Friday, May 4
Eugene, OR
7:00 PM
University of Oregon
vs
Utah
If Ducks Sustain Focus This Week, Senior Day Only A Formality
05/03/18 | Softball, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon hosts Utah this weekend in the final regular-season homestand at Jane Sanders Stadium, but the UO seniors want to ensure they'll be back home for postseason play.
The legacy of Oregon softball's senior class will be honored Sunday, when the Ducks play their final regular-season game in Jane Sanders Stadium.
Prior to that, the quartet of UO seniors can help honor their own legacy, by taking care of business in the three-game series against Utah that begins Friday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network). Coming off a sweep at then-No. 4 Washington – their fifth top-10 opponent in just more than a month – the No. 2 Ducks are in the driver's seat for the Pac-12 title, assuming they don't slip up against the last-place Utes.
"Weekends like this are probably the most dangerous," UO senior catcher Gwen Svekis said.
"I don't have concern; it's just something we definitely need to keep in check with. We need to make sure everybody's on the same page, and not looking past our next opponent. Every day, we're playing for the Pac-12 championship. So we can't let a game drop."
Oregon (41-7) enters this weekend tied for the conference lead with No. 1 UCLA at 15-3. The Ducks took two of three from the Bruins (45-3) in mid-March, giving them the tiebreaker for the conference title should both remain at three losses.
For the Ducks to do so, it will require beating a squad from Utah (20-25, 2-16) that finished fifth in the loaded Pac-12 just last year, and beat the last Oregon team to win a conference title at The Jane in 2016. The pitcher in that game was Katie Donovan, a Salem native who is now a senior for the Utes.
"So they have the ability, if we don't play up to our game," UO coach Mike White said. "That's what we have to be aware of – the game's going to come out and reward who plays the best. … The danger's there. If they put it all together, they have the ability to put away anybody."
Helping the Ducks guard against that will be a sterling senior class that can further burnish its legacy in the coming weeks.
DJ SANDERS, shortstop
It will be these next few weeks that define the single year at Oregon for transfer DJ Sanders, who has called the experience "a dream come true" – with a caveat.
"Obviously it's any girl's dream to go to the World Series," said Sanders, a transfer from Louisiana. "I was really trying to do that at least once, and I don't know how strong my chance would have been."
Thus can Sanders make her dreams come to fruition by helping the Ducks make another trip to Oklahoma City later this spring. Based on the last few weeks, she's highly motivated to do so.
The NCAA leader with 29 home runs last season, Sanders has 13 to tie with Svekis for the UO lead entering this weekend. She's experienced a power surge in big moments lately, with an extra-innings grand slam at Oregon State on March 31, a two-run bomb in the 5-0 win over then-No. 2 Oklahoma on April 19, and two more homers in last weekend's sweep at UW.
But Sanders isn't getting complacent – she's ultra-critical of her own play, arriving early to practice Wednesday to work on her infield defense with UO assistant Chelsea Spencer.
"If I had a choice to pick her up as a freshman, I would've loved to have had her on my team," White said. "She's just a great person, as well as an excellent ballplayer."
GWEN SVEKIS, catcher
A top-20 national recruit from Florida, Gwen Svekis ventured across the country to play for the Ducks. The past two seasons she's provided middle-of-the-order power to balance a lineup that has relied on speed, while helping groom her eventual replacement, freshman Mary Iakopo.
Svekis has done all of that while becoming the face of the program with media, a poised, charismatic voice of the Ducks to reporters. She's matured as a player and a person through adversity, as her mom Holly began a battle with breast cancer last year.
Svekis said Holly and several other family members will be in the stands this weekend.
"I'm a really emotional person, so I'm not particularly looking forward to it," Svekis said with a laugh. "It's a weird balance of being excited and upset about it, all at once."
The good news for Svekis and the rest of the senior class is, Oregon remains in good shape to once again host NCAA Regionals and also Super Regionals, should the Ducks keep winning. But only if they take care of business this weekend against the Utes, and in the final regular-season series next week at California.
"Utah came in here and beat us two years ago; Cal beat us two years ago," Svekis said. "These are two big series we need to lock in and focus for."
LAUREN LINDVALL, second base
Lauren Lindvall has been dependable when the stakes are high from the very start of her Oregon career. As a freshman in 2015, Lindvall hit a three-run homer to help the Ducks come from behind and win a matchup of top-10 teams at UCLA.
Her clutch abilities have been on display as a senior, too. After a slow start to the season, Lindvall has raised her batting average more than 50 points since the start of conference play, against some of the most elite pitchers in the country. Last weekend in Seattle, her two-run homer put Oregon up 3-2 in the second game at UW, which ended 4-2.
"I think she's been very underrated," White said, noting as well Lindvall's development from a super-utility player as a freshman into a lights-out glove at second base.
Lindvall's graduation will bring to a close the long chapter of her family's impact on Oregon softball. She first attended a Ducks game in Eugene while in high school, when her sister Janelle was the UO catcher.
"I loved Howe Field," Lauren said. "It was so humble. I think my class had it best, having one year at Howe Field and then three at The Jane."
JENNA LILLEY, third base
Jane Sanders Stadium opened in 2016. The same weekend it opened, in a series against Stanford that March, Lilley was hit by a pitch in the face. But she's put in countless hours of work that will ensure her UO career is defined by much more than that setback.
"She's an Energizer bunny out there," White said. "She's the first one to practice, and the last to leave. Just the consummate player you love to have in your program, who works harder than everyone else."
A former Pac-12 freshman of the year who hit .427 in 2015, Lilley is batting .375 as a senior, and is holding down the hot corner better than ever, with a .953 fielding average. She's the intense lead-by-example type, in contrast to the gregarious approach of her friend and roommate Svekis and the easygoing Lindvall.
"We've been together through it all the last few years," Lilley said. "From the beginning to now we've really grown, and our relationships have grown. We really connect, and that helps our leadership."
The senior leaders will look to set the tone for the Ducks this weekend, as they try and sustain their focus through the final two weeks of the regular season. As a reward for doing so, they could ensure that Sunday's Senior Day, while bittersweet, won't truly be their final appearance in Eugene. That could get to come in the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds.
"It's nice," Lilley said, "knowing this hopefully won't be the very last time here. It's nice knowing there's potential games to be played here this year."
Prior to that, the quartet of UO seniors can help honor their own legacy, by taking care of business in the three-game series against Utah that begins Friday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network). Coming off a sweep at then-No. 4 Washington – their fifth top-10 opponent in just more than a month – the No. 2 Ducks are in the driver's seat for the Pac-12 title, assuming they don't slip up against the last-place Utes.
"Weekends like this are probably the most dangerous," UO senior catcher Gwen Svekis said.
"I don't have concern; it's just something we definitely need to keep in check with. We need to make sure everybody's on the same page, and not looking past our next opponent. Every day, we're playing for the Pac-12 championship. So we can't let a game drop."
Oregon (41-7) enters this weekend tied for the conference lead with No. 1 UCLA at 15-3. The Ducks took two of three from the Bruins (45-3) in mid-March, giving them the tiebreaker for the conference title should both remain at three losses.
For the Ducks to do so, it will require beating a squad from Utah (20-25, 2-16) that finished fifth in the loaded Pac-12 just last year, and beat the last Oregon team to win a conference title at The Jane in 2016. The pitcher in that game was Katie Donovan, a Salem native who is now a senior for the Utes.
"So they have the ability, if we don't play up to our game," UO coach Mike White said. "That's what we have to be aware of – the game's going to come out and reward who plays the best. … The danger's there. If they put it all together, they have the ability to put away anybody."
Helping the Ducks guard against that will be a sterling senior class that can further burnish its legacy in the coming weeks.
DJ SANDERS, shortstop
It will be these next few weeks that define the single year at Oregon for transfer DJ Sanders, who has called the experience "a dream come true" – with a caveat.
"Obviously it's any girl's dream to go to the World Series," said Sanders, a transfer from Louisiana. "I was really trying to do that at least once, and I don't know how strong my chance would have been."
Thus can Sanders make her dreams come to fruition by helping the Ducks make another trip to Oklahoma City later this spring. Based on the last few weeks, she's highly motivated to do so.
The NCAA leader with 29 home runs last season, Sanders has 13 to tie with Svekis for the UO lead entering this weekend. She's experienced a power surge in big moments lately, with an extra-innings grand slam at Oregon State on March 31, a two-run bomb in the 5-0 win over then-No. 2 Oklahoma on April 19, and two more homers in last weekend's sweep at UW.
But Sanders isn't getting complacent – she's ultra-critical of her own play, arriving early to practice Wednesday to work on her infield defense with UO assistant Chelsea Spencer.
"If I had a choice to pick her up as a freshman, I would've loved to have had her on my team," White said. "She's just a great person, as well as an excellent ballplayer."
GWEN SVEKIS, catcher
A top-20 national recruit from Florida, Gwen Svekis ventured across the country to play for the Ducks. The past two seasons she's provided middle-of-the-order power to balance a lineup that has relied on speed, while helping groom her eventual replacement, freshman Mary Iakopo.
Svekis has done all of that while becoming the face of the program with media, a poised, charismatic voice of the Ducks to reporters. She's matured as a player and a person through adversity, as her mom Holly began a battle with breast cancer last year.
Svekis said Holly and several other family members will be in the stands this weekend.
"I'm a really emotional person, so I'm not particularly looking forward to it," Svekis said with a laugh. "It's a weird balance of being excited and upset about it, all at once."
The good news for Svekis and the rest of the senior class is, Oregon remains in good shape to once again host NCAA Regionals and also Super Regionals, should the Ducks keep winning. But only if they take care of business this weekend against the Utes, and in the final regular-season series next week at California.
"Utah came in here and beat us two years ago; Cal beat us two years ago," Svekis said. "These are two big series we need to lock in and focus for."
LAUREN LINDVALL, second base
Lauren Lindvall has been dependable when the stakes are high from the very start of her Oregon career. As a freshman in 2015, Lindvall hit a three-run homer to help the Ducks come from behind and win a matchup of top-10 teams at UCLA.
Her clutch abilities have been on display as a senior, too. After a slow start to the season, Lindvall has raised her batting average more than 50 points since the start of conference play, against some of the most elite pitchers in the country. Last weekend in Seattle, her two-run homer put Oregon up 3-2 in the second game at UW, which ended 4-2.
"I think she's been very underrated," White said, noting as well Lindvall's development from a super-utility player as a freshman into a lights-out glove at second base.
Lindvall's graduation will bring to a close the long chapter of her family's impact on Oregon softball. She first attended a Ducks game in Eugene while in high school, when her sister Janelle was the UO catcher.
"I loved Howe Field," Lauren said. "It was so humble. I think my class had it best, having one year at Howe Field and then three at The Jane."
JENNA LILLEY, third base
Jane Sanders Stadium opened in 2016. The same weekend it opened, in a series against Stanford that March, Lilley was hit by a pitch in the face. But she's put in countless hours of work that will ensure her UO career is defined by much more than that setback.
"She's an Energizer bunny out there," White said. "She's the first one to practice, and the last to leave. Just the consummate player you love to have in your program, who works harder than everyone else."
A former Pac-12 freshman of the year who hit .427 in 2015, Lilley is batting .375 as a senior, and is holding down the hot corner better than ever, with a .953 fielding average. She's the intense lead-by-example type, in contrast to the gregarious approach of her friend and roommate Svekis and the easygoing Lindvall.
"We've been together through it all the last few years," Lilley said. "From the beginning to now we've really grown, and our relationships have grown. We really connect, and that helps our leadership."
The senior leaders will look to set the tone for the Ducks this weekend, as they try and sustain their focus through the final two weeks of the regular season. As a reward for doing so, they could ensure that Sunday's Senior Day, while bittersweet, won't truly be their final appearance in Eugene. That could get to come in the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds.
"It's nice," Lilley said, "knowing this hopefully won't be the very last time here. It's nice knowing there's potential games to be played here this year."
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