about what the future holds.

The Oregon Ducks, ranked No. 4 in the polls but No. 1 in this week's RPI, host No. 2 Oklahoma in a one-game nonconference matchup Thursday (4 p.m., Pac-12 Network). That will be a meaty appetizer before a three-game conference series against Stanford at The Jane, Friday through Sunday.

UO coach Mike White said he anticipates junior ace Megan Kleist being in the circle for the first pitch Thursday. But he doesn't want to forsake a conference series for a chance to win a nonconference game — no matter how high-profile.

"I've got to be cognizant of what's going to happen the rest of the weekend too," White said. "Even though it's a very important game — it's a big game — it's not as important as the Stanford series for us. We've got to keep an eye toward that series. I don't want to wear anybody out, or get into any big pitch counts."

The four-game slate presents competing interests for the Ducks (34-7). On the one hand, Oregon lurks just behind No. 1 Washington in the Pac-12 standings, as the Ducks look to regain the conference crown after their four-year run ended in 2017. On the other, the Oklahoma game could be a bellweather for where the Ducks truly rank nationally.

"It's not very often you get a top-five matchup," White said. "You think top-10 is pretty good, and all of a sudden you have top-five. It'll be a great test for us at this time of year."

The Sooners (39-2) have as formidable a résumé as there is in the country. Oklahoma is two-time defending national champs, and eliminated Oregon from the 2017 Women's College World Series. The Sooners have won 30 straight games after a victory Tuesday at Tulsa, haven't lost a true road game since 2016, are hitting .339 as a team and have a 1.02 ERA behind pitchers Paige Parker and Paige Lowary.

None of that history — as impressive as it is — should matter once the two teams cross the foul lines for Thursday's game, White noted.

"This is a different team for them, even though they've got a lot of experience back," he said. "But we certainly want to take a look at how they handle themselves, the way they approach the game, those types of things, and see if we can't learn something from it."

At this point in the season, the Ducks don't feel they fall short in many areas. Oregon is hitting .318, with a 1.08 team ERA, and followed up its sweep of then-No. 9 Arizona at home the first weekend of April by taking two of three at No. 7 Arizona State last week.

Earlier this week, though, the Ducks were talking amongst themselves during a weightlifting session, about the loss to ASU in the series finale. As strange as it sounds, that cast a pall over the team.

"Our program has such high standards," sophomore pitcher Miranda Elish said. "Not getting the sweep kind of leaves a grey cloud over the weekend. We just have to bounce back."

Those high standards speak to Oregon's standing as one of the elite programs on college softball. Thursday night, they welcome another to Jane Sanders Stadium, for a midseason test between national powers before the resumption of Pac-12 play against Stanford this weekend.

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Players Mentioned

Miranda Elish

Megan Kleist

University of Oregon Athletics