No. 2 Ducks Visit No. 4 Huskies

EUGENE, Ore. - Another big Pac-12 series awaits the No. 2 ranked Oregon softball team this weekend as head coach Mike White's squad visits No. 4 ranked Washington.

The series starts at 5 PM on Friday with game two at 1 PM on Saturday and the finale at 1 PM on Sunday.

#2 OREGON DUCKS (38-7, 12-3 Pac-12)
Team BA: .325 | Team ERA: 1.07 | Runs Scored: 276 | Runs Allowed: 59
Recently: Swept series with Stanford after beating No. 2 Oklahoma
National Rankings: Ranked No. 2 in both the NFCA and USA Softball polls
All-Time Series: UW leads, 54-28 (UO is 14-10 vs. UW under Mike White)
Last Year: Lost 2-of-3 games to Washington, snapping streak of four series wins
Notable: Oregon comes into this weekend's series with Washington ranked No. 1 in the RPI. The Ducks have or will play eight of the other nine teams in the top-10 of the RPI with a 10-4 record in those games. Overall offensively, Washington and Oregon are identical, both hitting .325, respectively, this season. However, in Pac-12 play, the Ducks are slashing .295/.369/.527 as a team while the Huskies are slashing .253/.351/.393. UO has hit 22 home runs in 15 Pac-12 games while UW has hit nine homers 17 league games. RHP Megan Kleist has a 0.89 ERA in Pac-12 play with just three walks in 55.1 innings.

#4 WASHINGTON HUSKIES (41-5, 12-5 Pac-12)
Team BA: .325 | Team ERA: 0.97 | Runs Scored: 300 | Runs Allowed: 45
Recently: Swept in a three-game series by UCLA last weekend
National Rankings: Ranked No. 4 in both the NFCA and USA Softball polls
Head Coach: Heather Tarr (14th Season)
Notable: Washington is one of the few teams in the nation which can match up with the Ducks' combination of hitting, pitching and defense. Oregon ranks No. 8 in the NCAA in batting average, No. 4 in earned run average and No. 10 in fielding percentage. Washington ranks No. 7 in the NCAA in batting average, No. 1 in ERA and No. 4 in fielding percentage. Pitcher Taran Alvelo leads the Pac-12 with 21 wins and ranks ninth in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12 with a 0.86 ERA. She has 211 strikeouts with 29 walks in 154.1 innings this season. Freshman Gabbie Plain is 13-2 with a 0.90 ERA and 115 strikeouts.

BROADCAST INFO
There will be no TV for the first game of the series on Friday, but UW will provide a free live stream. ESPN2 will broadcast the games on Saturday and Sunday with Beth Mowins and Michele Smith on the call. Links to stream for all three games are available on the GoDucks.com softball schedule page.

RADIO INFO
KWVA 88.1 FM will air all three games with Marc Grandi and Matt Tyra on the call. Fans can also stream the broadcast for free at kwva.uoregon.edu.

WHEN PLAYING WASHINGTON
- Washington leads the all-time series, 54-28, but the Ducks have won 13 of the last 19 meetings.
- Mike White is 14-10 all-time against Washington.
- Oregon lost to Washington in the first round of the WCWS last season, 3-1. The Ducks had five hits while the Huskies had four, but Kirstyn Thomas' two-run homer in the top of the seventh proved to be the difference. Megan Kleist was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs on four hits in seven innings with two strikeouts and four walks. Taran Alvelo earned the win with one run allowed on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. The Ducks stranded eight runners on base.
- Oregon lost the regular season series with the Huskies last year, dropping two of three games. Oregon lost the first game, 4-2, rebounded with a 4-1 win in the second game, and lost the series finale, 5-3, in nine innings. Former SS Nikki Udria hit .625 in the series against UW, but no other player hit better than .275. The Ducks hit .171 as a team in the series.
- Oregon won the first meeting between the two rivals, 3-2, on April 3, 1993 in Seattle.
- The Ducks' 16-4 win in six innings on March 21, 2016, in Seattle is the most runs scored by either team in the series. UO scored nine runs in the top of the sixth. Then a sophomore, Lauren Lindvall went 2-for-2 with three runs, three RBIs and two walks. Lindvall drew a bases loaded walk in the second and then had two hits in UO's big sixth inning, with a RBI single and a RBI double. Alvelo started that game, giving up seven runs (six earned) on four hits in 1.2 innings.

EIGHT HOMER GAME AGAINST WASHINGTON
Three years ago in Eugene, Oregon had one of its most memorable games of all-time against rival Washington. Oregon tied the NCAA record with eight home runs in a 15-6 run-rule win over the No. 19 ranked Huskies on Mar. 29, 2015. Oregon belted out five home runs in the third inning alone, with IF Hailey Decker hitting two herself in the frame. OF Geri Ann Glasco knocked three out of the park to match the Ducks' single-game record.

RPI REPORT
The Ducks are No. 1 in the RPI this week after beating Oklahoma and sweeping Stanford last week.
- Oregon has played or will play 10 of the other 14 teams in the top-15 of this week's RPI.
- No. 1 Oregon has already played No. 2 UCLA, No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 10 Arizona, No. 12 LSU and No. 13 Texas A&M.
- The Ducks meet No. 3 Washington this weekend.

TOP-25 STREAK
Oregon softball has been ranked in the top-25 of the NFCA poll for 131 straight weeks (preseason and postseason polls included). The Ducks climbed to No. 23 in week 10 of the 2010 season (Mike White's first season in Eugene) and have never dipped below that mark since.

TOP-25 RECORD
The Ducks have played 18 times this season against NFCA top-25 foes, going 12-6 in those games. UO took 2-of-3 games against both No. 3 UCLA and No. 7 Arizona State and swept No. 9 Arizona. Oregon also has wins against then-No. 13 Florida State, No. 7 LSU, No. 18 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Oklahoma.

EARLY GAME DOMINANCE
Oregon's pitchers have been outstanding in every inning this season, but they have been particularly strong early in games.
- Oregon has allowed just three runs in the first inning and two runs in the second inning all season.
- Over the first three innings this year, Oregon is outscoring opponents 138-10.

IN THE CIRCLE
- The UO pitching staff has the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the NCAA this season at 7.72-to-1.
- Megan Kleist's incredible 13.33-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio leads the NCAA. Elish is 9th in the NCAA with a 7.86-to-1 ratio.
- UO's 50 walks issued is the fewest in the Pac-12.
- Oregon's 1.07 team ERA ranks fourth in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12, behind Washington (0.97).
- Kleist is first in the Pac-12 and 6th in the NCAA with a 0.77 ERA. Elish is fifth in the Pac-12 and 12th in the NCAA with a 0.99 ERA.
- Elish is fifth in the NCAA with nine shutouts.
- Elish is fourth in the NCAA, averaging 10.7 strikeouts per seven innings pitched.

IN THE BOX
- Oregon is 8th in the NCAA in batting average (.325), 12th in on-base percentage (.410) and 4th in slugging percentage (.541).
- Oregon's 59 home runs in 45 games this year is way more than the Ducks hit all of last year (46 homers in 62 games).

IN THE FIELD
- The Ducks are 10th in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12 with a .976 fielding percentage.
- Oregon has made more than two errors in a game just once all season.
- Oregon is 22-1 this year when making no errors, 12-3 when making one error and 4-3 when making two-or-more errors.

LEFT ON BASE
Despite ranking 16th in the NCAA in runs per game (6.13), the Ducks have left 275 runners on base in 276.1 innings this season.

ON THE BOARD
The Ducks are 34-2 this season when scoring first and 14-0 when they've scored in the first inning.

DON'T EVEN TRY IT
Oregon's catcher have allowed just five stole bases all season, the fewest in the Pac-12, on 14 attempts. Mary Iakopo has thrown out 4-of-6 stolen base attempts while Gwen Svekis has thrown out 5-of-8. There have been no successful steals when Miranda Elish has pitched for the Ducks this year.